ICJ: CAMEROUN AND NIGERIA IN VIEW OF THE BAKASSI

ICJ: CAMEROUN AND  NIGERIA IN VIEW OF  THE BAKASSI

INTRODUCTION

The long historical and legal river of conflict had flown and is still subtly flowing through two sovereign nations and closely knitted neighbours: Cameroun and Nigeria, over the oil rich region of the Bakassi, starting from the Treaty between England and Old Calabar in 1884 sailing intellectually all the way through to the International Court of Justice judgment of October 10, 2002, after crossing the hurdles of the Anglo_Germans treaty of 1913 (which abrogated Article 3 of the old Anglo-


German agreement of April 14, 1893; inter-alia), the Nigerian-Cameroun political experience, Nigeria and Cameroun's Independence, The 1971 Gowon-Ahidjo contractual romance and prolonged sportsmanship and the judicial submission under the Administration of Paul Biya of Cameroun and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria to the intervening jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.

The bi-national imbroglio and transactions over the possession of Bakassi for some years, leading to protracted tension between the two countries, which though judicially settled seem to be shrouded in mysticism and mystery to the present generation of Nigerians, Camerounians and even occupants of the Bakassi, which is aimed to be intellectually and historically demystified and legally unraveled analytically for the consumption of the ordinary minds in the law’s eyes, Nigeria at heart, to the best of abilities without compromising the language aesthetics and intellectual flavour as may
arise.

1981 has it on history books that the two countries were at the brink of war over Bakassi and another area around Lake Chad, at the other end of the two countries common border. The flow of armed clashes rose again in the early 1990s. In response, Cameroun took the matter to the International Court of Justice on 29 March 1994.

The case was extremely complex, and shrouded in historical and legal mysticism for even the International Court of Justice, requiring the court to review diplomatic exchanges dating back over 100 years. Nigeria relied largely on Anglo-German correspondence dating from 1885 as well as treaties between the colonial powers and the indigenous rulers in the area, particularly the 1884 Treaty of Protection (the Treaty between England and Old Calabar in 1884). Cameroun, on the other hand pointed to the Anglo-German treaty of 1913, which defined spheres of control in the region, as well as two agreements signed in the 1970s Gowon-Ahidjo/Coker-Ngo compromise between
Cameroun and Nigeria. Inclusive were the Yaounde II Declaration of 4 April 1971 and the Maroua Declaration of 1 June 1975, which were devised to outline maritime boundaries between the two countries following their independence. The line was drawn through the Cross River estuary to the west of the peninsula, thereby implying Camerounian ownership over Bakassi.