US embassy cable - 03LAGOS2371

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 002371 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS, PGOV, PREL, NI 
SUBJECT: BAKASSI: THE VIEW FROM CROSS RIVER STATE 
 
 
REF: YAOUNDE 1667 
 
 
1.(SBU)   SUMMARY. Political, traditional, military and 
civilian officials in southeastern Nigeria see peaceful 
negotiations as the best resolution to the dispute 
between Nigeria and Cameroon over the Bakassi 
Peninsula. While Bakassi indigenes feel left out of the 
implementation process for the International Court of 
Justice ruling, the state governor, residents, military 
officers and traditional leaders say they have no plans 
other than negotiation to promote the Nigerian agenda. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
 
2.(SBU)   In a recent visit to Cross River State, Lagos 
Consul General and PAS Information officer met 
separately with a variety of political, military and 
traditional stakeholders with an interest in the future 
of the Bakassi Peninsula. The Peninsula, a strip of 
coastal swamp, forms the southeastern most tip of Cross 
River State. Both Nigeria and Cameroon claim 
sovereignty over the 1000-square kilometer peninsula, 
and over oil exploration in the Gulf of Guinea around 
its coastline.  Members of the Efik fishing community 
that live on the peninsula regard themselves as part of 
Nigeria.  Although there are no accurate population 
figures, several sources made a guesstimate of 5,000 
Nigerian inhabitants. 
 
 
3.(SBU)   While all parties said that Nigeria will respect 
the ICJ ruling, they will do everything possible to 
peacefully protest it. Cross River Governor Donald Duke 
characterized Nigeria's negotiations with Cameroon as a 
homegrown and "unique solution to a common African 
problem," rather than an international solution. 
 
 
4.(SBU)   Nella Andem-Ewa, an attorney, former Cross River 
justice minister, and a member of the Nigeria-Cameroon 
Mixed Commission responsible for implementing the ICJ 
decision told CG that,  "We are not trying to set aside 
the (ICJ) judgment, we are only trying to find a better 
way to implement the judgment in a way that properly 
safeguards the interests of Nigeria and Cameroon." The 
Bakassi residents "should be assured that their 
interests are being taken care of," she added. 
 
 
5.(SBU)   Andem-Ewa said the Nigeria-Cameroon Mixed 
Commission and its subcommissions on population and 
border issues, are now making good progress at 
implementing the ICJ ruling, which covers the entire 
Nigeria-Cameroon border from Lake Chad to the Gulf of 
Guinea.  Earlier this year, Nigeria announced that it 
would be pulling its troops out of disputed areas 
around Lake Chad.  This progress follows earlier 
misgivings over the commission's purpose and mutual 
suspicions that the countries had hidden agendas in 
working with the commission.  Andem-Ewa said that the 
commission will now move to the land border, followed 
by the Bakassi issue, finishing with the offshore 
disputes. 
 
 
6.(SBU)   Andem-Ewa said there is no Nigerian push to gain 
control of Bakassi because of oil, explaining that most 
oil deposits are offshore, beyond the reach of the ICJ 
ruling, and already under Cameroonian control.  She 
said her personal opinion is that joint control of the 
peninsula could be an option, an idea that other 
officials supported.  She said the laws of possession 
and control give Nigeria the right to at least some of 
the water bordering the peninsula and added that by the 
time the boundary delineation is concluded, Cameroon 
will see that it still owns those areas it laid claim 
to before the dispute. 
 
 
7.(SBU)   The paramount traditional ruler of Bakassi, His 
Royal Highness Etinyin Etim Okon Edet was less 
conciliatory.  He railed against Cameroon, the ICJ and 
the international community (including America) for 
turning over Nigerian territory to Cameroon.  Edet 
vehemently argued that the ICJ ruling is in bad faith 
because it fails to address the plight of the people 
living in the peninsula.  He urged the international 
community to stop relying on the "technicality of law" 
to solve a problem that is bound to affect the lives 
and destiny of a people.  The paramount ruler (who 
stands to be a leader without any land or followers if 
Bakassi goes to Cameroon) claimed that the ICJ was 
stacked against Nigeria, that the conclusion was 
unfair, and that not a single Cameroonian can claim 
residence in the peninsula.  Another of his key 
arguments was that Nigerians don't even speak French. 
 
 
8.(SBU)   If Nigeria would not fight to keep Bakassi, Edet 
said, then Bakassi residents should hold a plebiscite 
to decide which country they want to join.  (Andem-Ewa 
and Duke also supported the idea.)  The paramount ruler 
went on to argue that if such a vote were not possible, 
he would consider peacefully seceding to form his own 
country along the lines of what he characterized as 
other small, "successful" African countries like Sao 
Tome and Guinea Bissau.  Edet said his opposition to 
Cameroonian citizenship for Bakassi residents stems 
from the historical connection of his Efik ethnic group 
to the Efik chiefs in Calabar.  "We have affinity with 
the Oba of Calabar, and we are sad that the ruling 
overlooked this important fact," Edet said. 
 
 
9.(SBU)   Edet, Andem-Ewa and Duke all said that the ICJ 
never visited or consulted with the Bakassi residents 
before the ruling, but Andem-Ewa said the commission 
planned to meet with the residents before it took 
further decisions.  All three of our interlocutors 
observed that the ICJ ruling negatively affects growth 
and development of the peninsula.  Both the GON and the 
state governments have suspended development in Bakassi 
until the dispute is resolved.  Governor Duke said the 
only project he has been willing to undertake is the 
drilling of boreholes which, although technically 
illegal on "Cameroonian" territory, is justified as a 
humanitarian project.  Many officials said that sea- 
side erosion is causing significant problems on the 
peninsula.  (Comment:  While jetties on the south of 
the island have washed away, dire predictions of "no 
Bakassi by 2005" seem exaggerated. End comment) 
 
 
10.(SBU)  Brigade Commander Y.M. Dogo, in charge of the 
Nigerian soldiers deployed to Bakassi, showed ConGen 
staff a room-sized model of the Bakassi Peninsula, with 
the disputed boundary clearly demarcated.  Presently, 
he said, one-third of the peninsula is ceded to 
Cameroon, although no one lives there; the remaining 
two-thirds is inhabited by Nigerian villagers.  Dogo 
said that his men, who have been deployed to Bakassi 
for a decade, are determined and prepared to defend 
Nigerian territories, but plan to fight only if 
provoked. 
 
 
11.(SBU)  COMMENT.  A final solution to the Bakassi dispute 
may be far off but all Nigerian parties seem committed 
to using the Mixed Commission to resolve it peacefully. 
Despite his protests, Paramount Ruler Edet has neither 
the political room, the economic resources nor the 
military might to back up his threats of secession.  As 
the Commission works out its solution, though, 
humanitarian development will continue to suffer as 
neither country wants to invest in land over which it 
does not have assured control.  END COMMENT. 
HINSON-JONES