The recent meeting of President Muhammadu Buhari and President Paul Biya of Cameroon inches to consolidate the collaboration against terror, writes Correspondent, SAM NWOKORO
Last week, Cameroonian President, Paul Biya, was in Nigeria and held discussions with President Muhammadu Buhari on the future of both countries’ collaborations against terrorism. The meeting would be the third between both leaders over ways of containing the migration of terrorists, especially Muslim fundamentalists between both countries.
Nigeria and Cameroon are neighbours, sharing borders that many see as porous. Most Cameroonians flock into Nigeria with cattle and other consumables, and since they speak Hausa fluently, it is most times taken that they are Nigerians.
Because of the poor surveillance apparatus of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), it has been difficult to contain the influx of migrants into the country, especially from neighbouring West African countries. Nigeria also shares borders with West African like Chad, Niger and Benin Republic, which all have large population of Muslims. In recent times, fundamentalist uprisings sweeping through most West African countries led to high influx of fundamentalists.
Recently, a Nigerian abroad was arrested in the United Kingdom as a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
In Nigeria, the disturbances of the Fulani herdsmen have spewed controversies regarding their true identity. While some sections of the country say they are Nigerian Fulani, some say they are Fulani from neighbouring North African countries.
At the meet, sources say Buhari discussed the issue of security within the African sub-region with Biya. Top on the discussion was how to further empower the multinational task force fighting Boko Haram in the North East states under insurgency, and how the Cameroonian president was handling internally-displaced persons (IDPS), which was an off-shoot of the insurgency problem. A release issued earlier from the Presidency on Monday by Buhari’s spokesman, Femi Adesina, said: “Cameroonian President Paul Biya is currently meeting behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja.”
Biya, who is on a two-day state visit to Nigeria, arrived the forecourt of the President’s office about 2pm.
The Cameroonian leader was received by Buhari and some top government officials.
Biya was honoured with 21-gun salute before he proceeded to inspect a guard of honour mounted by men of the Guards Brigade.
Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, had stated on Monday that Buhari and Biya as well as their officials would confer on issues of common interest to Nigeria and Cameroon, including ongoing bilateral and regional cooperation against terrorism, violent extremism and cross-border crimes.
He had also hinted that new agreements to strengthen existing ties as well as trade and economic relations between Nigeria and Cameroon will be concluded and signed before the end of Biya’s visit.
According to Adesina, a joint communique on the visit and the talks between both presidents and their officials would be issued.
Common concern
Another issue Buhari and Biya discussed was the economic co-operation between both countries. In recent time, trade issues have dominated both countries’ relations.
Nigerian oil merchants are alleged to use Cameroon as a base for siphoning imported fuel headed for Nigeria to other places, while the local consumers suffer.
Also, the issue of the Bakassi people of Nigeria living in Cameroun against their will following the signing of the Green Tree Agreement of 2010 that ceded that oil-rich island to Cameroon, no doubt, are future contentious issues facing both countries in their bilateral relations. The people of Bakassi have already instituted a case against the cession since 2012 at e United Nations Security Council, claiming that the cession violates UN’s protocols on the right of person(s) to determine their nationality. They did not want to belong to Cameroon and have not hidden this since the signing of the GTA that ceded Bakassi to Cameroon.
Appeal to the case comes up for hearing anytime next year, seven years after the ruling, which is the legal time limit any legal suit could stay without hearing.
No doubt, these and many more issues are of serious concern within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region to which both Nigeria and Cameroon belong.
There has never been ease between the Cameroonians and the Nigerians in the Bakassi portion ceded to Cameroon. Many times, there have been allegations of maltreatment of those Nigerians, forceful citizenship of Cameroon and even forced labour and evacuation against the Cameroonian authorities. No doubt, these are issues that both leaders will have to be saddled with in the days to come.
Ambush
As though to pre-empt the case against the cession, Cameroon is reported to have commenced oil drilling in the Bakassi peninsula and is said to be about to commence production later this year. Obviously, such development rattles not only Nigeria, which had made several attempts to fight Cameroon over the Peninsula during the military regime, before the country went to world court.
A Nigerian government under President Muhammed Buhari, according to a scholar in international relations, Professor Sunday Obua, will not like to give up Bakassi so easily, knowing the security implication to the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
“That the country is already drilling oil around that area does not matter, after all there is a pending appeal against the opinion of the 13 justices of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) who adjudicated on the matter.
“People are not forced to live where they don’t like. No referendum or plebiscite was conducted for Bakassi people asking them which country they want to belong to. That is against the UN protocol on rights of indigenous peoples.
“UN Security Council has the final say over the Bakassi issue, not Cameroon, not world court, not even Nigeria,” he said.
Other areas of concern in Nigeria-Cameroon relations would be the security of their borders. Both countries have embarked on joint construction of security post at their border, to check arms smuggling, child trafficking and illegal bunkering. For a long time, these issues have dominated discussions between both countries and still continues to dominate.
