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

Chapter 2 - Bilateral Management of the Border Dispute, 1981-2002

37 Chapter 2 Bilateral Management of the Border Dispute, 1981 – 2002 Before the 1981 skirmishes on the Cameroon–Nigeria border, the two countries had put up structures where border issues were handled. This included the Joint Commission set up in 1963 and the Mixed Boundary Commission set up in 1970. There were equally avenues like the Seminar workshop on frontier matters in 1992 and myriad high-level talks and declarations on the border issue to beef up these initiatives. The Role of the Cameroon–Nigeria Mixed Boundary Commission, 1991–93 A Mixed Boundary Commission of Cameroon and Nigeria was set up in 1970 under the framework of the Yaounde I Declaration of August 14, 1970.1 This Mixed Boundary Commission was later given the mandate to proceed to delimit the Maritime Frontier in conformity with the Yaounde II Declaration of April 4, 1971. The Commission met in Lagos from October 15-22, 1971 and in Garoua in May and August, 1972, but failed to complete its mandate because Nigeria put to question the Yaounde II Declaration.2 The Commission later met in 1975 and again in 1978 and went into inactivity until 1991. From 1991 to 1993, the Commission met three times; in Yaounde from August 27–30, 1991, in Abuja from 1. Maurice Kamto, Co-Agent/Advocate for Cameroon during the oral pleadings of the Cameroon – Nigeria border dispute case at The Hague, verbatim, February 22, 2002, http : // www.icj-cij.org., retrieved on 23/07/10. It was only in 1985 that the Cameroon government created a veritable structure to manage frontier issues. See Decree n0 85/305 of March 7, 1985 creating the National Commission on Frontiers which was reorganized by Decree n0 2001/208 of July 27, 2001. 2. ICJ Judgment on the Cameroon – Nigeria Border Dispute Case of October 10, 2002, http : // www.icj-cij.org. , retrieved on 24/07/10. 38 December 19, 1991 and again in Yaounde from August 11–14, 1993. During such meetings, the border authorities made recommendations for the peaceful settlement of border questions and on ways to foster peaceful co-existence and bilateral cooperation. Promotion of trans-frontier cooperation The meetings of the Mixed Boundary Commission provided a forum for the two countries to discuss frontier issues void of sentiments and emotions. It was in this spirit of objectivity and optimism that the Nigerian delegation to the Commission’s meeting in Yaounde in August 1993 recognized that the denunciation of the 1975 Maroua Accord was because of internal problems in Nigeria and not because of the technical problems relating to the demarcation of the boundary. The Mixed Commission was also instrumental in the assessment of the manner in which the natural resources like oil and gas fields straddling the frontier or along it could be exploited by the two countries. During the Mixed Commission’s meeting in Yaounde in August 1993, the issue of the communal exploitation of resources straddling the common frontier or along it was examined and a platform proposed to that effect. Promotionofbilateralrelationsandsub–regionalintegration The Mixed Boundary Commission equally strove to improve bilateral relations and sub– regional integration. Meeting in Yaounde in August 1991 the 53 member Cameroonian delegation led by her Minister of External Relations, Jacques-Roger Booh Booh and that of Nigeria made up of 20 members and led by Major–General Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwo, Foreign Minister and President of the Technical Committee of the National Commission on Frontiers had as theme for discussion; frontier questions, bilateral cooperation and the project for the creation of a Commission for the Gulf of Guinea. Through this initiative by Cameroon and Nigeria, the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) was later created in 1999. In 2010, the GGC was made up of Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of 39 Congo and Angola. Its headquarters is in Luanda, Angola. Its objective is to preserve peace, security and stability in the sub-region. Its first summit was in Libreville, Gabon on August 26, 2006 and the second in Luanda, Angola on November 25, 2008. The Yola Seminar Workshop, May 25 – 29, 1992 On May 25, 1992, Cameroon and Nigeria launched a new approach to trans-frontier cooperation through the organization of a seminar workshop in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria. The Cameroon delegation was led by its National Assembly President, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril while that of Nigeria was led...