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 fourth meeting in Abuja
from 10 to 12 June 2003.
2.
At the opening ceremony of the meeting, a keynote address was delivered by
Senator Victor Oyofo, Chief Whip, representing the President of the Senate
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
3.
The meeting of the Mixed Commission was attended by members of the
Commission from Cameroon, led by His Excellency Mr. Amadou Ali, the
Minister of State in charge of Justice and Keeper of the Seals of
Cameroon, and from Nigeria led by His Excellency Prince Bola Ajibola (CFR),
former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, chaired the meeting.
4.
The Mixed Commission had before it a comprehensive report of the
Sub-Commission on Demarcation, submitted pursuant to the decisions of the
Mixed Commission adopted at its second and third meetings, held
respectively on 4 and 5 February 2003 in Abuja and 2 and 3 April 2003 in
Yaoundé. The Mixed Commission considered and approved the comprehensive
report.
5.
The Mixed Commission took note of the statements by the heads of
delegations of Cameroon and Nigeria in connection with the approval of the
comprehensive report of the Sub-Commission in which they confirmed the
readiness of their countries to deposit an amount of US$1.25 million each
to the United Nations Trust Fund for the initial financing of the
demarcation activities. These statements were made in response to an
appeal by the Chairman of the Mixed Commission. The funds will be
deposited in the Trust Fund as soon as the modalities for doing so have
been communicated to the two parties by the Chairman of the Mixed
Commission. The two parties reiterated their commitment to appeal to
donors, in coordination with the United Nations, to raise additional funds
for demarcation activities.
6.
The Mixed Commission considered and approved the report of the first
meeting of the Sub-Commission on Affected Populations established in
accordance with a decision taken at the second meeting of the Mixed
Commission held in Abuja on 4 and 5 February 2003.
The Mixed Commission agreed that the next meeting of the
Sub-Commission will be held in Dakar.
7.
The parties agreed, as part of their confidence-building efforts, that the
project aimed at upgrading the Mamfe-Abakaliki road will be extended to
Kumba and Mutengene on the Cameroonian side.
8.
The Mixed Commission agreed to accelerate the pace of work towards
achieving its mandate. In this regard, Cameroon informed that it had
submitted to the Chairman of the Mixed Commission a work programme and a
calendar for the implementation of the International Court of Justice’s
judgment which deals with issues of demarcation, affected populations and
the withdrawal of administrations, armed forces and police from the areas
concerned. The Nigerian delegation noted that the document was only being
received at this meeting and promised to forward its comments and
proposals to the Chairman of the Mixed Commission as well as the
Cameroonian delegation not later than 15 July, 2003. The Mixed Commission
agreed that the proposals by the two countries would be considered at its
fifth meeting in August 2003 in Yaoundé.
9.
The Mixed Commission agreed to hold its next meeting in Yaoundé, on 5 and
6 August, with a possible extension to 7 August 2003.
