The successful handover of Bakassi by Nigeria is now history. But there are urgent matters to address. Yaounde has obligations towards Nigerians still living in Bakassi that it must respect. Yaounde must also immediately begin to put down socioeconomic development and people Bakassi with Cameroonians as evidence of its ownership. There is also the problem of insecurity that Yaounde must address soonest. The handover is also the best evidence that Nigeria is a neighbour Yaounde can do business with.
Paul Biya can now sit back and savour a glass of champagne, following the successful handover of Bakassi.
Messages of congratulation to Etoudi did not delay in coming. The very first was, appropriately, from the conference of SW chiefs. Bakassi is part of Ndian division in the SW province.
But even as Bakassi reverted to Cameroon, the question as to what next has been repeatedly asked. The Yaounde authorities would obviously want to respect the five-year transition in regard to the Nigerians who still live in Bakassi.
The next urgent concern of the government will be to develop Bakassi by providing it with all the necessary social infrastructure and get Cameroonians to inhabit the locality as substantive evidence of ownership.
The other priority to address is the security of the Peninsula. Nigerian rebels appear interested in securing an arms traffic that comes through Bakassi waters. That is not easy for the Cameroonian military who have suffered damage in recent months.
While addressing these priority issues the Yaounde authorities might want to take a total review of Cameroon’s relations with Nigeria which have at best been uncertain. Yaounde has been suspicious and fearful of Nigeria which time has proven to be unjustified. And, Bakassi has now confirmed the point.
Isn’t it time for Yaounde to open up to Nigeria and develop more economic and commercially beneficial relations?
Let’s examine these points in a little more detail. Bakassi is still inhabited by some 30,000 to 40,000 Nigerians who, by the Green Tree accord, have the next five years of a lenient Cameroonian administration.
Gendarme brutality
They will live under conditions similar to those they always had under Nigerian authority viz: no residence permit, no taxes to worry about, and to continue to go about their fishing activities as usual. After the transition period those who stay on would then conform to residence requirements.
The first test for Cameroon is to respect the agreement to the letter and spirit. The conduct of Cameroonian gendarmes is particularly important in this regard. The long history of reckless brutality by gendarmes against Nigerian fishermen was a major factor in Sani Abacha’s decision to pounce on Bakassi and occupy it militarily, as he did in December 1993.
The importance of this gendarme factor unfortunately has not been sufficiently understood by the Yaounde authorities. The wrongness of Abacha’s decision much overshadowed this. Gendarmes who serve in Bakassi must be given a new and strict code of conduct lest they become detrimental to Cameroon’s cause.
The mentality of the Abacha regime is important to note. Abacha was certain that militarily Cameroon was no match to Nigeria, if it came to such a confrontation. Abacha was therefore determined to set aside a pro-Cameroon ruling of the ICJ which they knew would be the case.
The next important point about the Abacha attitude was that Nigeria had far stronger diplomatic and public relations machinery to fight and silence Cameroon wherever it mattered on the international scene.
France, for instance, has more business interests in Nigeria than in all of Francophone sub-Saharan Africa. The Elysée would be much too careful to be useful to Cameroon in any problem with Nigeria. Isn’t that how the world works?
Happily, Abacha’s successors did not inherit his belligerent attitude. They have been people of goodwill. Their goodwill stands out all the more.
Respecting the terms of transition will probably be the most eloquent expression of gratitude to the Nigerian government for its generous goodwill in freely returning Bakassi to Cameroon.
Transition agreement
Respecting the transition agreement will also allay the fears of the Nigerians living in Bakassi. Any violation would do much damage. It would strengthen the argument of the many forces in Nigeria that opposed the handover. It would also of course betray the goodwill of the Abuja authorities.
What the authorities in Yaounde might do is making living in Bakssi become as attractive to the Nigerians as to tempt them to acquire Cameroonian nationality after the five-year transition. In any case it would pay to make a stronger and ever stronger case for ownership by Cameroon.
Just as important as it is to make Nigerians in Bakassi comfortable the Yaounde authorities must as a matter of priority develop the Peninsula and attract Cameroonians to settle there too.
There is urgent need for potable water, electricity, primary and secondary schools, clinics and maternity centres, roads and housing.
The government should declare Bakassi a special development zone and make it especially attractive.
In this regard we join in congratulating the Spaniards who did not wait until last Friday to announce an expansive rural electricity scheme, starting from Idenau. We urge other foreign partners to come in with development aid to lift up Bakassi.
It is important to emphasise that only when Bakassi is inhabited by Cameroonians can there be talk of effective ownership by Cameroon. Abacha argued that he acted to protect Nigerians.
Another approach to settling Cameroonians in Bakassi is for the Yaounde authorities to woo Nigerians now living there by making conditions so attractive as to tempt them to accept Cameroonian citizenship. Many have ethnic affinity with the people of Ndian division.
The other urgent question about Bakassi that Cameroon must settle is the security of the Peninsula. Since the last ten months there has been much pirate activity by Nigerian rebels in Bakassi waters. That has done much damage to the Cameroonian army.
Arms traffic
It is believed that the rebel activities have the sole purpose of securing the Bakassi corridor for an illicit arms traffic from or through Cameroon. Their successes have emboldened them and caused a real threat to peace in the Bakassi waters.
In Nigeria rebel activity within the Niger Delta succeeded so well as to chase away big multinational oil explorers. Nigeria’s oil production has fallen by a half of its normal production, which contributes to the global fuel hike.
The Yaounde authorities will have to take bold and courageous decisions to correct this security problem in Bakassi. The solution, some say, lies in Paul Biya’s hands. He might have to dismiss and even charge to court some of the most powerful men connected with the military. Unless he tackles the problem now it might grow out of control and render Cameroon’s oil exploration in Bakassi equally perilous.
In the end Yaounde would have everything to benefit from developing wider and closer relations with Nigeria. Ahmadou Ahidjo’s early fears of Nigeria as a big, powerful and expansionist neighbour have never been justified. Ahidjo was so afraid of Nigeria he master-minded UDEAC as a counter-weight which unfortunately failed to work even as an economic grouping.
Nigeria is a big and ready market any day for Cameroon’s excess agricultural produce. The favourable exchange rate between the FrancCFA and the Naira makes the purchase of certain imported manufactured goods from Nigeria cheaper for the Cameroonian consumer.
Nigerian commercial banks are already finding their way to Cameroon’s financial market, which opens the way for Cameroonians to also enter the Nigerian market. These exchanges need be encouraged and widened.
Bakassi has taken away any lingering fears that Yaounde ever had of its big and powerful neighbour. This is the time to consolidate peace and make real friends.
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