government following the plebiscite in 1961, exchanged diplomatic
notes with Cameroun adding that Bakassi was not in issue
ON January 1, 1960 the French Cameroons became independent.
Instruments creating the new country and exchange of notes between
France and Cameroun rehashed all its colonial boundaries as defined by
previous colonial agreements.
On October 1, 1960, Nigeria became independent. Instruments creating
the new country and exchange of notes between Britain and Nigeria
rehashed all its colonial boundaries as defined by previous colonial
agreements.
Maps dated 1960 show that the Bakassi peninsula was clearly within the
"Southern Cameroons", not "Nigeria proper." General Gowon was only a
subaltern at the time. On February 11 and 12, 1961, a plebiscite was
held to "clarify the wishes of the people living in Northern and
Southern Cameroons."
The population of Northern Cameroons had earlier – in 1959 – "decided
to achieve independence by joining the independent Federation of
Nigeria", while the population of Southern Cameroons, whose plebiscite
could not be done in 1959 for security reasons, now "decided to
achieve independence by joining the independent Republic of Cameroon"
(General Assembly resolution 1608 (XV) of April 21, 1961).
Note that there were 21 polling stations on the Bakassi peninsula
itself and that 73 per cent of the people living there voted to
"achieve independence by joining the independent Republic of
Cameroon". (Note the blunder here.
By spelling it as "Cameroon", rather than "Cameroun", the UN created
an opening for the people of the "Southern Cameroons" to say they
never voted to join "Cameroun" which is the former French territory.
In 1962, the government of Tafawa Balewa exchanged diplomatic notes
with Cameroun acknowledging the fact that Bakassi was not Nigerian
territory. General Gowon was a T/Captain. Maps from that period show
Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun, following the results of the 1961
plebiscite.
In January 1966, Major General Ironsi came to power in Nigeria. He
committed his government to respect all prior international agreements
made by the Balewa government. Maps from that period show Bakassi
peninsula in Cameroun. In July 1966, then Lt. Col. Gowon came to power
in Nigeria.
He too committed his government to respect all prior international
agreements made by the Ironsi and Balewa governments. Maps from that
period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun. In 1970, moves began to be
made by independent Cameroun and post-civil war Nigeria to clarify
their maritime border which was vaguely defined by the 1913 Anglo-
German Treaty.
Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun, but the
offshore boundary was unclear since there was no detailed demarkation
of the "navigable portion" of the approach channel to the Calabar
estuary.
Then Attorney General Elias correctly advised the Gowon government
that post-colonial Nigeria had no legal basis for contesting the
Bakassi peninsula itself, but that work to delimit the offshore
boundary and vague sections of the land boundary should proceed at
full speed in accordance with the original Anglo-German Treaty of
1913.
The technical problem thus became deciding exactly what part was
"navigable" and what was not. It is this matter that was addressed on
April 4, 1971 at Yaoundé when Nigeria's General Gowon and Cameroun
President Ahidjo, accompanied by large delegations, signed the
"Coker-Ngo" Line on British Admiralty Chart No. 3433 "as far as the
three-nautical-mile limit."
The status of the Bakassi peninsula proper was not an issue for
discussion. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun.
Foreign policy decisions
On June 1, 1975, Gowon and Ahidjo signed the Maroua Declaration for
the partial extension of the 1971 maritime boundary. Again, the status
of the Bakassi peninsula proper was not even an issue for discussion.
Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun.
On July 29, 1975 General Gowon was overthrown by General Murtala
Muhammed. One of the first acts of that regime was to begin to
question all the domestic and foreign policy decisions made by General
Gowon – including the offshore maritime border with Cameroun.
In the rush to smear Gowon publicly, he was held accountable for
"giving away Bakassi" – an event that had actually occurred before he
was born. Muhammed's decision to renege on Gowon's agreements with
Ahidjo resonated with a section of the population which had been
hoping for a way to get out of its commitments to Cameroun deriving
from the 1961 plebiscite and the colonial heritage dating back to
1884.
Still, Nigerian official maps from that period and continuing till
today except a few that were reprinted on orders from the Babangida
government in 1991 show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun.
The rest of what transpired in 1981, 1994, 1996 and since then is well
known – including General Abacha's moves to formally create an
administrative set up there and all the military clashes. 20. On
October 10, 2002 the International Court at
Century of colonial agreements
The Hague confirmed what Elias had said in 1970 and reiterated almost
a century of colonial agreements which had repeatedly placed Bakassi
peninsula inside Kamerun/Cameroon/Cameroun.
It also went further to provide guidelines for the final clarification
of the offshore border – which if anything, is the only issue about
which General Gowon, acting on advice from some civil servants, may
not have been as aggressive as he could have been. But even that is a
matter of technical detail, not treason.
Post-script: On September 3, 2002 a few weeks to the Judgment of the
ICJ, Chief R. Oluwole Coker, the Nigerian Surveyor who, along with Mr.
Ngo of Cameroun decided the "Coker-Ngo" offshore line of 1971, which
Gowon and Ahidjo signed, died. May his soul rest in peace.
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