OPENING
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE MIXED COMMISSION AND SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE
UNITED NATIONS, MR. AHMEDOU OULD-ABDALLAH
*
Yaoundé,
6 September 2006
Excellency, Mr. Vice-Prime Minister,
Prince Bola Ajibola,
Distinguished Representatives of the
Constituted Corps,
Distinguished Members of Government,
Distinguished Members of the Diplomatic
Corps,
Distinguished Members of the Mixed
Commission,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very delighted to preside over this 15th
meeting of the Cameroon Nigeria Mixed Commission in Yaoundé. Allow me first
of all, to thank our host, the Honourable Vice-Prime, Minister of Justice,
Keeper of the Seals, Mr. Amadou Ali, and through him, the Government of
Cameroon for the great hospitality accorded to my delegation and I since our
arrival and for the measures taken to ensure the success of this meeting.
I would also like to thank the Head of the
Nigerian Delegation, Prince Bola Ajibola, for the welcome accorded us during
the Extraordinary Session of the Mixed Commission convened in Abuja on 6
July, last. As we all recall; that meeting was convened in order to finalize
preparations for the organized withdrawal of troops and transfer of
authority in the Bakassi Peninsula.
I note that this is our first meeting since
the said withdrawal and transfer took effect. We have thus reached a new
stage in the process of implementing of the judgment of the International
Court of Justice of10 October 2002. In this regard, pursuit of the
implementation should be underscored as this new withdrawal is already the
third, following the agreements of 16 December 2003 on the Lake Chad area
and those of 14 July concerning the land boundary. There has been no
incident during this transfer of authority, which gives us a further source
of satisfaction. The withdrawal from Bakassi could have taken place on 14
September 2004, but certain difficulties temporarily thwarted our efforts.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Today, I would particularly like to
underscore my esteem and gratitude to the states that accepted to be
witnesses to the withdrawal and transfer of authority on the Bakassi
Peninsula, namely Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States. May
I also seize this opportunity to extend, on behalf of the Cameroon-Nigeria
Mixed Commission, my gratitude to the donors who contributed financially to
the land boundary demarcation exercise, namely: Canada and Great Britain
which was the first to support us –,Norway and the European Union.
Regarding the implementation of the agreement
on the withdrawal troops and transfer of authority on the Bakassi Peninsula,
I am pleased to note that it falls squarely in line with the dispute
resolution process as set out in the Judgment of the International Court of
justice of 10 October 2002 and that, as in the case of the Lake Chad area
and along the land boundary, no incident, no complaint against any gross
violation of the agreement and no harassment has come to tarnish the smooth
conduct of operations and the restoration of law. On 14 August 2006, the
date when the withdrawal of troops and transfer of authority took effect,
United Nations Observers demonstrated their capacity to accomplish their
assigned tasks. As of today, they are fifteen in number are operational,
particularly motivated, and ready to go to the field. To date, they have
received no complaints from the affected concerned populations and no one
has questioned the effectiveness of the withdrawal of Nigerian troops form
the Bakassi Peninsula. As you are aware, we must now strive to implement the
fourth element of the provision of the judgment of the International Court
of Justice, relating to the maritime boundary. Despite the use of the
cartographic vocabulary which might sometimes sound arcane to the layman, a
new agreement should not pose any problem. A Working Group comprising
seasoned experts has prepared proposals for us since the second half of
2004. They have been updated on the basis of modern-day measuring
instruments and technology. I am fully confident that both Parties are
willing to reach common ground with a view to settling this last segment of
the Court Judgement once and for all as well.
Concerning the land boundary, we have
successfully completed the demarcation of the 460 km. This work will be
pursued over a further 300 km once the rainy season ends.
In this context, the option to sub-contract
the demarcation is under serious consideration by my colleagues of the
Secretariat. This option to me has the advantage of greater participation
and ownership of the process by the Parties.
We are also considering the demands of
demarcation in difficult areas – high mountains, dense forest – with the
view to determining the best means of demarcation of such areas.
In Nigeria as well as in Cameroon, there are
upcoming elections. Our wish is that the campaigns that will be conducted
will not interfere with our work and that the technical skills of our three
teams and the sense of responsibility on our Heads of Delegation will not
buckle under any pressure that might be brought to bear.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Allow me to recall our concerns regarding the
affected populations about whom the President of the International Court of
Justice himself had expressed his feeling when the judgment was being
delivered. Several common projects have already been discussed. It is now up
to us to give the necessary impetus to the ongoing initiatives so that they
may materialize. I take this opportunity to call on my colleagues of the
United Nations Agencies to support the boundary dispute settlement process
through the appropriate means for the benefit of the affected populations. I
am also thinking about contributions from the World Bank, the African
Development Bank, European Union and the bilateral cooperation system.
Furthermore, I believe that relations with the Lake Chad Basin Commission
and the Gulf of Guinea Commission should be reactivated.
I thank you for your kind attention and
declare open, the XVth session of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission.
