The Rallying Song is the National Anthem of Cameroon.
The piece was jointly composed by students of the first batch of the Mfoulassi teacher-training school (1925-1928), with the intention of composing a rallying song, and which succeeded beyond all their imagination.
Waza Park, North Cameroon
The major authors were Rene Djam Afana, Samuel Minko Bamba and Moïse Nyatte Nko'o. In 1957, when the country became autonomous, this rallying song, often sung unofficially during ceremonies, was adopted as the national anthem.
Kribi beach
The lyrics of this anthem, which were modified in 1978, have a rather patriotic and delightful nature, which symbolizes the Cameroonian soul. They portray the basic values of humanity: work, love, and commitment to peace and liberty.
O Cameroon, Thou Cradle of our Fathers,
Holy Shrine where in our midst they now repose,
Their tears and blood and sweat thy soil did water,
On thy hills and valleys once their tillage rose.
Dear Fatherland, thy worth no tongue can tell!
How can we ever pay thy due?
Thy welfare we will win in toil and love and peace,
Will be to thy name ever true!
Chorus:
Land of Promise, land of Glory!
Thou, of life and joy, our only store!
Thine be honour, thine devotion,
And deep endearment, for evermore.
From Shari, from where the Mungo meanders
From along the banks of lowly Boumba Stream,
Muster thy sons in union close around thee,
Mighty as the Buea Mountain be their team;
Instil in them the love of gentle ways,
Regret for errors of the past;
Foster, for Mother Africa, a loyalty
That true shall remain to the last.