COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Fon van Bafut poseert bij de mierenval op zijn erf TMnr 20012968

Achirimbi II was the tenth Fon ("

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

") who ruled over the town of

Bafut Bafut may refer to several things relating to Cameroon: * Bafut language * Bafut Subdivision ** Bafut, Cameroon, the headquarters town of the subdivision * Bafut Wars, a series of early 20th-century wars * Fon of Bafut The Fon of Bafut is the f ...

and adjoining areas (the

Fondom of Bafut The Bafut Subdivision or the Kingdom/Chiefdom/Fondom of Bafut is a commune in the Mezam Department of Northwest Province, Cameroon. It is located in the Western Grassfields region - a name for the Northwest Province and surrounding grassland are ...

) in a semi-autonomous fashion. His reign lasted from 1932 to 1968, and included the time of handover from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

trust territory of

Southern Cameroons The Southern Cameroons was the southern part of the British League of Nations mandate territory of the British Cameroons in West Africa. Since 1961, it has been part of the Republic of Cameroon, where it makes up the Northwest Region and Southw ...

, part of

British Cameroons British Cameroons or British Cameroon was a British Empire, British League of Nations mandate, mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of the Bor ...

to the independent

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. He was preceded by Abumbi I and succeeded by Abumbi II. He alienated himself from other Fons by being sympathetic to the

cause. He was awarded a Certificate of Honour in 1946 by the British government 'as a record of the valuable services rendered by him to his own country and people and to the British Government... and loyal services given to the Administration in the maintenance of good order'. Achirimbi II took advantage of his favourable standing with the administration and sought compensation for loss of sovereignty to arrogate to himself the residual powers the sub-chiefs or the Atangchuo, had retained over land matters and other disputes. He was befriended by the famous naturalist

Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell Order of the British Empire, OBE (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservation movement, conservationist, and television presenter. He was born in Jamshedpur in British Ind ...

, who visited Bafut on his animal-collecting expeditions twice, in 1949 and 1957. The Fon helped Durrell substantially in these expeditions. The books written by Durrell about these expeditions, ''

The Bafut Beagles ''The Bafut Beagles'' by British naturalist Gerald Durrell tells the story of Durrell's 1949 expedition to the Cameroons collecting animals for zoos, made with Kenneth Smith. Published in 1954, it was Durrell's third book for popular audiences. P ...

'' and ''

A Zoo in My Luggage ''A Zoo in My Luggage'' by British naturalist Gerald Durrell is the story of Durrell's 1957 animal collecting trip to British Cameroon, the northwestern corner of present-day Cameroon. First published in 1960, it is one of a half-dozen books ab ...

'', portray the Fon mostly in a humorous fashion,

lampoon Lampoon may refer to: *Parody, a satirical imitative creative work *Amphol Lampoon (born 1963), Thai actor and singer *''The Harvard Lampoon'', an American humor magazine ** ''National Lampoon'' (magazine), an American humor magazine ***National L ...

ing his

polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

anglophile An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents. In some cases, Anglophilia refers to an individual's appreciation of English history and traditional English cultural ico ...

perspective, and high tolerance for

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, but also in more flattering ways. The Fon awarded Durrell the ceremonial dress and staff during his second expedition. Fon Achirimbi II is famous for having remarked about the choice to join independent Cameroon or independent

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

from the British Cameroons in 1961, saying it was a choice between the "Fire and the Deep Sea". He was considered by many as being progressive and willing to experiment with new ideas. He was treated with respect by both colonial administrators and nationalist politicians.

References

*''Achirimbi II: Fon of Bafut'', written by Michael Aletum Tabuwé {{Gerald Durrell Cameroonian traditional rulers