RELATIONS BETWEEN THE ‘IGBO CHURCH’ IN TIKO AND THE CAMEROONIAN GOVERNMENT, 1982 – 2021

Abstract

Tiko was once under the German and British colonial rule at different times. The British who took over from the Germans introduced Anglicanism as chapels were set up on the plantations left by the Germans. St Andrew’s Anglican Church was one of the offshoots of the earlier chapels. This church later became known unofficially as Igbo Church due to the near absolute presence of the Igbo people from Nigeria as congregants. This study examined the relations between the Igbo Church and Cameroonian authorities which at a point turned sour, and is rarely reported by scholars. Primary, secondary and tertiary sources were employed in conducting this research. The social identity theory of Tayfel and Turner in which the processes of social categorization, identification and comparison are proposed were adopted to highlight the relations between the Igbo migrant group and its host. Findings revealed that the Igbo of Nigeria contributed to the growth and sustenance of the Anglican Communion in Tiko. Also, the government authorities imposed a levy on the church since its headquarters was in Nigeria instead of Cameroon, implying that churches that had their headquarters in Cameroon were not levied. The headquarters was later moved from Nigeria to Ghana and then from Ghana to Douala in East Cameroon. Moreso, Cameroonians that were not initially members of the Anglican Communion joined the church which was dominated by priests of Igbo extraction to become priests. Recommendations were made concerning the continuous cordial relations between the churches in Cameroon and the authorities after the soured relations in the 1980s. One of the recommendations was that the Cameroonian government should relax unfriendly policies against churches as they instill morality in the congregants which help to build public morality and ensure that only churches with questionable activities should be banned.