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Migration, Shifting Identities, and
Cultural and Political Accomodation in Anglophone Cameroon
Ngomteka Ekali
Throughout history men have migrated
from one place to another.Such movement has often been ochestrated
by both push'and 'pull' factors.In general,men have mirated to areas
with stable political regimes,favorable climatic conditions and above
all, better economic opportunities.
This phenomenon holds true to the Cameroonian context where people
have moved from one part of the country and settled in another.It is
especially true of the people of the North Western(otherwise referred
to as the Grassfields)portion of the country to the coastal and forest
regions of Anglophone Cameroon.The Grassfields have acted as a major
source of supplemental labour for the economically viable coastal regions
of Anglohone Cameroon for over a century.But these movements which
were ochestrated essentially by economic forces eventually resulted
in cultural and political friction between the new arrivals and the
indigenous population.The result was the transformation of the cultural
and political fabric of the coastal region.
The aim of this paper therefore is two fold:examine the reasons for
the drift of population from the Grassfields to the coastal regions
of Anglohone Cameroon;and attempt an analysis of the cultural and ethnic
accomodation problems associated with such movement.
Using a wide range of primary material,(archival as well as oral data)
this study introduces a new element in Cameroon historiography:it examines
the interplay of economic, (labor, businesses) cultural, and political
forces as factors determining the socio-political landscape of the
country
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