OPENING
STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE MIXED COMMISSION AND SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE
UNITED NATIONS, SAID DJINNIT
*
Yaoundé, 9
October 2008
Your Excellency, Vice-Prime Minister Amadou
Ali, Head of the Cameroonian delegation,
Mr. Director-General Saddiq Marafa Diggi,
Head of the Nigerian delegation, representing Prince Bola Ajibola
Your Excellencies, Members of Government and
Representatives of National Institutions,
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic
Corps and Representatives of International Organizations,
Members of the Mixed Commission,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is with great pleasure that we gather
today in Cameroon for the meeting of the Mixed Commission. I seize this
opportunity to express my gratitude and that of my delegation to Vice-Prime
Minister Amadou Ali, as well as to the Government and people of Cameroon,
for the hospitality we have enjoyed here in Yaounde at this 23rd session of
the Commission.
This session is our very first meeting since
the retrocession ceremony in Calabar, where the final phase of Bakassi
peninsular retrocession process was completed.
Permit me also to join the Secretary-General
of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon in appreciating and congratulating
both Presidents, H.E. Paul Biya of the Republic of Cameroon and H.E. Umaru
Musa Yar'Adua of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for their unwavering
commitment to implementing the Judgement of the International Court of
Justice and the Greentree Agreement.
It is unquestionably owing to the wisdom,
courage and determination shown by the Heads of State of Cameroon and
Nigeria, with the support of the Secretary General of the United Nations,
that the border dispute between the two countries was successfully resolved
in a spirit of good neighbourliness. I would also like to reiterate our
hearty and sincere congratulations to both of them. I would also like to
congratulate the witness states, all bilateral and international donors, as
well as members of the Follow-Up Committee and the Mixed Commission for the
support they have always given to the process of implementing the
International Court of Justice ruling and the Greentree Agreement.
Concerning the land boundary, in spite of
some delays in scheduling the work, I noted with satisfaction, that the
Parties were determined to spare no effort in pursuing field assessment.
Thus, during the present session, we will be able to examine the technical
modalities and logistics of Phase IIIC which covers 245 kilometres. If
events unfold as scheduled - I believe that the schedule will be respected –
I am confident that 1,075 kilometres of land boundary will be ready for
demarcation before the end of this year.
Regarding the maritime boundary, we each
recall that it was here in Yaounde, during the 21st session of the Mixed
Commission, that Cameroon and Nigeria formally approved the British
Admiralty Chart containing the loxodrome, thus paving the way for
cross-border cooperation between the two States, in matters concerning the
production of oil fields straddling the maritime boundary.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The very symbolic and significant
retrocession of the “Zone” in Bakassi, last 14 August, requires that we face
our responsibilities with regard to the urgent needs and pressing demands of
the populations concerned, not only in the Bakassi area but also along the
land boundary between the two countries, including the Lake Chad region.
We reaffirm the commitment of the United
Nations to support the efforts by the two countries to find solutions that
are adapted to the needs of the populations.
I would like to seize the opportunity to
congratulate the Nigerian authorities for building hundreds of housing units
at Ikang for families which have decided to return to Nigeria. We will
monitor attentively the Bakassi development programme prepared by the
Government of Cameroon. We will continue to work closely with the United
Nations country teams in Abuja and Yaounde, as well as with development
partners in the two countries to support initiatives by Cameroon and Nigeria
for the benefit of the concerned populations.
With regard to strengthening cross-border
cooperation, the United Nations will support efforts that will be made in
view of following up and implementing the resolutions of the Extraordinary
Council of Ministers of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, notably the
organization of the donors’ round table planned for the end of the year. We
will also support rehabilitation works on the Abakiliki-Mutengene
cross-border road intended to promote trade and economic cooperation between
the two countries.
Generally, the United Nations strongly
encourages the two countries to intensify their cooperation ties in all
domains, including security matters, in a bid to face common threats,
particularly in the Bakassi region and, more widely, in the Gulf of Guinea.
They can count on the support and commitment of the United Nations
Organization in all efforts they will make to strengthen mutual trust
between them. I am pleased to learn that the Cameroon-Nigeria Joint
Commission is meeting today in Yaounde.
It is in that spirit that we found it
necessary to revive the Observer Team of United Nations which, henceforth,
will play a proactive role consistent with requests, to that effect,
expressed by the Parties during the last session of the Mixed Commission.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The firm decision to resolve their border
dispute through legal means, which shielded their peoples from the
sufferings and throes of conflict and by pursuing with determination the
implementation of the both the Court’s ruling and the Greentree Agrement,
Cameroon and Nigeria are undoubtedly writing a beautiful chapter of our
Continent’s troubled history. It is our duty to tell the story of this
reunion between two countries and peoples united by a common destiny, so
that it inspires men and women of goodwill on the continent and strengthens
our belief that conflicts are not the fate of our continent.
I now declare open the 23rd ordinary session
of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission.
Thank you for your kind attention.
