The “Third” Option for an Independent British Southern Cameroon: Rejects now turned Regrets?

This article examines the nexus between decolonization and internationalization through the Southern Cameroons independence question. It argues that the territory’s trajectory toward self-determination — culminating in a 1961 UN-organized plebiscite offering only two options and resulting in reunification with La République du Cameroun — reflects a more complex process than conventional narratives acknowledge. Through systematic analysis of UN deliberations, the article investigates why the third option for an independent Southern Cameroons was excluded despite its documented popularity. The analysis reveals a fundamental disjuncture between the UN institutional framework and local political realities, documented by the 1958 Visiting Mission and pre- and post-plebiscite developments. This disconnect resulted from the systemic privileging of imperial interests, regional alliances, and exclusionary politics at the Fourth Committee — undermining popular consent as mechanisms for guaranteeing human rights and self-determination. The article concludes by contextualizing the 2017 separatist movements in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions as a third-generation resurgence of 1950s aspirations that were consciously overlooked by an international system which, despite commanding substantial legitimacy among the people, ultimately served interests divergent from its mandate to non-self-governing territories.