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How did Cameroon achieve independence?

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French Cameroun gained independence as the Republic of Cameroon on January 1, 1960, with Ahmadou Ahidjo as president. The fate of the two components that comprised British Cameroons was decided in a UN-supervised plebiscite in February 1961, in which the southern portion voted to unite with the former French Cameroun, thus creating the Federal Republic of Cameroon, and the northern portion voted to join the newly independent Federation of Nigeria.