Bakassi returnees’ two-decade grueling sojourn in ‘new Bakassi’

The horrible handling of the resettlement of the people of Bakassi by the Federal Government, as well as the international community since the October 10, 2002, ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ceded the oil-rich peninsula to Cameroun, has continued to evoke very sad memories among the bewildered people.
  
Today, they recall with nostalgia, how they usually gathered at moonlit village grounds, in Abana, Atai Ema, Ekpri Ikang, Akpa Nkanya, and other spots celebrating their heritage and culture, while insects chirp away in surrounding vegetation, while the Atlantic Ocean constantly erupts in thunderous claps.

Since losing the island and the consequent loss of 76 oil wells to neighbouring Akwa Ibom State, the Bakassi people, and by extension the entire people of Cross River State have continued to bear the brunt of the poor implementation of the Green Tree Agreement (GTA) or treaty of 2006, which was entered between Nigeria and Cameroun, under the supervision of the United Nations. Up till today, the treaty is yet to be ratified by the Nigerian National Assembly.

Twenty years after that landmark verdict, the distraught people, who are still wallowing in abject poverty, are livid with rage because all the promises that were made by the Olusegun Obasanjo-led government and the international community to resettle them at a befitting location, which supports their lifestyle and occupation, have not been met. 
  
As of today, many of them are still living as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in different locations, with scant attention from the Federal Government, while some have drifted to different places in an attempt to start afresh. In the new Bakassi Local Council, which was carved out of Akpabuyo Local Council, infrastructure is sparse, just as life is more grueling for the returnees as governments at different levels continue to give excuses. 
  
This is happening five years after the former Chairman of Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Aliyu Mohammed, in 2017, revealed that as part of efforts to assuage the pains caused by the ICJ’s ruling, about N38b had been paid as special allocation to the state, by the Federal Government over a period of 11 years, as compensation for the loss of Bakassi, and by extension, the oil wells.
  
Recently, the nostalgic feelings welled up, as some of them came together to recreate scenes from their generations-long moonlight shows in their ancestral homestead. This time around, electricity provided illumination, while a massive artwork, which served as the backdrop on the stage depicted the Atlantic Ocean. At the popular Greenville Hotel in Ekorinim, Calabar Municipal Council, where the event was held, tables were set in a manner that reminded them of their native huts.
   
Also on the menu for the night, were native meals, and local alcoholic beverages enjoyed by the locals for hundreds of years. They include fisherman’s stew, edita iwa, nsat iyak, ekpai, ufofop among others.
 
Complementing the evening, were soulful tunes from traditional groups. Their renditions in Efik, Fulani, Yoruba, Kalabari, Igbo, Ibibio, and other languages showcased their love for Nigeria, despite the ill-treatment meted to them in the wake of the loss of Bakassi.
 

“I miss Bakassi of old because it used to be a peaceful riverine area devoid of all the hustle and bustle of the city; where you were just there and at peace with nature. The people there had no business with petrol scarcity or electricity,” Joe-Mary recalled.
 
Reflecting on the plight of the people, Ekeng who is the Executive Secretary of Calabar Urban Development Agency (CUDA), expressed dissatisfaction with the way that previous administrations have handled matters related to their wellbeing since the ICJ’s verdict was handed down.   

He, however, praised the efforts of the Governor Ben Ayade-led government to resettle “us and give us a sense of belonging. He has done a whole lot, but unfortunately, the #EndSARS protest led to the destruction of all that is supposed to be ours. But I want to believe that subsequently, the government will come and go, and even though it may take a while, I am very sure that one of these days, everything will be fine-tuned and we will get what we want…Next time, I know that the reunion will be bigger and better.” 
 
For a former chairman of Bakassi Local Council, and Coordinator of “An Evening in Bakassi Peninsular,” Mr. Ani Esin: “The nostalgic feeling evoked by the event is that we have come together to continue practicing what we have been doing and to also begin a new conversation in Bakassi because the war is over, the soldiers have returned to their barracks, the oil companies are still operating, and the devastation of the forest and climate change issues are continuing. A lot of other issues are still happening. Even the people are disintegrated because of rhetoric. So, we want to raise the bar so that we can begin a conversation that will bring a positive thing in Bakassi, and bring back the people.” 
  
Esin continued: “The issues affecting Bakassi are far beyond the Green Tree Agreement; they are for the governments of Nigeria and Cameroun to begin to look at. Right now, we have Bakassi in Nigeria and Cameroun, so clearly, there are issues that both governments should be addressing. While there are also tripartite meetings out there, we as a people must also begin to sit down and think together to see what we can do with the bad situation that we have found on the ground.” 

SINCE the Federal Government has done very little to properly settle and empower the returnees, Governor Ayade realising the importance of a shelter over their heads, built for the displaced people, residential quarters in the new Bakassi. But the structures were thoroughly vandalised in the wake of the #EndSARS protest, and this threw the 100 families that were resettled back into the cold. Those that are awaiting resettlement in that particular location are about 2,720. 
  
Because of the carnage, Edet Ene Okon, one of the returnees lamented: “We have gone back to our former settlement at the African Nations School, at Akpa Nkanya, in Akpabuyo Local Council. Over 1, 000 of us with our children (100 families) are displaced. We have gone back to join others that did not benefit from the resettlement.
  
“We have returned to Ikot Eyo, but most of us are still scattered everywhere, and it has been each man for himself and God for us all. My boss, Etim Okon Edet, otherwise known as Ekpedeme, who is our camp leader now resides in Calabar, the state capital. For now, we have been surviving on menial jobs, and things are not as they were before, and all promises made by the Federal Government are yet to be fulfilled. We see on television and hear from the radio how other displaced persons in other parts of the country have been receiving things from the government, but over here, we have got nothing.”
  
He continued: “Ever since Bakassi was ceded to Cameroun, we have not been feeling fine, and our major problem is money. We have no money to feed, and the N500 per day that we get from the menial jobs that we do is not enough for anything. Lacking food and shelter in this kind of condition makes life hellish. We cannot go back to fishing because we do not have money to buy nets and other related work tools. But we must not fail to point out that the United Nations, the federal and state governments are not doing anything for us. Ever since the incident at Ifiang Edem Inyang (the location of the vandalised Ayade Estate), our people have been scattered everywhere.”
 

AFTER RMAFC in 2017 disclosed that about N38b had been paid as special allocation to the state by the Federal Government over a period of 11 years, as compensation for the loss of Bakassi and by extension the wells, the state government insisted that the amount was grossly inadequate, considering the enormity of the dislocation suffered by the people, and the attendant economic loss to the state.
  
Ayade’s Chief Press Secretary/ Special Assistant on Media, Christian Ita, had, in an exclusive interview with The Guardian said the state was not satisfied with such a paltry sum.
  
He said: “We have 12 months in a year, so multiply that by 11 years and divide it by N38b, that is when you will know whether that money was meant to achieve anything or not. By the time you finish the calculation per month, you would know that the amount would have become a pittance. It is nothing. We are thinking that we should be compensated in perpetuity; we should be compensated heavily. I know that the governor is even considering taking the Federal Government to court to ask for over N3trillion damages over the loss of Bakassi Peninsular and its oil wells because no laid down procedure in international law was followed in ceding the area.”
  
Ita, who said the ceding of Bakassi was an issue between two sovereign nations – Nigeria and Cameroon, and Cross River State had no hand at all added: “Even when you look at the Green Tree Agreement, it has nothing to do with Cross River State, so there is no need to beg the issue because I think we are begging the issue. The truth of the matter is that the little element of comfort that the people of Bakassi are enjoying is coming from the state government, even after the state suffered what could be described as double jeopardy. After the peoples’ land was ceded without their consent, the state also lost over 70 oil wells as a consequence, and it is the same Cross River State, which now has less money that is being left to cater for the wellbeing of the people.”
  
Ayade’s stance and the threat of litigation were, however, before the governor defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Since joining the ruling party, he has been less combative and less vociferous on the matter. 

NOT only is the well-being of the people of Bakassi being compromised, but they are also suffering economically and politically. In fact, 20 years after the loss of the peninsular the country is yet to expunge the names of Bakassi villages or wards, which are now in Cameroun, from its map.
  
As a matter of fact, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) still maintains the old Bakassi wards in its Atlas and Directory of Registration Areas (RAs). The consequence of this is that thousands of Bakassi people, who were relocated to new settlements within Nigeria, have remained disenfranchised for years with no law legalising the new RAs as wards in Nigeria. 
  
The affected wards in the old Bakassi, which are now in Cameroon and still exist on Nigeria’s maps and INEC’s Atlas and Directory illegally are Abana, Akpa Nkanya, Akwa, Ambai Eba, Amoto, Archibong Town, Atai Ema, Efut Iwang, Ekpot Abia and Odiong.
  
After the main Bakassi was ceded, the Cross River State government had, in an attempt to legalise the affected wards in Nigeria, and ensure that elections are conducted there, enacted a law, creating three Ikang wards of Bakassi, through Law Number 7, 2007 of Cross River State.
  
But INEC failed to recognise the wards as a replacement for the lost wards based on a Supreme Court judgment, which set aside Law Number 7 of the state, rendering it null and void. 
  
The electoral umpire subsequently disallowed elections in the new wards created by the state from Akpabuyo Local Council under the New Bakassi, as provided for in the said law.