Cameroon became a German colony in 1884, known as Kamerun. After Germany’s defeat in the first world war, the administration of the colony was divided between Britain and France, becoming UN Trust Territories after the end of the second world war and the creation of the United Nations.
The United Nations Trust Territory known as French Cameroun achieved independence from France on January 1st 1960, and British Southern Cameroons became a federated state within Cameroon on October 1st 1961.
On May 20th 1972, in a national referendum, Cameroonians voted for a unitary state as opposed to the existing federal state. President Ahmadou Ahidjo then abolished the federal system of government in favour of a unitary state, the Republic of Cameroon.
Most countries operate under a unitary system. A unitary state is governed as a single power under the control of a central government and any powers for administrative divisions are delegated from central government.