Crossing Frontiers: Historical Insights into Nigerian Migration to the South West Region of Cameroon, 1961-2024

Oral Sources Interview with Olim Denis, treasurer of the Nigerian Union, Mbakem village, farmer, 16 August 2025.Mbakem Interview with Okoli Bassey, president of the Nigerian Union, farmer, 19 May 2024, Akwen. Interview with Chuku Peter, president of the Nigerian Union, Mamfe, 19 August 2025, Mamfe. Interview with Clifford Ihanacho, Nigerian trader, 21 October 2025, Kumba. Interview with Eroni Justus, vice president of the Nigerian Union, 21 August 2025, Kumba. Interview with Frida Akpan, farmer and businessman, 19 May 2024, Akwen. Interview with Ita Jack Ayamba, lord mayor of Eyumojock, interviewed by Ashu Nyenti, 28 November 2024, Yaoundé. Interview with Ndifon Michael Abe, lecturer of Theatre and Media, University of Calabar, 15 June 2024, online. Interview with Ayum Rolan, Cocoa farmer, Okurikang, Mamfe Ngang Valery Akat, Cocoa farmer and trader, Inokun, Buea Babatunde Quadri (Nigerian Student Union President), interviewed by the author, 26th may 2026, Buea. Archival Sources NAB, file no. TA1962/4. Nigeria-Cameroon Relations. NAB, file no. Tc(1966)9. Refugees, Nigerians and Biafrans in Cameroon, 1966-1970. NAB, file no. sp 65939/1/1926. Ikom-Mamfe Bamenda road. NAB, file no. TA1962/11. Police co-operation. NAB, file no. TA1965/5. Cameroon-Nigeria Relations. NAB, file no. TA1961/4. Immigration and travel documents interim arrangements, West Cameroon. Secondary Sources “ICE Case Studies: The Biafran War.” American University: ICE Case Studies, 1997. Adegoke, Yemisi. “Nigeria to Surpass the US as World’s 3rd Most Populous Country.” CNN, 26 June 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2020. Adewale Oluwaseun Motadegbe and Ridwan Ishola Mogaji. “Migration and National Development in Nigeria: A Critical Examination of Lee’s Theory of Migration” JEPSD,1(1),(2025), 35-42 https: //doi.org /10. 69798/83725171 Adewunmi, James Falode. “The Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970: A Revolution?” African Journal of Political Science and International Relations 5, no. 3 (2011): 120-124. Alesina, Alberto, Ule Ozler, et al. “Political Instability and Economic Growth.” Journal of Economic Growth 1 (1996): 189-211. Ali A. Albar. And Uriel U. Onye, “The Influence of University Strikes on Educational Systems: An Exploratory Pilot Study on Nigerian Students”, International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology Vol. 6, No. 3; June 2016 Amaechi, N. Can Nigeria Survive? Political Sociology of How Nigerians Underdeveloped Nigeria. Jos, Nigeria: TransAfrican Links, 1994. Amin, Julius A. “Cameroon’s Relations Toward Nigeria: A Foreign Policy of Pragmatism.” Modern African Studies 58, no. 1 (2020): 1-22. Aremu, Johnson Olaosebikan, and Buhari, Lateef Oluwafemi. “Sense and Senselessness of War: Aggregating the Causes, Gains and Losses of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970.” IAFOR Journal of Arts & Humanities 4, no. 1 (2017): 61-79. Art, Robert J., et al. International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues. 14th ed. New York: Pearson, 2019: 176. Arua, Oko Omaka. “The Forgotten Victims: Ethnic Minorities in the Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967- 1970.” Journal of Retracing Africa 1, no. 1 (2014): 25-40. AJHA E-ISSN 2579-048X , Atom, Victor Ntui. “The Creation of Border Zones and The Rise of Petty Trading Among Immigrants on the Southern Crescent of the Cameroon-Nigeria Boundary, 1965 to 2015.” African Humanities 7 (2022): 94-111. Awah, Laive Fru. “Conformism in Cameroon Politics: A Strategy for Survival in Repressive Democracy, 1960-1990.” American Journal of Development Studies 3, no. 2 (2025): 27-35. Bariledum, Kia. “Nigeria-Cameroon Diplomatic Relations: Dynamics, Challenges and Strategic Options.” KIU Journal of Social Sciences 6, no. 3 (2020): 127-134. Bonchuk, M. O. “Colonial Policies and Migrations Across the Nigeria-Cameroon Boundary, 1884-1961.” The Nigerian Academic Forum 3 (November 2004): 1-7. Bonchuk, Michael O. “Migrations Across International Boundaries and the Nationality and Citizenship Question in South West Cameroon.” LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research 8, no. 1 (2011): 106-116. Bonchuk, Michael Omang. “Migrations Across International Boundaries and the Nationality and Citizenship Question in South West Cameroon.” LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research 8, no. 1 (2011): 106-116. Brands, Hal, and Jeremi Suri. “History and Foreign Policy: Making the Relationship Work.” Accessed April 2016. FPRI. https://fpri.org/article/2016/04/history-foreign-policy- making-relationship-work/. Che, Julien Ngum. “The Socio-Economic Space of Nigerian Women in Tiko, Cameroon.” World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews 24, no. 02 (2024): 1817–1825. https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2024.24.2.3548. Chimobi, Ucha. “Poverty in Nigeria: Some Dimensions and Contributing Factors.” Global Majority E-Journal 1, no. 1 (June 2010): 46-56. Collins Dictionary https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/nigerian, Diane Werneke. “Developing a Definition for Economic Hardship.” Monthly Labour Review 102, no. 1 (1979): 65-66. Egwu, Grace Ewor, and Isma’il Husain Mshelia. “A Chronology of Corruption and Leadership Woes in Nigeria: 1960–2023.” 2024: 1-23. Esara, Mfonobong, and Okorobia, Atei. “Pre-Colonial Diplomatic Ties between Nigeria and Cameroon.” Port Harcourt Journal of History & Diplomatic Studies, vol. 8, no. 3 (September 2021). www.phjhds.com. Eshiet, Grace. “Nigeria’s Foreign Policy from 1960 – Global Era: What Went Wrong?” Master’s thesis, Palacky University, 2018: 17-18. Fagbadebo, Omololu. “Corruption, Governance and Political Instability in Nigeria.” African Journal of Political Science and International Relations 1, no. 2 (2007): 28-37. Fonkeng, Primus. “United Nations Influence on Cameroon-Nigeria Relations 1946-2006: A Historical Investigation.” Doctorate thesis, University of Yaoundé I, 2012. Gelman, Susan A., and Steven O. Roberts. “How Language Shapes the Cultural Inheritance of Categories.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, no. 30 (July 24, 2017): 7900-7907. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1621073114. Ihonvbere, Julius O. “A Critical Evaluation of the Failed 1990 Coup in Nigeria.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 29, no. 4 (1991): 601-626. Jowett, Philip S., and Raffaele Ruggeri. Modern African Wars 5: The Nigerian Biafran War 1967-70. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2021. Katz, Jeffrey Owen, and Donna L. McCormick. The Encyclopedia of Trading Strategies. McGraw-Hill, 2000. Krishnakumar, P., and Indumathi T. “Pull and Push Factors of Migration.” Global Management Review 8, no. 4 (2014): 8. AJHA E-ISSN 2579-048X , Labo, A. “The Motivation and Integration of Immigrants in the Nigeria-Niger Border Area: A Study of Magama-Jibi.” Transnational Africa. IFRA-Nigeria, 2000: 3-21. DOI: 10.4000/books.ifra.964. Lundy, Karen Saucier. “Historical Research.” In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., (2008). https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412963909.n199. Mamadouh, Virginie, and Gertjan Dijkink. “Geopolitics, International Relations and Political Geography: The Politics of Geopolitical Discourse.” Volume 11 (2006): 349-366. Mazov, Serge V. “The Soviet Union and the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970): Military and Technical Co-operation with the Federal Military Government of Nigeria.” In Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and Africa. DOI: 10.1515/97831107757-015. Metz, Helen Chapin. Nigeria: A Country Study. Area Handbook Series. Research Completed June 1991: 215-221. Molokwu, Ubaka Cosmas, et al. “Colonialism, Migration and Intergroup Relations in Africa: The Igbo and Their Southern Cameroon Neighbors, 1916-2014.” Cogent Arts & Humanities 10, no. 2 (2023): 2286070. DOI: 10.1080/23311983.2023.2286070. Morgenthau, Hans J. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005: 4-5. Mwakikagile, Godfrey. Ethnic Politics in Kenya and Nigeria. Huntington: Nova Publishers, 2005. Ngenge, Simon Tata. “African Integration: Hurdles of Movements of Goods and People on the Bamenda-Mamfe-Ekok-Ikom-Abakaliki–Enugu Corridor since 2014.” International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science 3, no. 1 (2019): 2454- 6186. Ngoh, Victor J. “The Political Evolution of Cameroon, 1884-1961.” Master’s dissertation, 1979: 80. Njingti Budi, Reymond. “Southern Cameroonians in Nigerian Politics, 1922-1961: Resistance to Political Domination.” Afro Asian Journal of Social Sciences 9, no. 3 (Quarter III 2018): 1-20. Nkwocha, Onyema. The Republic of Biafra: Once Upon a Time in Nigeria: My Story of the Biafra-Nigerian Civil War - A Struggle for Survival (1967–1970). Bloomington: Author House, 2010: 25. ISBN 978-1-4520-6867-1. Nwoke, Joseph Okechukwu, and Emejulu, Ify Henrietta. “The Igbo Identity and Its Interpretation in West Cameroon, 1970–1997.” 144-164. Nye, Joseph S., Jr. Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History. 9th ed. New York: Pearson, 2018: 123-124. Odegowi, Tunde. “From Conquest to Independence: The Nigerian Colonial Experience.” HAOL, no. 25 (2011): 19-29. Ogbeidi, M. M. “Political Leadership and Corruption in Nigeria Since 1960: A Socio- Economic Analysis.” Journal of Nigeria Studies 1, no. 2 (2012): 1–25. Ponge Ambrosb, Possoh. “Plantation and National Development: A Case Study of Plantation Agriculture in the Socio-Economic and Spatial Development of the S.W. Province of Cameroon.” Master’s thesis, NC GILL University, 1985. Shulika, Lukong Stella. “Nigeria-Cameroon Relations: An Appraisal.” In Nigeria-Cameroon Relations: An Appraisal, edited by Oluwaseun Tella. Cham: Springer International, 2021: 101-112. Tataru, G. F. “Migration: An Overview on Terminology, Causes and Effects.” Logos Universality Mentality Education Novelty: Law 7, no. 2 (2019): 10-29. AJHA E-ISSN 2579-048X , Tazoacha, Francis, and Tsafack, Delmas. “Revisiting Free Trade in The Bimbia During the Pre-colonial Era from an Oral Perspective.” March 2023. Article / ©Nkafu Policy Institute. [email protected]. www.nkafu.org. Uchime, Victoria Ozioma, et al. “Colonialism, Migration and Intergroup Relations in Africa: The Igbo and Their Southern Cameroon Neighbours, 1916-2014.” Cogent Arts & Humanities 10, no. 2 (2023): 2286070. DOI: 10.1080/23311983.2023.2286070. Veljanovska Blazhevska, Katerina. “Factors That Influence the Process of Migration of Youth: A Case Study of Kosovo.” Security and Defence Quarterly 17, no. 4 (2017): 48-73. Wyss, Marco. “Neo-Imperial Cold War? Biafra’s Franco-African Arms Triangle.” Journal of African History 2024: 47-65.