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vii Foreword In 1916, following the defeat of the Germans, the Anglo-French ad hoc administration expelled the German Pallotine and Sacred Heart missionaries from Cameroon. The future and fate of the former German Pallotine and Sacred Heart missions became uncertain. During the period of uncertainty between their expulsion from Cameroon and their final repatriation to Germany, German missionaries expressed worries about the fate of their missions. Generally, the German missionaries had thought that the end of the first global conflict and signing of the peace agreements might lead to their return to their former stations in the colonies, but the peace arrangement in Versailles did not allow German nationals to resume their work in Cameroon. When it dawned on them that their return to their missions in Cameroon was out of the question, they explored other alternatives1 The Versailles proclamation stated that German mission property should be taken over by trustees composed of persons holding the same faith as that of the owners of missions they were to take over. Proceeds from the sales of the German property in Cameroon formed the Liquidation Fund. The British government handed over these funds to the MILL HILL Missionaries when they took possession of the former German missions in Southern Cameroons. When it became clear that German missionaries would not be permitted to enter into the territory, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fidei) moved swiftly to appoint Joseph Shanahan as Ecclesiastical Apostolic Administrator of Adamawa. Joseph Shanahan was Prefect Apostolic of Southern Nigeria and the attachment of the missions in the Cameroons only added a burden to this already beleaguered administrator. By attaching the missions of the Southern Cameroons to the 1For example, in a letter from the British Vice Consul in Fernando Po to the British Resident Commissioner in Cameroon, the German Fathers expressed their wish that Belgian, Dutch and French Fathers of the same missionary order, who might be allowed to carry on the mission work in Bamenda, could be introduced to their work by the German Fathers who had been in charge of the missions before the war. Memorandum from the British Vice Consul, Fernando Po to the British Resident Commissioner Buea, September 19, 1919. viii Prefecture Apostolic of Southern Cameroons, they were only mirroring and following the footsteps of colonial authorities. The British government administered Southern Cameroons as part of the Southern Province of Nigeria with headquarters in Enugu. For many years, the Church in Cameroon remained intimately linked to the eastern part of Nigeria in different ways. Rome erected Southern Cameroons as the Apostolic Prefecture in 1923, Apostolic Vicarate in 1939 and Diocese of Buea in 1950, under the Metropolitan See of Onitsha. The arrangement in which the former German missions in British Southern Cameroons2 came under the auspices of the Prefect Apostolic of Southern Nigeria was to be short-lived because in the interim period between Shanahan’s 1000 miles trek and the coming of the MILL HILL missionaries, Monsignor Plissonneau3 assumed his functions as the Prefect Apostolic of Adamawa. Njinikom and Shisong naturally came under the spheres of influence of the Prefect Apostolic of Adamawa. The priests in French Cameroon in parishes close to the British Cameroons extended their missions to include neighbouring missions in British Cameroon. The years following the end of the First World War in Cameroon were turbulent, with conflict between the missions and traditional authorities. Trouble began with the return of former native German soldiers, who formed the nucleus of the first Christian communities. Colonial authorities at 2 The Anglo-French accord to divide Cameron was reached on March 4, 1916 and implemented on March 6, 1916. The general administration of the colony and protectorate of Nigeria and mandated territory of Cameroon was headed by the Governor General, who was resident in Lagos, the capital of the Federation. The Governor General was directly responsible to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London. Under the Governor General were two Lieutenant Governors at the head of the administration of the Southern and Northern groups of provinces. Under the Lieutenant Governor were senior Provincial Residents, each at the head of the provincial administration. British Southern Cameroons constituted the Cameroon province during the Mandate period. During the period of the Mandate, they were seven Residents in Cameroon. These were Major F.H. Ruxton (192125 ), E.J. Arnett (1925-28), H.G. Aveling (1928-29), E. J. Arnett (1929-32), Rutherford (193334 ), O.W. Firth (1935-38) and A...

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