Anglophone university students and anglophone nationalist struggles in Cameroon

The importance of student politics in Africa during economic and political liberalization cannot be underestimated. However, this study of anglophone students in Cameroon cautions against treating students as a homogeneous group. It shows that although anglophone students today feel even more marginalized than their francophone counterparts, they have actually displayed a rather ambivalent attitude towards the francophone-dominated State. The author first describes the development of anglophone nationalism and discusses the role of anglophone students in their struggle against francophone dominance. He argues that anglophone students have played a vanguard role in anglophone protest actions in the wake of Paul Biya's accession to power in 1982. He then describes two new anglophone youth organizations which emerged during political liberalization and which differ in their attitude towards the francophone-dominated State: the Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL), which supports the main aim of the anglophone struggle - the creation of an independent anglophone State, and President Biya's Youths (PRESBY), which is opposed to the anglophone struggle and has expressed its loyalty to President Biya in exchange for a share in the diminishing pool of State resources. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]