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

Chapter 3 - Multilateral Management of the Border Dispute, 1981-2002

61 Chapter 3 Multilateral Management of the Border Dispute, 19812002 Multilateral management of disputes here refers either to the use of third parties to negotiate and arbitrate in what is known as mediation or concerted effort under the banner of regional and international organizations through the provision of necessary good offices to push the conflicting parties to refocus on the way out of their dispute. Multilateral institutions managed the border dispute through the recognition of the mediation and conciliatory efforts by third parties, the scheduling of meetings to discuss the situation, making recommendations to the parties to reach settlement by peaceful means, investigating the situation and by acting as a channel for quiet diplomacy. In this chapter, focus is on the mediation and conciliatory efforts of Togo and France and the role performed by regional and international bodies notably the UNO, OAU, EU, the Customs and Economic Union of Central African States (UDEAC) and the LCBC. The Role of the Lake Chad Basin Commission The LCBC was created by Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on May 22, 1964 at Fort Lamy (old appellation for N’Djamena), Chad.1 Article VII of its statute stipulates that member states commit themselves to maximally facilitate navigation and transportation in the Lake and to ensure the navigability, security and control of the Basin. Following incidents between Cameroon and Nigeria in the Lake Chad region in 1983, an extraordinary summit of the LCBC was summoned in Lagos from July 21-23, 1983; at the initiative of the Heads of State of Nigeria and Cameroon; Shehu Shagari and Paul 1. In July 2011, the LCBC was composed of six member states—Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, Niger, and Nigeria. 62 Biya respectively. At the meeting, the Heads of State conferred on the LCBC the power to treat certain security and frontier questions and that the Commission should meet regularly to treat such matters.2 Two Sub Commissions were created to study security and frontier problems in the region. The experts studied the matter and proposed that there should be the demarcation of the Cameroon – Nigeria frontier in the Lake Chad region.3 The demarcation process kicked off in 1984 but in 1987, other trans-frontier incidents cropped up between Nigeria and Cameroon in the region. In February 1987, Cameroonian villages along Lake Chad were invaded by Nigerians sufficiently trained and armed with machetes and in November 1987, the Nigerian army occupied the Cameroonian Islands of Faransia, Darack I and II near Lake Chad.4 These incidents did not deter the LCBC from continuing with the demarcation process. The mapping and pillar emplacement were undertaken by the IGN – FI under the auspices of the Commission. Seven principal pillars and 68 secondary pillars were planted.5 The results of the work were presented at the 7th conference of Heads of State and Government of the LCBC in 1990 but, because of some lapses in the work done, the experts were asked to go back to the field. There was a problem in the determination of the average point at the Ebeji River whose bifurcation varies from season to season. As a consequence, Cameroon and Nigeria were in dispute over which branch should be taken as the principal one. In a bid to reach a compromise, the LCBC experts fixed the mouth of the Ebeji River at a point situated at equal distance from the two channels of the river with the participation of Nigerian and Cameroonian representatives. During the 8th summit of the LCBC in Abuja, Nigeria on March 23, 1994, the Heads of State were informed of the completion of the 2. ICJ Judgement of June 11, 1998 on Nigerian Preliminary Objections, http: // www. icj-cij.com., retrieved on 23/07/10. 3. Ibid. 4. The Government of Cameroon, Document on the Bakassi Dispute, p. 12. 5. ICJ Judgement of June 11, 1998. 63 work on the field. The demarcation documents were to be ratified by Cameroon and Nigeria. But in 1996, Nigeria refused to ratify the outcome of the work. Cameroon on her part deposited an instrument of ratification on December 22, 1997. As a result of Nigerian non ratification of the work, the Heads of State and Government Summit of the Commission in N’jamena, Chad on July 28, 2000, did not have the question of frontier delimitation in the Lake Chad region in its agenda. The refusal by Nigeria to ratify...