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According to the Greentree Accord signed between Cameroon and Nigeria yesterday, June 12, 2006, in New York, Nigeria will pullout its forces from the Bakassi peninsula within sixty days. UN Secretary General, Kofi Ata Annan, " may extend the period as necessary, for a further period not exceeding a total thirty days". This is the key decision that was arrived at yesterday when Presidents Paul Biya and Olusengun Obasanjo met for the fifth time in a series of summit talks on the Bakassi Peninsula dispute. Yesterday, both Heads of States appended their signatures to a fresh agreement for the withdrawal of troops under the watchful eyes of the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, H.E. Gunter Pleuger, Permanent Representative of Germany, H.E. Ms. Karen Pierce, Deputy Permanent Representative of the UK, Mr. Michel Duclos, Deputy Permanent Representative France, and H.E. Ms. Fakie Sanders, Ambassador, US Mission to the UN.
The last time both leaders met to discuss progress on the implementation of the Ruling of the International Court of Justice on the disputed territory was in Geneva on May 11th, 2005. Then the leaders expressed satisfaction over progress on the demarcation of and land boundaries and effective withdrawals and transfers of authority which took place unperturbed along parts of the border in July 2004. However, the effective withdrawal of troops and administration in the main area of contention, Bakassi Peninsula stalled. Since then, much progress has not been made in this area.
Yesterday’s summit could therefore be situated within this context and the challenges were therefore evident. This could be noticed from the length of the tripartite talks. The Greentree Summit took on schedule at 9:00 am (local time), about 3:00pm in Yaounde. Scheduled to run on for 30 minutes, the close door session with the UN Secretary General went on slightly beyond one hour. Presidents Biya and Olusengun separated briefly before coming into the room B Conference Centre hall for the much-awaited signing of the agreement and press conference.
Landmark
In his speech at the brief signing ceremony, President Paul Biya underscored the importance of the act, saying that their credibility and that of the UN depends on its implementation and that it will begin a new era of trust, peace and cooperation between Nigeria and Cameroon. On the other hand, President Obasanjo described it as a landmark event in conflict resolution whose significance goes beyond Nigeria and Cameroon and which should serve as a model for Africa and the world. UN Secretary General was more upbeat as he said, "with today’s agreement on the Bakassi Peninsula a comprehensive resolution of the dispute is within our grasp".
The New York fifth tripartite summit of Heads of State of Cameroon and Nigeria and the UN Secretary General will therefore open up new avenues for progress in the withdrawal of troops and administration on Bakassi. President Biya is accompanied by Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Ahmadou Ali, the Minister of External Relations, Laurent Esso, the Director of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic, Beleoken Jean-Baptiste, the Assistant Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Sadi René, the Minister in charge of Missions at the Presidency of the Republic, Ngolle Ngolle Elvis, Cameroon’s Ambassador to the US, Medouga Jérome, Ambassador and Cameroon’s permanent representative at the UN, Belinga Eboutou Martin, Chief of State Protocol, Awono Essama Dominique, the Joint Chief of Staff at the Presidency of the Republic, Brigadier General Benae Mpeke Blaise, and the President’s aide de camp, Captain Fouda Joseph. Mrs Biya and Mrs Nanne Annan were also present.
In less than four years, five tripartite summits have been held. The previous meetings took place in Paris, Geneva and now New York. The genesis can be traced back to September 5th in a Paris neighbourhood, Saint Cloud. Then, the objective was to prepare citizens of the two countries to accept the ICJ ruling and create an atmosphere of mutual understanding and confidence. Presidents Biya and Obasanjo then pledged to respect the verdict and a UN support mechanism was put in place. Barely one month after, the ICJ ruling was passed on October 10, 2002; the next summit took place in Geneva on 15 and 16 November, 2002. The most important outcome of this summit was the creation of the mixed bilateral commission presided over by the representative of the UN Secretary General, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah. It set out to seek ways of implementing the court ruling, demarcating the land and maritime boundaries, the withdrawal of troops along the disputed areas especially in the Bakassi peninsula.
Even though progress was a bit stalled, both leaders met again in Geneva on January 2004 and expressed satisfaction over developments and adopted a programme for 2005. Significant progress was noticed during the period that led up to the next summit as effective pullout of troops and administration started in the Lake Chad area, To speed up work and instil an atmosphere of confidence the leaders decided to undertake exchange visits of ambassadors and set up mixed security patrols along the border areas were settlements had been made and examine possibilities of a friendship and non-aggression treaty. This ushered the way into the next summit in 2005. The leaders were determined to lay out a new troop withdrawal programme and take all necessary measures to ensure the wellbeing and interest of the border population. It was with this in mind that talks began in New York early yesterday and ended in an agreement for the poll out of troops.
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