A United Nations referendum was held in the

British Cameroons British Cameroons or British Cameroon was a British Empire, British League of Nations mandate, mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of the Bor ...

on 11 February 1961 to determine whether the territory should join neighbouring

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. This followed an earlier plebiscite in the

Northern Cameroons British Cameroons or British Cameroon was a British mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of the Borno, Adamawa and Taraba states of Niger ...

in 1959 which voted to postpone a decision. The option of full independence was not on the ballot, having been opposed by Andrew Cohen, the UK representative to the

UN Trusteeship Council The United Nations Trusteeship Council is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, established to help ensure that trust territories were administered in the best interests of their inhabitants and of international peace and sec ...

, as well as African and anti-colonial delegations, notably by

E. M. L. Endeley Emmanuel Mbela Lifafa Endeley, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE (10 April 1916 – June 1988) was a Cameroons, Cameroonian politician who led Southern Cameroonian representatives out of the Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Nigerian ...

, who favoured independence by joining Nigeria, and

John Ngu Foncha John Ngu Foncha (21 June 1916 – 10 April 1999) was a Cameroonian politician, who served as 5th Prime Minister of Cameroon. Career Foncha was born in Bamenda. He founded the Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP) in 1955 and became Premier o ...

, who favoured independence by joining Francophone Cameroon. The Muslim-majority Northern Cameroons saw a majority of 60% in favour of joining Nigeria, whilst the Christian-majority

Southern Cameroons The Southern Cameroons was the southern part of the British League of Nations mandate territory of the British Cameroons in West Africa. Since 1961, it has been part of the Republic of Cameroon, where it makes up the Northwest Region and Southw ...

saw 70.5% in favour of joining Cameroon.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

, Michael Krennerich, & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) ''Elections in Africa: A data handbook'', p. 177 Northern Cameroon officially became Sardauna Province, a part of the Northern Region of Nigeria, on 1 June, whilst the Southern Cameroons became

West Cameroon West Cameroon () was a federated state within the Federal Republic of Cameroon that existed between 1961 and 1972. It was formed on 1 October 1961 when the formerly British-administered Southern Cameroons was integrated into the Republic of Camer ...

, one of the two

federated state A federated state (also State (polity), state, province, region, Canton (administrative division), canton, Länder, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation ...

s of the

Federal Republic of Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, on 1 October.

Results

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Further reading