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Calm in Bakassi as Nigerians refuse to quit
• Nigeria should forget Bakassi, says Asiwaju
By Bassey Inyang (Calabar) and Onche Odeh (Lagos), Daily Independent, 09/16/2004
Nigeria on Wednesday refused to hand over the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, perhaps in line with the expectation of Nigerians and contrary to the wishes of Cameroon and the United Nations (UN).
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on October 10, 2002 had ordered the hand over after its judgement ceded the territory to the latter.
The UN-supervised Nigerian-Cameroon Mixed Border Commision (NCMBC) fixed September 15, 2004 as the date Nigeria should formally evacuate its officials, troops and government paraphernalia from Bakassi, one of the Council Areas in Cross River State.
But on Wednesday, Nigeria stayed put with her flag, the green white green, flying at full mast in every public institution.
As voices against ceding of the peninsula mount, Nigerians have been told not to expect any twist in the ICJ judgement passed as the country is said to have lost the struggle for the region right from the days of military governance.
Professor Anthony Ijaola Asiwaju, who was a member of the NCMBC, said Nigeria lost the battle when the late Head of State Sani Abacha moved in troops to the disputed region against personal and professional advise.
Asiwaju explained in an interview in Lagos that the decision by President Olusegun Obasanjo to head for the ICJ was not different from what Abacha did, adding that the Bakassi issue was a diplomatic issue that needed a diplomatic approach.
“Nigeria should have accepted that it made a mistake by invading the region when Abacha was the Head of State. This was my position then and now that almost cost me my life. Going to the ICJ was like going to war, but in a different context”, he said.
According to him, former Head of State Yakubu Gowon was aware of the fact that Nigeria had no real stake in the region, hence the decision to negotiate with former Camerounian President Ahmadu Ahidjo.
“The problem started when Murtala Mohammed, who also had Obasanjo as second in command, took over from Gowon and quashed all that had to do with the previous regime, including the already laid agreement between the Camerounian Government of that time and Nigeria”.
Echoing similar views in Calabar, radical politician and member of the Obong’s Council, Bassey Ekpo Bassey enjoined the people of Bakassi to accept becoming citizens of Cameroon where they would be better off.
He argued in an interview that the issue, from the outset, harboured a strong streak of insincerity on the part of the Federal Government, stressing that those in authority are only interested in making fortunes out of Bakassi.
Bassey, who chaired the task force on Bakassi in the palace of the Obong of Calabar, insisted that Nigeria sent a defective team to the ICJ to contend with the Camerounian team that was well prepared.
He lamented that there was no representation from the Efik kingdom and the palace whose “international status and influence over Bakassi” was one of the issues in court.
To him, since the judgement has been delivered and Nigeria agreed to abide by it, the country has no option but to relinquish Bakassi to Cameroun.
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©2003 The African Independent, Inc. All rights to republication are reserved.
