THE DEFENCE AND SECURITY FORCES IN THE PRESERVATION AND CONSOLIDATION OF NATIONAL UNITY AND INTEGRATION IN CAMEROON: COMMEMORATING NATIONAL DAY (20TH MAY)

The process of forming a collective national identity within a given territory, broadly referred to as nation building, has been imperative for many African governments, especially after gaining independence. This was necessary to unite the pre-colonial autonomous ethnic groups which had been squeezed into single colonial entities. The persistent of violent ethnic conflicts in the post-colonial era, demonstrates that national unity has not been fully achieved in some countries and that it is still a necessary initiative to work for. Cameroon, like many African nations, is a multicultural society and has engineered national unity and integration through its defence and security institutions commonly illustrated during the annual May 20th celebration. The central focus of this paper is to examine how effectively the defence and security institutions have contributed to the maintenance of national cohesion in Cameroon. It argues that federalism as the initial state structure promoted sub state nationalism which added to the ethnic diversity compelled the state to address more profoundly the question of national integration and unity. In these efforts, the military was directly implicated. It discusses the genesis of the military’s efforts as a national unifier, their achievements and challenges. Being essentially historical and using document analysis, the study concludes that the role of the military institutions in the preservation of national unity and cohesion has been a very complex one. Although great importance is attached to this sector, the results indicate that recent challenges faced by the nation have not worked in their favour.