Nigeria Hands Over Bakassi
August 14, 2008 by 
Felix Ashimole
Amidst mixed reactions and crocodile tears from those who have been “ripping” apart the Niger Delta because of crude oil, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice of Nigeria officially handed over to Cameroon, the Bakassi Peninsula. Today’s ceremony was carried out in honour of the Green Tree Treaty entered into by Nigeria and Cameroon, as an Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism (ADR) on the dispute over Bakassi.
According to President Yar’Adua, the handing over is painful but needful as it will restore the image of Nigeria in the international community as a big African Brother, worthy of honouring agreements. It will be recalled that the PDP government under President Olusegun Obasanjo conceded to peaceful resolution instead of the full legal gauntlet at the International Court of Justice. Cameroon had taken Nigeria to the ICJ over Bakassi.
This it is painful tears of Yar’Adua, is not over the displaced people of Bakassi who still desire to be part of Nigeria but the lost revenue that would have accrued to the federation account had the oil deposit found in the peninsula exploited by Nigeria.
We wish Bakassi well in Cameroon, for going by the inhumane treatment given to the peoples of Niger Delta; one cannot help but wish Bakassi well.
We also hope that the people of Bakassi will learn from the ill treatment meted out to Niger Delta and start early to agitate for a better social corporate responsibility from those French companies lining up to start exploration. Above all, they should politically engage Paul Biya to relax some of his draconian policy and open up the political space he has dominated since 1982.
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