By Kini Nsom
The ceremony at Akwa village, situated northeast of the Bakassi Peninsula that marked the handing over of the oil rich area to Cameroon, on August 14, signaled an end to the diplomatic rigmarole that dictated the pace of the crisis after the world court verdict in 2002.
Bakassi inhabitants
In what observers described as a quintessence in peaceful conflict resolution in Africa, the Nigerian flag was lowered while that of Cameroon was hoisted.
The event marked the implementation of the Green Tree Accord that was initiated by the Kofi Annan, Paul Biya, Olusegun Obasanjo "Blessed Trinity" on June 12 in New York.
As the last contingent of the over 3000 Nigerian troops left the erstwhile disputed territory, diplomatic sweet-talk triumphed. But, beneath this sweet talk lies the agonising plight of over 30,000 Nigerian citizens who would not want to be administered by the Cameroonian authorities.
According to BBC online news, the predominantly Nigerian population is unhappy about the handover. Nigerian inhabitants have been given the option of staying in the peninsula under the Cameroonian authority or be resettled in Nigeria.
But some Nigerian citizens are torn between leaving the place to be resettled under the Nigerian administration and staying in their ancestral land rich in fish as foreigners in Cameroon.
According to sources in Bakassi, the ceremony at Akwa village, which the Nigerians call Archibong, was void of any civilian population. Observers quickly interpreted their absence to the disapproving stance of Nigerian citizens of the handover.
The BBC news also quoted some young men in the area as saying that they will stay and fight any attempt by Cameroon to administer the place.A circa 20 percent of the peninsula that is almost entirely inhabited by Nigerians, will remain in the hands of the Nigerian authorities until after two years.
According to the Green Tree Accord, these areas are the Idabato locality and the Akwa Island. Going by the terms of this concession, Nigeria should not carry out any activities that could jeopardize the peace and security.
Besides, Nigerian authorities have been cautioned against carrying out any moves that are likely to perturb the smooth transfer of administration to Cameroon after two years.
The Obasanjo government will also have to guard against any change of property rights and avoid the stationing of Nigerian troops in the area.
No Customs Rights
Cameroon is expected to restrain from exercising customs rights on Nigerians living in the area, according to the accord. More so, Cameroon will allow Nigerian police get into the area in case of criminal issues concerning Nigerians.
It is stated that after five years, Nigerian citizens in the area would have to leave the place or hearken to the conditions of living in a foreign country. After this period, they would be expected to meet immigration police and begin paying for residence permits.
Different speakers at last Monday's hand-over ceremony said they were celebrating the paragon of diplomatic approach to problem solving in Africa invented by Obasanjo and Biya with the help of Annan.
It was in this spirit that the Governor of the Nigerian Cross River State, Donald Duke, cautioned Nigerian citizens to pay due respect and loyalty to the Cameroonian authorities in Bakassi until they decide to quit the area.
The Nigerian Attorney General and Federal Minister of Justice, Bayo Ojo, took his country's flag back home indicating that Nigeria was humbly and honorably bowing out of Bakassi for the sake of justice, peace and security.
For one thing, Cameroonian authorities apparently downplayed the event, avoiding any situation that would portray them as the victor and Nigeria, the vanquished.
According to a government source, this is why the authorities decided to send the Minister Delegate in the Ministry of Justice and Keeper of the Seal, Prof. Maurice Kamto, instead of a more top-level government official.
The British High Commissioner to Cameroon, H.E. Syd Maddicot among other diplomats, witnessed the occasion.
The Chairman of the UN Follow-up Committee of the Green Tree Accord, Sir Kierene Prendergast, the Chief of Nigeria Defence staff, General Martin Lurther Agwai and the leader of the Cameroonian 23 member delegation, Prof. Maurice Kamto, all lauded the Heads of State of Nigeria and Cameroon for their clairvoyance in conflict resolution.
Observers hold that the enormity of the praises poured on the two leaders could be understood on the basis that the Bakassi conflict dates back to 1981 when the two countries nearly went to war over the peninsula that contains up to 10 percent of the worlds' oil and gas reserves and is rich in fish.
In 1994, the two countries were involved in bloody skirmishes in the area that claimed 34 lives. That is why Cameroon took Nigeria to the International Court of Justice, ICJ, that same year. It was in 2002 that the ICJ passed its verdict, declaring that Bakassi belongs to Cameroon.
Nigeria rejected the ruling, but the UN intervened, and caused the two countries to set up a UN-chaired mixed commission to ensure the implementation of the ICJ ruling.
Thus, the August 14 hand-over ceremony was a logical culmination, of four tripartite meetings between Obasanjo, Biya and Annan, 14 meetings of the Cameroon-Nigerian mixed commission and the Green Tree Accord.
It it Ludicrous that the Media is wryly leaving out the actual onwers of Bakassi. Erswhile Southern Cameroons AKA AMBAZONIA.LRC has no locus standi in Bakassi in Iternational Law.LRC is just a malicious colonial encroacher with an ambition to annex and steal the resources of Ambazonia buckshee,With the help of Euro-Americo imperialist forces.There is huge oil deposits there, economic interest is now preceding the legal bases of the Green tree fraud sanctioned by the UN and her secretary general.Shame on you all evil doers. Ambazonia will prevail.
Culled from [WEST AFRICA], 26 March 1995] pp 413
Border Dispute "NO WIN WITHOUT AMBAZONIA"
Summary: Ambazonia the former British Southern Cameroons) a buffer state is located between Nigeria's South Eastern boundary and Cameroun Republic. The final outcome of the case presently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), will be dependent upon whether or not Ambazonia is acknowledged as a sovereign state. Ned Nwoko gives a studied opinion on this rather complicated matter.
By Chinedu Munir Nwoko, LLM (Lond) B.L., a historian, author and solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
[Begin extract quote]
INTERNATIONAL LAW ACKNOWLEDGES Ambazonia as a state with internationally recognized boundaries (fixed by the League of Nations, inherited by the United Nations and which remains so today. Cameroun has been forced to drop the politics of claiming that Ambazonia is part of a single Cameroonian nation. In its litigation it, in effect, claims that it is suing Nigeria in exercise of a mandate given to it by the Ambazonian people. According to Cameroon's statement of claim, the Ambazonian people gave it that mandate through the United Nations plebiscite of February 1961.
That has now put the said plebiscite in issue and raised the question; had the UN legal authority to conduct the said plebiscite in Ambazonia after trusteeship had technically been terminated with the promulgation of the territory's independent constitution in October 1960? The answer is that according to the UN Charter Article 76 B, the UN trusteeship over territory ends once the territory has achieved self-government or independence.
In 1958 Ambazonia achieved self-government, then in 1959 the UN passed a resolution severing it from
Nigeria, and in October 1960, an independent Constitution was promulgated for the territory. Therefore, the UN had no legal authority, and therefore the plebiscite was invalid.
Another question asked is; what then was the object of the plebiscite? The answer is that from the terms in the manifesto "The Two Alternatives", the plebiscite was to give the UN a mandate to either "append" Ambazonia again with Nigeria if the people voted for joining Nigeria or to unite Cameroun and
Ambazonia in a confederacy of sovereign states, if they voted for joining Cameroon. Therefore, Cameroons
claim that Ambazonian people gave the Cameroon Republic a mandate to annex Ambazonia has no legal
basis at all.
Yet, another question is: did the UN implement the Ambazonia plebiscite? The plebiscite manifesto states
that if the people opted for joining Cameroon, then there would be a post-plebiscite UN conference to work out a draft constitution, which Ambazonia and Cameroon would then submit to their population for approval. But then the UN soon realized that a plebiscite in Ambazonia was without legal authority and the mandate it purported to give was invalid. So the UN dropped the proposed confederacy and scrapped the commission of experts it had appointed for that purpose. So to this day, no such UN conference has been convened.
What all this means is that Cameroons claim based on the UN plebiscite has already collapsed before Nigeria files its own statement of defense. Worse for Cameroon is the fact that Ambazonia has at long last asserted its sovereignty and filed an inter-pleader summons at the ICJ in its own right. As this would effectively deprive Cameroon of any right to sue Nigeria on Bakassi, the United States, which is interested in preventive diplomacy to avoid wars, has written the ICJ register on the Ambazonian inter-pleader.
Paris has also mounted pressure on president Biya to recognize Ambazonia as a sovereign state, create an
Ambazonia-Cameroon confederacy and make Ambazonia a co-plaintive against Nigeria. Biya is reluctant
because a confederacy would exclude Ambazonia from Cameroons presidential elections and so allay Paris's fears of an Ambazonian becoming Cameroon's president which would then open the entire UDEAC central African sub region to US, UK and German influence. It is that French fear which gives Biya the French support which he needs to stay in power. But it is certain that to stand a chance of winning the case at the ICJ Biya will have to yield to Paris and recognize Ambazonia.
On the other hand, Ambazonia regards itself as a sovereign and the proposal for an Ambazonian-Cameroon
confederacy is not an issue for its consideration. It is clear that if Nigeria, on its part, wants to win the case, it must not only recognize Ambazonia as a sovereign state, but it should do so right away, so as to prevent Cameroon springing a Cameroon-Ambazonia confederacy just before March 31, the deadline ICJ has given Cameroon to file its statement of claim.
The benefits Nigeria would have for recognizing Ambazonia as a sovereign state immediately are as
follows:
--Since Cameroon had no legal authority to act on behalf of Ambazonia, any recognition of Ambazonia by
Nigeria as a sovereign state would formally render all previous accords between Nigeria and Cameroon on
the Nigerian-Ambazonian boundary absolutely null and void.
-- However, if Nigeria is bound by other acts of General Gowon, including his seizure of power in
violation of the Nigerian constitution, the ICJ will certainly hold Nigeria bound with Ahidjo-Gowon
Accords.
--Recognition of Ambazonia would deprive Cameroon Republic of any claim of thought to sue Nigeria
Nigeria would then move the court under Article 79 of the ICJ rules to strike out the case because Cameroon has no locus standi.
--By recognizing Ambazonia, Nigeria would thus negotiate with Ambazonia on the basis of mutual
sovereign equality. This sovereign equality would make any agreement between Nigeria and Ambazonia on
boundary adjustments valid and unimpeachable
--Nigeria is more likely to get a better deal from little brother Ambazonia than from the Franco-Cameroonian alliance.
--Nigeria's influence on Ambazonia here after would be incalculable, especially since the entire Cross-River State claims ethnic origin from the affinity with Ambazonia. The young generations of the Ejaghams and Bokis no longer see the boundaries separating Nigeria and Ambazonian Ejaghams and Bokis.
--By recognizing Ambazonia, Nigeria would be playing "the general's role ensuring Ambazonia's right to self-determination (just as) India did in the vital role which included …supporting Bangladesh's right to self
determination."
--Finally, on the plane of international diplomacy, Nigeria's recognition of Ambazonia would:
-(a) Shift the burden to the international community and the United Nations which must then show a legal
justification for keeping Ambazonia our of the United Nations;
-(b) Open the way for preventive diplomacy to move in and prevent an Ambazonian-Cameroon bloodbath, which is already looming and will definitely make the human tragedy in Rwanda look like child's play; and
-(c) Prevent the exodus of millions of refugees fleeing such a tragedy into Nigeria, which would have
a destabilizing effect on Nigeria.
[end extract quote]
By Ned Nwoko (West Africa, March 26, 1995, pp. 413.
Posted by: Ndiks | Friday, 18 August 2006 at 12:21 PM