Cameroon Research Paper

"Cameroon is whimsically named after the Rio dos Camarões, of River of Prawns, the name given to the Wouri River estuary by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century." ("Into Africa" 202) Cameroon is a less developed country seeking to improve its situation, with the aid of western nations and by reducing poverty and unemployment rates which are extremely high. Cameroon is a former French and British colony and the country merged in 1961, to later form the present country. The country got renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972 then the Republic of Cameroon in 1984. The nation has generally had stability, which permitted development of agriculture, roads, petroleum industry, and railways. There is a slow movement toward democratic reform,
Power lies firmly in the hands of the president, Paul Biya, and his Cameroon People's Democratic movement party, and the corruption is widespread. Cameroon is a small example of Africa itself; it needs a lot of help to improve the situation it has sunk into, that's why it is known as "Africa in miniature." Just like Africa, the main issue to be solved is also economy, which also includes poverty, unemployment and violence. President Ahidjo was the first real president of the Republic of Cameroon, not one of the best though. Ahidjo inherited a smoldering civil war against supporters of the more radical party, the UPC (History of Cameroon). The government brutally and gradually beat the more radical party, UPC. The state of emergency in Cameroon becomes a long term and easy way for Ahidjo to establish a repressive
However, the country's progress is hampered by a level of corruption that is among the highest in the world." (BBC news) The situation in the continent of Africa is so precarious that Cameroon has one of the highest literacy rates, and it still has a low literacy rate considering other less developed countries. The situation in Cameroon is very serious and if people don't pay attention to it, the country can sink into an even worse situation than the present one. The best way to start is by reducing the poverty in the country and also the unemployment rate. The only way for Cameroon to achieve these goals is with the help from other western nations and the United Nations, which is already helping a little. "Human rights organizations accuse police and military forces of mistreating and even torturing criminal suspects, ethnic minorities, homosexuals, and political activists." (Wikipedia) These mistreatments and tortures done by police and military is what creates the angry population and violence tends to occur with a higher frequency than when the police and military are working well. With the help of other countries such as the lending of policemen and settling armies in the country could be beneficial to the nation's economy. That is because this violence happening in the country with a large frequency is mainly led by violence, so if you put an end to the violence, you will also put an end to a good chunk of