OPENING
REMARKS BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE MIXED COMMISSION AND SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE
UNITED NATIONS, MR. AHMEDOU OULD-ABDALLAH
*
Abuja,
10 June 2003
His Excellency Senator Victor Oyeifo,
Personal Representative of the President of the Senate
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
His Excellency Prince Bola Ajibola (CFR),
Former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation
and Chairman of the Nigerian Delegation
His Excellency Mr. Amadou Ali,
Ministre d’Etat in charge of Justice, Keeper of the Seals of Cameroon
and Chairman of the Cameroonian Delegation
Distinguished representatives of the
Diplomatic Community
Members of the Nigerian Delegation,
Members of the Cameroonian Delegation,
Excellencies, Ladies and
Gentlemen, my Dear Friends,
We all feel deeply honoured by the
presence amongst us of His Excellency Senator Victor Oyeifo, Chief Whip
and Personal Representative of the President of the Senate of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. This is a strong encouragement to all of us in the
Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission. Your presence here attests to
Nigeria’s commitment to the path she has chosen, a courageous path that
leads to peace, good-neighbourliness, respect for international law and
cooperation between two major countries in Africa. It also shows the
importance Nigeria attaches to the successful work of the Cameroon-Nigeria
Mixed Commission and to its mandate.
It is no less of an honour and as much
of a pleasure to have here, as Head of the Nigerian delegation to this
fourth meeting of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, His Excellency
Prince Bola Ajibola. I thank Your Excellency, first for the competence and
dedication you have shown, together with His Excellency Alhaji Dahiru
Bobbo, throughout the previous meetings of the Mixed Commission. And
secondly, for your warm welcome to this dear city of Abuja. I also thank
the Head of the Cameroonian delegation, His Excellency Ministre d’État
Mr. Amadou Ali and his delegation, who have also been very helpful. I wish
to acknowledge here the excellent work done by the Heads of your
delegations to the Sub-Commission on Demarcation, Their Excellencies
Alhaji Dahiru Bobbo for Nigeria and Martin Belinga-Eboutou for Cameroon,
and to the Heads of your delegations to the Sub-Commission on Affected
Populations, Prof. Anthony Asiwaju for Nigeria and Prof. Maurice Kamto for
Cameroon.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, my
Dear Friends,
Before entering into the substance of
our meeting, I would like to introduce the United Nations team. I have to
my right the newly appointed Executive Secretary of the Mixed Commission,
Cheick Oumar Diarrah, who was Mali’s Ambassador to the United States for
over eight years, up until December 2002. Mr. Diarrah chaired the meeting
of our Sub-Commission on Demarcation yesterday. To my left, I have Special
Consultant William Robertson, from New Zealand, who did an outstanding job
of chairing the Technical Committee of the Sub-Commission on Demarcation
and drafted an excellent report. Mr. Vladimir Golitsyn, a Principal Legal
Officer, has come from the United Nations Headquarters in New York, as has
done Mr. Robert Mckay, a Cartographer. Mr. Tiyanjana Maluwa, a Senior
Human Rights Adviser with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, has come
from Geneva. From the secretariat of the Mixed Commission, we have here
our Military Adviser, Colonel Daniel Redburn, our Political Adviser, Mrs.
Sylvie Daouda, and our Cartographer, Mr. Mario Plante. From New York we
have our Translator, Mr. Eric Warot, and we have three Interpreters from
the United Nations Office in Nairobi. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,
When I addressed the Mixed Commission
in Abuja on 4 February this year, in the presence of the Vice-President of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Mr. Atiku Abubakar, I was
coming directly from Abidjan. In my remarks, I contrasted the volatile
situation in Côte d’Ivoire with the efforts of your two countries to
resolve their differences peacefully rather than by the use of force. When
I addressed the Commission two months later, in Yaoundé, I contrasted
your choice of peace with the violent change of regime in the Central
African Republic that had been carried out just days earlier.
Another two months later, again in
Abuja, it is in my own country, Mauritania, that the roar of cannons and
the sound of jack-boots can be heard, while closer to Nigeria, Liberia is
in the throes of another war. That disheartening repetition of violence
and the use of force on our continent serves only to highlight the wisdom
of the decision taken by His ExcellencyPresident Olusegun Obasanjo and His
Excellency Paul Biya, when they requested the Secretary-General of the
United Nations to establish the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission in order
to consider ways of following up the ruling handed down on October 10,
2002 by the International Court of Justice.
Against that background, your efforts
at resolving peacefully the differences between your two countries take
particular significance for the whole African continent. In that respect,
Cameroon and Nigeria are a beacon of hope and an example to the rest of
Africa, and they truly act in the spirit of the New Partership for African
Development.
In what is not an empty, bimonthly
ritual, but an effort to keep us focused on our mission and on the work
ahead, I would like to remind ourselves one more time of the original
mandate that Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Paul Biya gave our
Commission on 15 November 2003 in Geneva. That mandate was “to consider
all the implications of the decision of the International Court of
Justice, including the need to protect the rights of the affected
populations in both countries.” It was also to undertake “the task of
demarcating the land boundary between the two countries and make
recommendations on additional confidence- building measures such as the
holding, on a regular basis, of meetings between local authorities,
Government officials and Heads of State (and, in that regard, we
welcome the fact that President Biya was able to attend the inauguration
of President Obasanjo), developing projects to promote joint economic
ventures and cross-border cooperation; the avoidance of inflammatory
statements or declarations on Bakassi by either side; troop withdrawal
from relevant areas along the land boundary; eventual demilitarization of
the Bakassi Peninsula with the possibility of international personnel to
observe withdrawal; and reactivation of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.”
This is our mandate. A major step was
made the day before yesterday, when the members of the Sub-Commission on
Demarcation adopted the comprehensive report that you had requested from
them at our April 2003 meeting in Yaoundé. The Sub-Commission was chaired
by my colleague Mr. Youssef Mahmoud, from New York.
As a basis for their own report to
you, the members of the Sub-Commission used a report that Special
Consultant Bill Robertson had prepared in close cooperation with the
Cartographic Section at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and
which deserves our commendation for its thoroughness and professionalism.
The Sub-Commission’s report is by
any standard the comprehensive report that the Mixed Commission had
requested. It includes a provisional timeframe, cost estimates for
demarcation, a list of independent contractors and detailed specifications
for the various aspects of the operation. It also contains a set of
recommendations for consideration by the Commission.
The report of the Sub-Commission
addresses all issues related to the implementation of the Work Programme
for the demarcation that require an immediate action by the Mixed
Commission. Should the Mixed Commission approve the set of recommendations
submitted for its consideration in that regard, the Sub-Commission would
then proceed with their implementation as soon as funds are available.
Which brings us to the all-important
subject of funding. In his introductory remarks to the Sub-Commission on
Demarcation, the Chairman of the Sub-Commission, Mr. Youssef Mahmoud
recalled that the Mixed Commission agreed on 5 February, in Abuja, that
the financing of the activities of the Work Programme for the demarcation,
AND I QUOTE, “should primarily be undertaken by Cameroon and Nigeria”,
although “some of these activities could be covered by any external
funding sources that become available”. END QUOTE Since then, and
notwithstanding the primary responsibility assigned to Cameroon and
Nigeria in funding the demarcation process, the United Nations has worked
consistently to solicit funds for the demarcation, including by
establishing a trust fund to which contributions can be directed.
I have continued my démarches to
external donors, and I trust that they will produce positive results such
as new pledges and the honouring of previous pledges.
I believe it is important for our
Commission to design a strategy to mobilize funds for the demarcation of
the boundary. Such a strategy could be guided by the following principles:
Cameroon and Nigeria would fund as
early as possible, on a 50/50 basis, the approximately US$2.5 needed to
start the demarcation process;
The two countries would also provide
early indications of their in-kind contributions, such as surveyors,
transportation, accommodation, etc., in order to start the demarcation
process;
The annex to the Sub-Commission’s
report which gives a detailed breakdown of the total estimated cost of
US$11,640,000 should be the sole document used to support fund-raising
activities, and updated accordingly;
In order to coordinate rather than
duplicate efforts, Cameroon and Nigeria will keep us at the United Nations
informed of their approaches to donors. The Mixed Commission will in turn
inform your Governments of all United Nations activities in that regard;
We will submit to the Mixed
Commission, at its next meeting, a comprehensive report on all
fund-raising activities;
The Mixed Commission will examine
offers of in-kind contributions of other donors.
I am convinced that such a show of
commitment on the part of Cameroon and Nigeria would go a long way in
persuading donors to contribute to the demarcation exercise, and I
therefore encourage you to adopt the recommendations of your
Sub-Commission in that regard.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, my
Dear Friends,
Yesterday, your Sub-Commission on
Affected Populations held it first meeting here in Abuja and has prepared
a report that the Mixed Commission will consider this afternoon. As you
will recall, the mandate of that Sub-Commission is: “to identify the
affected populations, assess their situation and consider modalities
relating to the protection of their rights”.
The Sub-Commission agreed, at
yesterday’s meeting, on the following decision:
