and leaders", and party schools were created. On an organizational level, he defended the strengthening of "base committees" to build a party acting from below and preferred to speak of a "movement" rather than a "party" for this reason. The UPC published three newspapers (La Voix du Cameroun, l'Étoile, and Lumière) largely focused on three main themes: national independence, the reunification of the former German Kamerun and social justice. Um Nyobè opposed tribalism and its instrumentation by colonialism as a factor of division: "Such a situation requires us to break with outdated tribalism and retrograde regionalism which, now and in the future, represent a real danger for the development of this Cameroonian nation". Opposed to armed struggle and violence, he encouraged his supporters to conduct only peaceful actions such as boycotts, strikes and demonstrations. Most UPC meetings ended with the Cameroonian national anthem and La Marseillaise, while Um Nyobé repeated that he did not confuse "the people of France with the French colonialists". Um Nyobè made multiple forays in the United Nations both in 1952 and in 1954 speaking on behalf of the people of Cameroon and other colonized African countries. He expressed his view of independence as an appeal to the natives of all countries. As leader of the UPC, he made many gestures of integrity where he refused to negotiate with the French. Um Nyobè was initially opposed to violence. In 1952, he stated that "the armed struggle was carried out once and for all by the Cameroonians who contributed greatly to the defeat of German fascism. The fundamental freedoms whose application and independence we claim and towards which we must resolutely march are no longer things to be conquered by armed struggle. It is precisely to prevent such a possibility that the United Nations Charter called for the right of peoples to self-determination. Nevertheless, it recognizes the right of peoples to armed struggle elsewhere on the planet, when circumstances so require". He also saluted the "heroic struggles" led by the Vietnamese of Việt Minh and the Algerians of the FLN. On June 13, 1955, the UPC was banned by the French government and its militants went into hiding. Um Nyobè was killed by the French army on 13 September 1958. After his death, he was replaced by Félix-Roland Moumié. Until the 1990s, any mention of Um Nyobè was prohibited in Cameroon. References External links 1913 births 1958