Early Life
Ahidjo was born in Garoua, a major river port along the Benue River in northern Cameroun, at the time a French mandate territory. His father was a Fulani village chief, while his mother was a Fulani of slave descent.
Ahidjo's mother raised him as a Muslim and sent him to Quranic school as a child. In 1932, he began attending local government primary school. After failing his first school certification examination in 1938, Ahidjo worked for a few months in the veterinary service. He returned to school and obtained his school certification a year later. Ahidjo spent the next three years attending secondary school at the École Primaire Supérieure in Yaoundé, the capital of the mandate, intending a career in the civil service. Ahidjo also played soccer at school and competed as a cyclist.
In 1942, Ahmadou Ahidjo joined the civil service as a radio operator for a postal service. He worked on assignments in several major cities throughout the country, including Douala, Ngaoundéré, Bertoua, and Mokolo. According to his official biographer, Ahidjo was the first civil servant from northern Cameroun to work in the southern areas of the territory. His experiences throughout the country were, according to Harvey Glickman, professor emeritus of political science at Haverford College and scholar of African politics, responsible for fostering his sense of national identity and helped him address the problems of governing a multiethnic state.
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