You are on page 1of 2

The Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL) Also known as The Youth League or The

League

A Brief History
The birth of the SCYL is really the culmination of the Southern Cameroons
intellectual consciousness and militancy in the fight for justice for the Southern
Cameroons. The process that went as far back as 1984 was the attempt by La
Republique du Cameroun to assimilate one of the last bastions of the Southern
Cameroons Nation and its unique educational system.

The ploy by LRC to harmonize the two systems came soon after 1961 and in 1983 the
Minister of National Education sought to introduce a new “Group Certificate
Cameroon GCE Scheme” for the Southern Cameroons Schools Nationwide. The minister
was arrogant enough to assert that the primary aim was to raise the level of the
GCE to that of the Baccalaureate (the French equivalent of the GCE Advanced Level)
to facilitate the entry into Technical Institutions for Southern Cameroons
students. What an Insult!

This was met with serious resistance by Southern Cameroons Students, Teachers and
Parents who saw their educational system as the last remaining part of their
cultural heritage. The project was shelved but not abandoned.

The Ministry of National Education of La Republique du Cameroun fell short of


honoring its financial obligations to the London GCE Board for Technical support
offered through the British Council, part of which was the printing of GCE
Certificates, and to the local markers of the GCE Exams.

The London GCE Board stopped printing the certificates when LRC was more than 5
years behind its payment. When LRC took over control and assigned its staffs and
secretaries to run and type examination questions, Southern Cameroonians said No!
It was at this point that the Teachers Association of Cameroon (TAC) started
advocating for the creation of a GCE Board. Parents Teachers Associations grouped
to form the Confederation of Anglophone Parents Teachers Association (CAPTAC) with
much support coming from the Cameroon Anglophone Movement (CAM).

The crisis was not limited to the creation of a more effective GCE regime but also
an institution that will host the product of a properly managed examination. This
is how the Cameroon Anglophone Students Association (CANSA) saw the light of day
to join forces with other progressive movement to demand a University in the
Southern Cameroons.

Most of these students became victims of La Republique du Cameroon. In 1993, the


first batch of the University of Buea was matriculated not before the Yaoundé
regime had instituted fees in the University. Though the University of Buea had no
Library, Laboratory, Restaurant and even enough lecture halls and despite the over
burdened nature of Southern Cameroons parents in running nursery, primary,
secondary and High schools, the occupation regime decided to raise the fees of the
University of Buea to 550 thousand francs CFA.

Under the leadership of the Students Union, students resisted and stalled the
machination. The regime responded with dismissal of the Student Union President –
Ebenezer Derek Mbongo Akwanga.., Jr., and dissolving the Students Union. Some
students responded with the creation of the Committee of Respected Alternatives
that worked underground to pressure the administration. And for the first time,
another student Lucas Cho Ayaba led a one man demonstration that shook the very
foundation of the University. He too was sent the Akwanga way.

The SCYL emerged from the rubble of all of these resistant groups as a League that
rallies the Southern Cameroons Youth. The Cameroon Anglophone Students Association
(CANSA) was represented by its then Secretary General Ebai George. The University
of Buea Students Union was represented by its expelled President, Akwanga Ebenezer
who had been leading student actions from Victoria to Buea and other cities
against the raping, killing and torture of students in the then Yaoundé University
and had also led students in defiance of the tele-guided Buea university
authorities. When the Students Union was dissolved Ayaba, Cho Lucas and Nwana,
Benedict Kuah founded the Committee of Respective Alternative Voices and
represented this organization in the foundation of the SCYL. Bah-Tangoh
Christopher Fomunyoh had been one of the most dynamic and consistent activist who
was behind the Cameroon Anglophone Movement. He represented the Free West Cameroon
Movement. Emmanuel Nkea, Cornelius Asonganyi Bedefeh and Issa Abdourahim were also
present. After series of meetings including the famous Presbyterian Church Molyko
Independence Proclamation gathering dubbed Divine Service, a two day conference at
the Garden Park Hotel in Molyko ended with the creation of the Southern Cameroons
Youth League on the 28th May 1995

You might also like