Communication in the British Colonial Bamenda Grassfields: Development of Post Offices and Postal Services

Communication remains a fundamental aspect of man’s life, existence, interactions and evolution. This paper takes off from indigenous African communication (modes and mediums), to examine the enhancement of communication in the British Colonial Bamenda Grassfields. The study based on a vast array of archival and secondary sources, unveils the centrality of the need of a flexible and fluid communication channel in the implementation and effectiveness of the colonial machinery in the Bamenda Grassfields. The study also reveals the readiness and engagement of the indigenes in the development of post offices and postal services as it was a means through which they sustained contacts and affinities with their kith and kin whom most migrated to distant coastal towns in search of jobs and livelihood. The development of post offices and postal agencies was a very popularly welcomed initiative especially amongst the indigenes. One can therefore maintain that the development of post offices and postal services in the Bamenda Grassfields was thanks to the collective efforts of the colonial administration and the indigenes. This also laid the foundation for post-colonial communications services. In fact, most if not all of the vestiges of the British colonial administration in terms of communication channels and services in the Bamenda Grassfields were the first generation of post-independence postal operations and services.