Bakassi: Does she want to be a Nigerian?

All African Countries are a product of colonial administrative convenience. Cameroon and Nigeria are no exception. Cameroon in fact has an interesting history of having three colonial masters. First it was a German colony and became a spoil of war for Britain and France after the defeat of Germany in the First World War. (1919 League of Nation Mandate)The English speaking part, not wanting to be assimilated by the French culture, tilted towards Eastern Nigeria and expressed their political desire via: NCNC-National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons.

Ever since the South-West of Cameroon has been deemed Nigerian no political analyst asks, do these people whose ancestral land was invaded by European marauders after the Balkan Conference of 1885 want to belong to any of the geographical expressions?

As a child growing up after the Nigerian Civil War, I was told that Biafra lost the war because a part of Cameroon refused to allow arms meant for Biafra to sail through and as a reward, Gen. Yakubu Gowon returned that part of Cameroon back to Cameroon.

Now as an adult, I read of The Green Tree Agreement, wherein it is agreed that instead of washing African brotherhood’s dirty linen in the International Court, Big Brother Nigeria, agreed to hand over Bakassi to Cameroon on 14^th August 2008. At 11 am today, the ceremony begun with the Nigerian Attorney General and Minister of Justice Michael Aondoakaa leading Nigerian pack.

What I make of all these is that a great injustice has been done to the people of Bakassi. Over the years they have been pushed around like ping-pong at an Olympic tournament. All the groups claiming Bakassi have not the interest of the people at heart. All they are after is the mineral deposit in the peninsula, which I read has a large commercial quantity of crude oil.

It is this discovery that makes me sad. In all the African countries where crude oil has been discovered, that country has never known peace. The expatriate oil companies exploit the oil without corresponding development for the people and the areas where this black gold is scooped from. The lingering environmental problems in the Niger Delta of Nigeria are an example. Seeing the “battle” raging on in the Niger Delta, would Bakassi still want to be part of Nigeria?

Paul Biya. Did I hear you say who? He has been president of Cameroon as long as I can remember. His long stay has eclipsed Ahmadu Ahidjo’s tenure.  Am sure the people of Bakassi will not want their resources to be used to further fuel the life presidency project of Paul Biya.

Poor people of Bakassi. If a plebiscite was conducted, except supervised by Nigeria’s INEC, I am sure Bakassi in conjunction with her English speaking “brothers” in Cameroon would have voted to be in an independent sovereign country.

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