The resolution by Cameroon and Nigeria to end the age-long border conflict between them is a welcome development that will be of immense and mutual benefits to both countries as well as strengthen peace in the West Africa sub-region. It was long expected to douse hostilities at the borders.
  
For decades, the long period of peace and flourishing diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Cameroon has been disrupted by the conflict over the ownership of the Bakassi peninsula that is highly valuable in terms of oil exploration, security, commerce, farming, transportation and other activities, and had been administered by Nigeria. Over 70 lives were lost during the period that the conflict lasted, until it became a matter before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled in favour of Cameroon. Following the judgement, there is crucial need to demarcate the Nigerian-Cameroonian border to finally put the feud to rest. The Yaounde pact to settle the dispute diplomatically without seeking court ruling is commendable.
  
According to historical records, the dispute started after both countries got independence in 1960 and there was need to ascertain the boundary between them. By then, the status of the British Cameroon was not clear, leading to plebiscite sponsored and supervised by the United Nations. The northern part of the territory voted to remain part of Nigeria, while the southern part voted for reunification with Cameroon. Consequently, the northern part of the British Cameroon was transferred to Nigeria while the southern part joined Cameroon, even as the land and maritime boundaries between Nigeria and Cameroon were not clearly demarcated. The most valuable place that was in focus in the conflict was the Bakassi Peninsula, an area with large oil and gas reserves, which had been de facto administered by Nigeria. Laying claim to the peninsula in the early 1960s, Nigeria had argued that the British made an agreement with the local chiefs for protection, thus the resultant border of 1884 should be accepted as the official border. But Cameroon rejected the Nigeria’s argument, claiming that the 1913 border agreements by Britain and Germany should demarcate the border.  
 
While the disagreement persisted between Nigeria and Cameroon, tension rose at the border, especially in the 1980s, with the two countries nearly going to war on May 16, 1981 during the administration of President Shehu Shagari when five Nigerian soldiers were killed during border clashes. Nigeria claimed that Cameroonian soldiers fired first on the Nigerian patrol. Cameroon claimed that it was because Nigerian soldiers opened fire on a Cameroonian vessel close to Bakassi, thereby violating international law in Cameroon’s territory. But for Shagari’s diplomacy, the situation would have led to a full-scale war.
 
There were other confrontations in February 1987 in the Lake Chad region when three Cameroonians were allegedly kidnapped and tortured by the Nigerians. In the same year, in a reprisal move, some Cameroonian gendarmes not only launched attack on 16 Nigerian villages around the Lake Chad, they also exchanged the Cameroonian flag for the Nigerian flag. On May 13, 1989, Nigerian soldiers reportedly boarded and inspected a Cameroonian fishing boat close to Lake Chad. In April 1990 Nigerian soldiers kidnapped and tortured two people. A couple of months later, Nigeria alleged that Cameroon was annexing nine fishing settlements on the peninsula. Between April 1990 and April 1991, Nigerian soldiers allegedly made a number of incursions into the town of Jabane, on one occasion replacing the Cameroonian flag with the Nigerian standard.
   
Till March 29, 1994, when Cameroon referred the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and beyond, there were many other cases of violent attacks in the disputed territory in which many lives were lost.

It was learnt that about 70 people were killed in the fighting between 1995 and 2005. Eight years later after filing the suit, the ICJ ruled in Cameroon’s favour in October 10, 2002 and confirmed the 1913 border made by the British and Germans as the international border between the two countries. Due to a lot of criticism, particularly from the international community, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo grudgingly accepted the judgement. Although Obasanjo did not immediately withdraw the Nigerian forces from the peninsula, an agreement was signed to start demarcating the entire Nigerian-Cameroonian border because of some contradicting reference points from the colonial maps. The process was yet to be completed as of February 2021 partly due to the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists operating across the borders.
 
It is a turning point that at a recent meeting in Yaounde of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission set up by the United Nations to solve the border disputes both countries agreed they would no longer seek a court ruling on the matter. Rather, their joint delegations would validate a demarcation plan on site and put an end to the long-standing issue before the end of 2025. The two countries agreed to visit disputed territories in Rumsiki and Tourou in northern Cameroon and Koche in eastern Nigeria before the end of 2024. 
 
Leonardo Santos Simao, chairperson of the commission, hailed the decision to resolve the disputes without the long and expensive processes at the ICJ. Nigerian Justice Minister, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who is the leader of the Nigeria’s delegation to the Mixed Commission, confirmed that the countries agreed to complete the project within 12 months. “It’s a consensus between Cameroon and Nigeria. By the end of 2025, this project should be concluded,” he said.
  
We say that beyond the agreement reached in Yaounde, what will make the peaceful resolution of the border dispute realisable is the commitment of both countries to respect the verdict of the ICJ and all other agreements signed thereafter to prevent further clashes in the disputed territory. The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission should be adequately empowered and equipped to fairly demarcate both land and maritime boundaries, and while that is going on, the two countries should ensure that activities of their military and police personnel on peace mission at the border areas do not lead to any confrontation or clash that could make the demarcation to be abandoned. And as the final move is made to end the feud, the Federal Government should be prepared to resettle those that the demarcation will affect on the Nigerian side.