akassi, the
oil-rich peninsula off the southern coast of Nigeria was supposed to have been
ceded to the Republic of Cameroon by midnight Wednesday. That development would
have been in respect of the October 10, 2002 judgment of the International Court
of Justice, which handed administration of that part of Nigeria to its southern
neighbour, Cameroon.
Ordinarily, a situation whereby Nigeria would seek to cede
any of its territory to another country would not have arisen but for the
unilateral decision of a former Head of State, who, purportedly gave the oil
rich area away by mere fiat. The decision to give Bakassi away, in the first
instance, did not have the approval of any legislature properly constituted.
Again, the decision to approach the International Court of
Justice, sitting at the Peace Palace, The Hague, Netherlands, was not entirely
mandatory. The Nigerian government was at liberty not to go to the court or to
refuse jurisdiction of the court.
The decision of the court was also, willingly accepted by the
Nigerian government which went ahead to constitute, in conjunction with the
Cameroonian government, a mixed commission, to work out modalities for the
eventual hand-over.
The mixed commission has worked relentlessly to ensure that
Bakassi becomes part of Cameroon without as much as giving consideration to
reservations expressed by the very people whose destiny is being decided.
Almost two years after that judgment was given, the prospect
of peace in the area is now ever more elusive as the Bakassi people, along with
their representatives at the National Assembly, have voiced rejection of their
being ceded to Cameroon. They have also vowed to defend their excision from
Nigeria with the last drop of blood in them, insisting that they are Nigerians
and will go nowhere else.
The strange disposition of the Nigerian government to go
ahead to excise a section of this country, irrespective of what the people
think, is an act, which is as absurd as it brings to mind the ill-advised
decision that made Bakassi an issue in the first place.
It is rather unfortunate that the Nigerian government, in
seeking to give vent to the ICJ decision, is being led by considerations, which
are anything but democratic or populist.
It is not quite appropriate that the Nigerian government
would seek to go ahead to excise Bakassi from the country despite a call by the
National Assembly that the transfer be put on hold.
The International Court of Justice, for emphasis, is merely a
United Nations organ, which decision is neither enforceable nor binding. Indeed,
there is nothing in the Nigerian constitution, which gives the President powers
to excise any part of the country, even if the international court asks it to do
so.
The Court, in deciding on the legality of the Israeli wall
against Palestine at West Bank, not long ago, held that the "Israeli wall
severely impedes the exercise by the Palestinian people of their right to self
determination and is therefore a breach by Israel not to respect that right"
However, the court upheld Article 21 of the International Law
Commission on responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts when it
noted, that "the wrongfulness of an act is precluded if the act constitutes a
lawful measure of self defence taken in conformity with the charter of the
United Nations"
These views strongly support calls from several Nigerian
quarters on the need for a plebiscite on the Bakassi question to uphold the
right of people of the area to self-determination.
We strongly insist that the most auspicious thing to do at
this time is to heed the call for a plebiscite and allow people of the area
decide their fate and future for themselves.
It is likely that the willingness of the Nigerian government
to cede Bakassi is informed by the burning desire to have peace with its
neighbour Cameroon. That propelling factor stands to be roundly defeated by
forcing a people into a country that is not theirs and where they are not
willing to belong. The dislocations the action will create are bound to cause
serious social and political disaffection.
The Bakassi people are human beings and cannot be hauled away
without consideration for their interest.
We call on government, to revisit the issue more critically and seek opinion
and views of the National Assembly and of the Bakassi people on their excision
from Nigeria before finally deciding on the matter. This is one matter that does
not need any hurry to dispatch of. Bakassi people are Nigerians and should not
be sent away against their wish.
