May 20, 1972 – May 20, 2024: 52 years later, national unity still threatened

Cameroon celebrated its national day on May 20, 2024. This has been built since the referendum of May 20, 1972 around the unitary state, a consequence of the abandonment of the federal state formerly formed by French-speaking Eastern Cameroon and English-speaking West Cameroon. However, 52 years later, national unity remains far from being achieved, as political scientist Mathias Eric Owona Nguini, vice-rector at the University of Yaoundé I, recalls. “National unity is best experienced in a stabilised and calm context rather than in a context where there are a certain number of tensions, in particular those which can take the…