Diversity, Identity and Le Vivre Ensemble in the Northwest Region of Cameroon since Precolonial Times

Abstract

Le vivre ensemble recently dominated political discourse in Cameroon due to the difficult cohabitation between the more than 250 ethnic groups that make up the Cameroon ‘nation'. The outcome has been inter-ethnic conflicts and the resurgence of identity crisis. If Cameroon is African in miniature because of its ethnic diversities, then the North West Region is Cameroon in miniature because its populations came from almost all the cultural spheres of Cameroon. This paper attempts an investigation into the attractiveness of the destination for settlers, the identity crisis that emerged from the settlement of strangers and the symbiosis and apparent calm that characterise autochthon-settler relationship in the Northwest Region since Precolonial Times.  Data was collected from primary and secondary sources and the qualitative method used to analyse it. The findings suggest that the region's economic potentials, the hospitality of its indigenes and the inter-dependence between the various ethnic groups made for thelevivre ensemble that characterised the peoples. Unlike the economically advanced Southern part of Cameroon where le vivre ensemble was problematic, the Northwest region has experienced some level of integration amongst different communities probably because of the non-politicisation of identity. The Northwest Region can therefore serve as a veritable laboratory for Cameroon at this time that national unity and national integration are threatened by ethnic and other forms of sub nationalisms.