The Cameroon-Nigeria Border Dispute. Management and Resolution, 1981-2011

V. Lukong

Description

At independence, Cameroon and Nigeria adhered to the OAU principle of UTI POSSEDETIS JURIS by inheriting the colonial administrative borders whose delineation in some parts was either imperfect or not demarcated or both. The two countries tried to correct these anomalies. But such efforts were later thwarted by incessant geostrategic reckoning, dilatory, and diversionary tactics in the seventies and eighties that persisted and resurfaced in the nineties with a more determined posture. On two occasions, the border conflict almost boiled over to a full-scale war. First, in May 1981 when there was the exchange of fire between Cameroonian and Nigerian coast guards and second, in February 1994 when Nigeria marched her troops into Cameroon�s Bakassi Peninsula. Elsewhere in Africa, border incidents like these have often degenerated into war. But Cameroon and Nigeria together with the international community managed these protracted incidents from escalating into war. This book examines the part played by the disputing parties, Cameroon and Nigeria; the mediation, conciliatory and adjudicatory role of third parties; and the regional and international organisations, in the process of the resolution of the border dispute from 1981-2011. The study situates the nature and dynamics of the dispute historically, and comprehensively explores in detail its causes, settlement and resolution.

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 30 août 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9789956726240
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

MANAGEMENT AND RESOLUTION, 1981-2011

HILARY V. LUKONG

The Cameroon–Nigeria Border Dispute: Management and Resolution, 1981-2011 Hilary V. Lukong L a ng a a R esea rch & P u blishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookcollective.com ISBN: 9956-717-59-2 ©Hilary V. Lukong 2011 Cover Photo: Presidents Biya, Obasanjo and UN Secretary General, Annan in Geneva, January 2004. Courtesy ofCameroon Tribune.

DISCLAIMER All views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Langaa RPCIG.

To Jacky

Table of Contents List of Illustrations......................................................................... viii List of Tables................................................................................. ix Foreword........................................................................................... xi Acknowledgements........................................................................ xiii Abbreviations and Acronyms......................................................... xv Introduction................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. Stakes and Causes of the Border Dispute............. 9 Historico-Diplomatic Causes......................................................... 10 Constant boundary changes between colonial masters..................... 10 Non application of bilateral frontier agreements............................ 18 Security and Strategic Considerations............................................. 21 Security imperatives and geostrategic importance of some border areas..................................................................... 21 The quest for national cohesion....................................................... 24 Socio-Economic Considerations........................................................ 27 Population movements across the frontier.................................... 27 Economic needs of Nigeria and Cameroon.................................... 30 Chapter 2. Bilateral Management of the Border Dispute, 1981- 2002.............................................................................................. 37 The Role of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Boundary Commission, 1991-1993................................................ 37 Promotion of trans-frontier cooperation........................................... 38 Promotion of bilateral relations and sub regional integration................................................................. 38

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The Yola Seminar Workshop, May 1992....................................... 39 Objectives...................................................................................... 39 Identified problems and recommended solutions........................... 40 The Role of the Cameroon-Nigeria Joint Commission, 1987-2002............................................................... 43 Promotion of trans-frontier cooperation.......................................... 43 Promotion of bilateral relations........................................................ 44 High-Level Talks and Declarations on the Border Issue, 1981-2002................................................................. 44 Reconciliation process following the 1981 border incident............ 45 Talks and declarations before Nigerian invasion of Bakassi in 1994............................................................................... 45 Diplomatic offensives following Nigerian invasion of Bakassi........................................................................ 52 Bilateral cooperation at the time of crisis...................................... 58 Chapter 3. Multilateral Management of the Border Dispute, 1981-2002......................................................... 61 The Role of the Lake Chad Basin Commission............................. 61 The Role of the Organisation of African Unity.............................. 63 The Role of the United Nations.................................................... 67 The Role of the European Union................................................... 71 The Role of the Customs and Economic Union of Central African States..................................................................... 73 The Mediation and Conciliation Efforts of Togo and France......... 74 The mediation efforts of Togo........................................................ 74 French conciliation efforts............................................................... 80 Chapter 4.The Settlement of the Dispute through Adjudication by the International Court of Justice, 1994-2002......................85 Cameroon’s Suit and Nigeria’s Preliminary Objections................. 85 Cameroon’s Introductory Suit....................................................... 85 Nigeria’s preliminary objections and Court’s verdict, June 1998.............................................................. 87 iv

The Stance of Cameroon and Nigeria during the Oral Pleadings................................................................................ 92 Dispute in the Lake Chad region up to Mount Kombon................ 92 Dispute along the Land Boundary area from Mount Kombon to the sea............................................................... 96 Dispute over the Bakassi Peninsula.................................................... 98 Dispute over the Maritime Boundary and Equatorial Guinea’s Intervention................................................... 103 Nigeria’s international liability.......................................................... 107 The Verdict, October 10, 2002...................................................... 108 Delimitation of the boundary........................................................ 109 Lake Chad region........................................................................... 109 Land Boundary from the vicinity of Lake Chad to astride the Bakassi Peninsula.................................. 110 Bakassi Peninsula........................................................................... 111 Maritime Boundary.......................................................................... 112 The Delimited Sector........................................................................... 112 Undelimited Sector........................................................................ 113 Withdrawal of Administration, Armed Forces and Police............... 116 Chapter 5. The Process of the Implementation of the International Court of Justice Verdict, 2002-2011.................... 117 Complementing Legality with UN Brokered Diplomacy................. 117 The Paris Tripartite Meeting, September 2002.............................. 118 Geneva I Tripartite Meeting, November 2002................................ 119 The role of the Cameroon-Nigeria ad hoc Mixed Commission........................................................................ 120 The Process of the Establishment of Sovereignty On Disputed Border Territories in Conformity With the ICJ Verdict........................................................................ 121 The process of the retrocession and transfer of Sovereignty in the Lake Chad region, 2002-2003........................... 122 Geneva II Tripartite Summit, January 2004.................................... 128 The process of the retrocession and establishment of Sovereignty in the Land Boundary area, 2002-2004....................... 128 v

The Process of the Withdrawal of the Nigerian Administration, Armed Forces and Police in the Bakassi Peninsula, 2002-2008.................................................. 131 Geneva III Tripartite Summit, May, 2005........................................ 130 The Greentree Tripartite Summit, June, 2006................................ 132 The Greentree Accord...................................................................... 133 The Demarcation of the Land and Maritime Boundary, 2002-2011.................................................................... 138 The demarcation of the Land Boundary, 2002-2011.................... 138 The demarcation of the Maritime Boundary, 2004-2008............... 143 Chapter 6.Confidence Building Measures between Cameroon and Nigeria, 2002-2011............................................................... 149 Measures to Address the Socio-Economic Concerns of The Two Countries........................................................................... 149 Boosting trans-frontier road infrastructures.................................... 150 The Mutengene-Abakaliki road project.......................................... 150 The Bamenda-Enugu road project................................................. 151 Exportation of electricity................................................................. 153 Research partnership..................................................................... 156 Boosting formal trade....................................................................... 158 Measures to Address the Security and Strategic Concerns of the Two Countries....................................................... 159 Boosting frontier security................................................................. 159 Reconciling the dual geostrategy in Bakassi and Maritime Frontier............................................................................. 166 Development of border settlements................................................ 167 Measures to Revamp Diplomatic Relations and Sub Regional Integration................................................................ 171 Reconvening of the standing Joint Commission............................ 171 Diplomatic representation.............................................................. 172 Politico-diplomatic exchanges....................................................... 173 Reactivation of the Lake Chad Basin Commission........................ 176

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Conclusion..............................................................................................179 Appendices.............................................................................................185 Sources Consulted...............................................................................199 Index........................................................................................................205

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