Communiqué adopted at
the twentieth meeting of
the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission
established
pursuant to the Joint Geneva communiqué of 15 November 2002
*
Abuja, 16 November 2007
1. The
Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, which was established pursuant to the
Joint Communiqué adopted at the meeting held on 15 November 2002 in Geneva
between His Excellency President Paul Biya of Cameroon and His Excellency
President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, in the presence of the Secretary
General of the United Nations, held its Twentieth Ordinary Meeting in Abuja
on 15 and 16 November 2007. General Lamine Cissé, Special Representative of
the Secretary General of the United Nations chaired the deliberations of the
Mixed Commission in the presence of His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister,
Amadou Ali of Cameroon, and His Excellency Prince Bola Ajibola (CFR) of
Nigeria, who led the Cameroonian and Nigerian Delegations respectively.
2. The
Mixed Commission considered and adopted the report of the Eighteenth meeting
of the Sub-Commission on Demarcation, which was held on 13 and 14 November
2007. The Mixed Commission requested the Sub-Commission on Demarcation to
intensify efforts in order to accomplish its tasks within the deadline in
line with the adopted timetable. The Mixed Commission reiterated the need to
launch a campaign with a view to mobilising additional necessary funds to
complete the demarcation activities. It requested the Mixed Commission
Chairman to take the necessary steps so that this campaign could begin as
soon as possible.
3. The
Mixed Commission examined and adopted the report of the extraordinary
meeting of the Working Group on the Maritime Boundary held in Yaoundé on 23
and 24 August 2007. In addition, the Mixed Commission examined and adopted
the report of the eleventh meeting of the Working Group on the Maritime
Boundary held in Abuja on 14 November 2007. It decided that the United
Nations experts should take as reference point various existing maps in the
WGS84 Datum, transposing the computation results relating to the loxodromic
coordinates on these maps and present them to the Working Group on the
Maritime Boundary during its 2nd extraordinary meeting to be held in Yaoundé
on 15 and 16 January 2008 so that the Working Group could adopt the map that
show the least error. The Nigerian delegation will notify the United Nations
of its reaction following the consideration of the satellite map, which was
presented to the XIth meeting of the Working Group within a deadline of 15
days.
4. The
Mixed Commission listened to the Observers’ report read by the Observers
Group Head on the sixth visit to the Bakassi peninsula from 31 October to 5
November 2007. In addition, having listened to the heads of the delegations
of both Parties that went on this visit, it congratulated the observers for
the work done. The Mixed Commission set up a committee to assist the
Observers in finalising and adopting their report for onward submission to
the Follow-up Committee. This report was finalized and signed by the Heads
of each delegation of the Observer Group.
5. The
Mixed Commission noted again the need to organise a Summit of Heads of
Member States of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and those of other affected
States to consider the serious environmental situation in the Lake Chad
basin area in order to design appropriate strategies for mobilising
resources to fund the inter-basin water transfer project. In view of
facilitating the organisation of such a Summit, the Mixed Commission decided
to undertake, as soon as possible, a sensitisation mission led by the Mixed
Commission Chairman and made up notably of the Heads of the Cameroonian and
Nigerian delegations as well as the Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad
Basin Commission.
6. The
Twenty-first meeting of the Mixed Commission shall take place in Yaoundé on
6 and 7 March 2008 with the possibility of extension to 8 March 2008.
