[3] In particular, Julius von Soden, the Governor of Cameroon in the 1880s, supported Duala as a recognized lingua franca in the colony, although he maintained that German should be the language of instruction in schools for brighter pupils.
Since Duala was also being used by the missionaries in their schools, it was difficult for Cameroonians to become educated and obtain business, teaching, or government positions without knowledge of the language.
Therefore, upon becoming Governor of Cameroon, Jesko von Puttkamer decided to suppress Duala and other local languages, such as Ewe in Togoland, and promote German in the colony instead.
Puttkamer blamed the Protestant missionaries for the lack of German-language use in Cameroon, and pressured them to stop using Duala in their schools and official communications.
Duala is also used on an unofficial ad hoc basis in other schools as a medium of primary instruction to facilitate understanding.
[10] The song Alane by artist Wes Madiko is sung in Duala and reached the #1 chart position in at least 10 European countries.