Bakassi: More Displaced People

It has been over a year now since the territory of Bakassi changed hands, but who really cares, who even knows anything about it or where exactly it is.

Sitting along a peninsula that juts out into the Gulf of Guinea where Nigeria meets Cameroon,  Nigeria has long been in possession of the relatively small tract of land. That of course is a throw-back to European imperialism when borders were arbitrarily drawn through territory to mark off the interests of a variety of European powers (England and Germany in this case) without taking any notice of tribal territories established many generations previously.

The waters are rich in fish stocks and fishing has been the trade handed down through family lines for many years, and this is where the human story gets lost amidst the political wrangling that has surrounded the vexed question of sovereignty.

In 2002 an international court determined that the territory should be handed over to Cameroon. 90% of the population (up to 300,000 people) considered themselves to be Nigerian nationals and have now left the area to settle on land not far away, but with no access to the sea and consequently cut off from the only kind of livelihood they have ever known – fishing. Men who have had fishing in their blood for generations are now trying vainly to adapt to farming, something they have no feel or talent for.

In spite of the enormous human upheaval and suffering caused by the ruling of the International Court of Justice, the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon hails it as an example of peaceful negotiation settling border disputes he hopes will help in similar situations

And what does Cameroon get apart from a stretch of land? Yes, that’s right, oil. It is believed that the area is potentially oil-rich, and both countries have very politely agreed to jointly explore and share the oil fields which are reckoned to be quite extensive. Let’s see how polite they are to each other if the oil ever starts to flow.

And while we are thinking about Cameroon let’s take the opportunity to see once more the suitably themed confection Chantal Biya, wife of President Paul Biya, chose to balance on her head to meet the Pope.