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

Contents

iii 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, 19812002 .............................................................................................. 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 iv 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 v 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 vi 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 [3.142.98.108] Project MUSE (2024-04...