Following the rejection of the Green tree Accord between Nigeria and Cameroun over the disputed Bakassi Peninsula by the Senate, the United Nations has summoned both countries to New York.
The Senate had last week described the transfer of the oil-rich peninsula to Cameroun by the Obasanjo’s administration as unconstitutional.
According to the Empowered Newswire, a US-based Nigerian news agency, the UN has proposed December 7 for the meeting of the officials of both countries.
Interestingly, the meeting is expected to hold at the same Green tree Estate located in Long Island, a New York eastern suburb, where President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Camerounian counterpart, Mr. Paul Biya, signed the accord implementing the International Court of Justice ruling in June last year..
It is believed that the UN Secretariat will try to rekindle the brotherly atmosphere that pervaded the signing of the accord.
The spokesman to the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Michelle Montas, on Monday in New York denied that the UN was disturbed by the decision of the Senate
He said that the UN Office for West Africa, which holds the primary responsibility for the Bakassi issue, had been holding consultations with both governments.
Sources, however, said that the meeting would hold in New York next week under the auspices of the UN Mixed Commission and officials from Cameroun and Nigeria.
The mixed commission is the body set up by the UN to oversee the implementation of the accord and it is located in the United Nations Office for West Africa in Dakar, Senegal.
Known as the Cameroun-Nigeria Mixed Commission, it normally meets in Abuja and Yaounde every two months on an alternating basis. But next month‘s meeting is being planned for New York, considering the recent development.
The commission is composed of the Camerounians delegation , led by the Ministre d’Etat in charge of Justice, Mr. Amadou Ali, and the Nigerian delegation, led by the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola.
It is chaired by Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General.
The commission held its first meeting in Yaounde on December 1, 2002 and held its last meeting earlier this year in July in Yaounde, after its May meeting in Abuja
Top UN officials are hopeful that the Senate will eventually ratify the accord in the interest of international law, peace and security of the region.
Some UN officials expressed surprise that the former administration in Nigeria which signed the accord did not secure the ratification of the National Assembly.
This oversight is expected to feature at the UN meeting next week, where the UN, Nigerian and Camerounian officials will discuss strategies to save the accord.
Nigeria formally withdrew from the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula and transferred authority to Cameroun in August last year, in line with the Green tree Agreement signed by the two nations in June 2006.
The accord was itself the result of a negotiation process conducted by the mixed commission, set up by the then Secretary-General Kofi Annan to help the nations peacefully resolve the Bakassi border dispute.
Under the agreement, Nigeria recognised Camerounian sovereignty over the region in accordance with the ICJ ruling.
Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Bakassi has been the subject of intense and sometimes violent disputes between the two countries for decades.
By Agency Reporter
The Punch
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
