Analysis Of The Debacle Between Nigeria And Cameroun Over Bakassi Peninsula

Abstract

Nigeria and Cameroun are bounded by the Bakassi Peninsula to the Eastern part of Nigeria, where the inhabitants are predominantly Efik speaking people in Cross River State. And the two countries were colonized by Britian and Germany respectively. In 1885, they agreed within themselves to keep to the terms of boundary demarcation between Nigeria and Cameroun from the Calabar estuary to the shores of Lake Chad in Northern Nigeria. The Anglo-German Treaties of 1886, 1890 and 1893 carved Bakassi Peninsula into Nigeria. But in 1913, another Anglo-German treaty was signed to position the Bakassi Peninsula into the Cameroun territory, from Rio-del Rey to Akpa Yafe. The dispute reached a high point when on May 16, 1981, Cameroun sighted three Nigerian military patrol boats which violated the Cameroun Navy. On March, 1994, Cameroun took the matter before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for determination on whether the disputed territory is not a Cameroun territory. Then on October 10, 2002, the International Court of Justice gave its ruling, ceding the area to Cameroun, following the recommendations of the 1913 Anglo-German Agreement and the Green Tree Agreement that preceded it. Although, the ruling of the International Court of Justice was widely criticized mostly by Nigerians but it has to be sustained because of the binding force of the United Nations Charter over its member states. The Game Theory was adopted as the theoretical framework. The theory grants the behaviour of parties to a dispute, in scenario of making rational choices to their advantage and to the detriment of the contending party. It was observed among other that the factors that triggered the Nigeria-Cameroun dispute include political, economic and socio-cultural. After the implementation of the International Court of Justice ruling, the youth of Bakassi attempted a secession agitation to declare a state of Bakassi. Herein, it was recommended that given the unpleasant consequences which may occur in such situation, the options of dialogue, negotiation, and resettlement are preferable to avoid any fratricidal war between Nigeria and Cameroun over Bakassi Peninsula.