historic verdict awarding sovereignty over the Bakassi Peninsula to
the Republic of Cameroun.
Exactly 10 years later in October this year, by the terms of the
2005 Green Tree agreement, Nigeria's cession of its erstwhile
territory would be completed unless, by the rules of the Court, she
raises fresh issues for a re-visit.
Across the nation there is a groundswell of opinion that our past
leadership were unpatriotic, inhuman and incompetent in the entire
processes of mortgaging the territory to win the civil war and
approach the ICJ for its verdict.
All the way from the negotiations by the colonial authorities to the
use of the territory as a gambit for war games, interests of the
people of the Peninsula were never taken into account. Even the
lawyers and attorneys hired to argue the case at the ICJ were people,
who had no passionate attachment to the cause and flunked miserably.
Besides, the Nigerians who agreed to relocate to Cross River after the
cession of their ancestral land to another country were promptly
abandoned. Those who chose to stay under Camerounian authority have
been victims of savage attacks and humiliation by the Camerounian
forces.
Frustrated, indigenes of the Peninsula have now decided, with support
of their kinsmen in Calabar Cross river State, to "takn their destiny
in their hands.''
The Bakassi Self-determination Front (BSDF) has since emerged and a
pirate radio known as ''Dayspring'' launched as part of the drive
towards self-rule.
We are in full support of all efforts to ensure that the wrongs of our
past leaders are corrected through the total reclamation of Bakassi
Peninsula. We are happy with the House of Representatives, which has
taken bold steps towards pushing the Federal Government to return to
the ICJ for a re-visit of this shoddy verdict.
Under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Bakassi
Peninsula is still listed as part of the 774 local government councils
in Nigeria. The Constitution has not been amended to cede this
territory to any external country. And our Constitution is superior to
any treaty or court verdict.
Rather than resort to the ICJ, the United Nations should promptly
organise plebiscite to enable the people of the Peninsula to determine
their future. They can decide to stay in Nigeria, go to Cameroun or
assume a separate sovereign identity. Anything short of this will not
be acceptable to us.
Bakassi people are Nigerians fully protected by the constitution. No
individual has the right to barter them off to external interests in
pursuit of personal glorification. To reclaim Bakassi Peninsula is a
task that must be done!
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