Bakassi: Or the Politics of Exclusion and Occupation?

Chapter 2. The Bakassi Geo-Strategic Space

49 Chapter 2 The Bakassi Geo-Strategic Space Geographical Location of the Bakassi Peninsula The Bakassi Peninsula extends into the Gulf Of Guinea adjacent to the border between Cameroon and Nigeria. It lies roughly between latitudes 4º25¹ and 5º10¹ N and longitudes 8º20¹ and 9º08¹ E. It consists of a number of low-lying, largely mangrove covered highland covering an area of around 665km2 . The population of Bakassi which is the subject of some disputes is generally put at between 150,000 – 300,000 people, (Fongot, 2005). Léopold Maxime Eko, comes out with the figure of 238.238 habitants (2005), following an analysis of various estimations by different sources, (Wikipedia, CIA, Nigerian Nation, L’année Stratégique 2005, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Etat du monde 2005, PNUD). This fishing coast line of Cameroon, because of its numerous rich estuaries and fiords, and its artificial and protected continental shelf, created by centuries of natural cyclic geo-seismic eruptions of the Chariots of the Gods also known as the Buea/Fako Mountain, the 50 abode of E Epwvassa Moto, (the Ancestral Mountain God of Buea and the Bakweri People) is very attractive to spawning. Actually the Bakassi region is situated at the extreme end of the Gulf of Guinea and the extension of the Bay of Biafra. This is where the warm east–flowing GUINEA CURRENT, also identified in Effik as ‘EYA EFIAT’, joins the cold parallel-flowing BENGUELA CURRENT also identified in Effik as ‘AYA OBENEKANG’. The meeting and interaction of these two great currents at the Bakassi Gulf, rich in estuaries of the numerous rivers emptying themselves into its basin, create huge foamy breakers which constantly advance towards the shore, thus building submarine shoals rich in fish, shrimps, crabs, giant turtles and amazing variety of other marine life forms. The meeting of the salty warm sea waters and the cold fresh river water contributes to the rich mangrove plants of the avicenia and the rizophoria species whose secondary and buttressed roots dig deep into the mud and create appropriate spaces for fish to spawn; while the leaves fall and rot providing abundant organic nourishment for the fish. This is what makes the Gulf of Bakassi water space a very fertile fishing ground, which is comparable only to Newfoundland in North America, the North Sea and the Scandinavia in Western Europe and South East Asia. That could easily explain why it is very rich in various species of fishes in the entire coastline of Africa from time immemorial. It is therefore no wonder that the largest and the most productive fishing port in the whole of West Africa is found in this region, exactly at Obenekang/Bekumu, on the Cameroonian coast line. It is also no wonder for the researcher to find out that of the total population estimated at about 17,000 to 20,000 fishermen and fisherwomen at Bekumu 98% were Cameroonian fishers of the original Old Calabar Kingdom stock of Effik/Ibibio-Oron and Igbo stock. It is interesting, but also disturbing, to note that of this population of EffikIbibio , Oron and Igbo Cameroonians are classified by Cameroonians from other parts of the South West and the other regions of Cameroon as non-natives; along with the sea nomadic migrant fishermen and fisherwomen from other parts of the coast of West Africa as far as Ghana, Togo and Benin; who gyrate around this Bakassi region rich not only in fish but also in crude oil. 51 These sea coastal and water nomadic communities have been interacting freely and peacefully over the centuries in a harmonious conducive eco-system of bio-diversity and human miscegenation and diversity that could be compared to the synergy between the farmers, (André Mounchikpou, 2004) the bees and the flowers for honey production. This natural as well as cross-cultural and genetic symbiosis have contributed to the rich resources of this his region of Cameroon that before the Bakassi conflict was compared by some nationals not just to a land flowing with fish, crayfish, lobsters and sea oysters, but also to a peaceful haven of African Synergy of Water Nomadic peoples of different origins, but common destiny. In addition, the peninsula is commonly described as “oil-rich” though in fact, commercially viable deposits of oil have yet to be discovered. However, the area has aroused considerable interest from oil companies in the light of...