CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
For some decades now, relations between neighboring Nigeria and Cameroon have been strained over issues relating to 1,600 kilometer boundary, extending from the
Lake Chad to the Bakassi Peninsula, and maritime boundary into the Gulf of Guinea. Among issues involved are rights over the oil rich land and sea reserves and the fate of local populations. For instance, as Lake Chad dried up due to desertification, local populations relying on the Lake for their livelihood have followed the receding waters, further blurring the boundary lines. Tensions between the two countries escalated into military confrontation at the end of 1993 with the deployment of Nigeria military to the 1,000 square kilometer Bakassi(www.bbc.co.uk)
Boundary disputes are generally dicey especially in post-colonial Africa where their historical origin and geographical location further compounded the problem.
Reflecting on the emergence of many new sovereign states in contemporary Africa,
Davidson (1967:22) observed:
Their history begins a new. They reappear today in the sad evening of the world of nation-states; yet their own tradition, one may note was seldom one of narrow nationality. Their genius was for integration- integration by conquest as the times prescribed, but also by an ever partful mongling and migration. They were never patient of exclusive frontiers …Nineteenth century imperialism cut across boundaries and peoples and left; for a later Africa, the problem of redrawing frontiers on a rational plan. As independence widens across these coming years, will this plan stop short with the making of nation-states aping European example?…It remains to be seen.
It was in recognition of this danger that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) wasted no time in passing the 1964 resolution. By this resolution, the members pledge to respect as sacrosanct colonial boundaries as inherited at independence in line with the principle of “Uti possidetis juris”. Nevertheless, even with the consensus, there has been no such agreement on the exact location of many inter-state boundaries in Africa especially between Nigeria and Cameroon.
The delineation of Nigeria‟s international frontiers, according to Asobie (1998), was best by uncertainty. The eastern boundary was delineated in bits over a long period and involved several colonial powers, the United Kingdom and Germany and the United Kingdom and France at different times. And the British that inherited the Nigerian side of the boundary never seem in a hurry to properly demarcate them on the ground. Apart from the problem of uncertainty, the sheer length of the boundaries posed it‟s own difficulty, with a total land border of 4,234 kilometers.
By entering into series of bilateral co-operation agreements in 1963, Nigeria and Cameroon obviously attempted towards a more harmonious existence as neighbours with a view to resolving the border disputes but that failed thereby precipitating the occasional clashes that occurred along Nigeria Cameroon border (Agbemelo and Ibhasebor 2006). In 1994, Cameroon took the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Hague.
The ICJ is the Principal judicial organ of the United Nations to which all member states are parties. It was established in 1946 by the United Nations (statute of the
International Court of Justice (ICJ statute)), June 26, 1945. ICJ replaced the former Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which had operated within the Hague,Netherland since 1922.Like its predecessor, the headquarters of ICJ is also located in Hague.
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