OPENING
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE MIXED COMMISSION AND SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE
UNITED NATIONS, MR. AHMEDOU OULD-ABDALLAH
*
Yaounde,
28 July 2005
Deputy Prime Minister, Amadou Ali, Head of
the Cameroonian Delegation,
Prince Bola Ajibola, Head of the Nigerian
Delegation,
Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen Members of the Cameroon
Nigeria Mixed Commission
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to thank our
Cameroonian hosts for their customary warm and generous welcome. I would
like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude towards Deputy Prime
Minister Amadou Ali and Prince Bola Ajibola respectively Heads of the
Cameroonian and Nigerian delegations for their enlightening remarks.
I would also like to tell you how delighted I
am to chair today the opening ceremony of the XIIIth Session of the Cameroon
Nigeria Mixed Commission. We all missed this XIIIth Session. This is the
first session of its kind since October 2004, as mentioned by my two
partners. During the XIIth Session held in October 2004 in Abuja, Nigeria,
the Mixed Commission had agreed to refer to Presidents Paul BIYA and
Olusegun Obasanjo and to the Secretary General, Kofi Annan the issues
related to the withdrawal and transfer of authority in the Bakassi
Peninsula. These issues were addressed at the Tripartite Summit between the
two Presidents and the Secretary General held in May 2005 in Geneva.
As you know, following the Summit, the
Secretary General and the two Presidents expressed their satisfaction with
the work accomplished so far by the Mixed Commission and invited its members
to continue their activities as quickly as possible. That renewed confidence
in our proceedings is shared by the international community, as demonstrated
by the statement issued on July 13th 2005 by the European Union, one of the
major partners of both Cameroon and Nigeria. It encourages both parties to
resume talks as soon as possible within the framework of
the Mixed Commission.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me start with a reminder. Even though the
Mixed Commission had not met since October 24th 2004, the contacts between
the parties never stopped, whether at diplomatic, consular, commercial, or
humanitarian level. Furthermore in the field, the considerable work relating
to the implementation of the demarcation of the boundary resulted in
concrete progress. The UN Cartographic Section produced the first
preliminary maps with a provisional representation of the land boundary,
which were presented to the Joint Technical Team (JTT) at its 7-8 December
2004 meeting. The UN Cartographic Section also established a Website to
share cartographic data with the parties. The field assessment team of the
pilot project developed Technical Guidelines. The Technical Guidelines
detail the procedures to be followed by the Joint Technical Team for a
clear, quick, and effective implementation of the field assessment.
The pilot field project which covers 62
kilometres was successfully completed in May 2005. The assessment will
continue from 5th October in the Lake Chad area down to Mount Ngosi.
Finally, the contract number 3 related to
geodesic activities and the establishment of the primary geodesic network is
being finalized. As far as resource mobilization is concerned, I remain in
contact with the European Union which I thank in advance for its
contribution worth four (4) million Euros, which will be disbursed. This
contribution is useful at two levels, for it will both help support the
physical demarcation of the boundary, and strengthen confidence between the
parties.
On the other hand, the Observer personnel of
the Mixed Commission are continuing their periodic visits and keep on
updating me about their outcomes. Therefore, I would like to stress the fact
that no major problem is reported as far as the relationships between the
populations themselves and with the new administrations are concerned. This
assessment reminds us of the fact that Cameroon and Nigeria have achieved
within the framework of the Mixed Commission outstanding successes which
should be nurtured and strengthened. In this connection, I would like to
give my sincere thanks to the authorities of both countries for the logistic
and security support they have provided to the observer missions.
The smooth and peaceful withdrawals and
transfers of authority in both the Lake Chad area and the Land Boundary, and
the peaceful atmosphere prevailing in both areas, over one year later,
should encourage us to move forward. The implementation process of the ICJ
judgement has seen serious delays. In less than three months, the Judgement
of the International Court of Justice will be three years old. We should
find the ways and means to catch up.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We all regret the incidents which took place
in the Bakassi Peninsula this June and wish that light would be shed on
them, and that they would never happen again. In this respect, I
particularly commend the fact that during that period of time the
authorities of both countries managed to remain in contact and avoid any
escalation that might have had an even more serious impact. Cameroon and
Nigeria have both agreed on the sending of a fact-finding mission by the
observers of the Mixed Commission in the field to establish the
circumstances in which the incidents took place. The mission that included
competent professionals will soon produce a report which I believe will be
objective and comprehensive and help us settle, within the framework of the
Mixed Commission, the issues raised by these incidents.
The regrettable incidents of June 2005 should
not deter us from our ultimate goal and impede the process initiated under
the Leaderships of the Presidents Paul Biya and Olusegun Obasanjo. Cameroon
and Nigeria are sister countries, two neighbours with a long common history.
None of them can move away as if they were landowners who would sell their
land and be relocated. Both countries are compelled to live side by side in
harmony and peace for the benefit of their peoples. They have already
achieved considerable progress. They must continue and complete the process
of peaceful settlement of the border dispute. In this area, we are grateful
to both Presidents for the outstanding work they have achieved. Their
administrations should support them in this respect. Despite their multiple
national and international commitments, partner countries should also
continue to encourage the process towards a lasting solution of the issue.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Cameroon Nigeria Mixed Commission has on
its agenda key issues expected to be addressed in a spirit of mutual
understanding, keeping in mind the completion of the implementation of the
ICJ Judgement of October 2002, in the land and maritime boundary between the
two States.
As stipulated at the last Geneva Summit, the
Mixed Commission should continue and complete the implementation of the
delimitation process of the maritime boundary in accordance with the ICJ
decision. It should prepare a new schedule of withdrawal and transfer of
authority in the Bakassi Peninsula for the consideration of the two
Presidents and the UN Secretary General. It should also accelerate the
demarcation of the land boundary and encourage both Governments to take
measures which would help improve the living conditions of the border
populations. All these goals are major challenges which need to be met, for
there is no alternative.
I am convinced that both countries, and
particularly their elites, have the capacities to meet those challenges, and
I assure them that the UN Secretary General will remain committed to
supporting this difficult process.
Thank you for your attention.
