REMARKS
BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE MIXED COMMISSION AND SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE
UNITED NATIONS, MR. AHMEDOU OULD-ABDALLAH
*
Yaounde,
2 April 2003
I take great pleasure in addressing
you today in the presence of the Prime Minister of the Republic of
Cameroon, Mr. Peter Mafany Musonge, at this opening of the third session
of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission. That such a distinguished person
is present among us today does worthy echo to the honour paid us by the
Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr. Atiku Abubakar,
when he was kind enough to attend the opening meeting of the session in
Abuja on February 2, 2003. It demonstrates the importance which your two
Governments attach to following up the October
2002 International Court of Justice ruling and, in general, to
remaining good neighbours. It should further encourage us to even greater
efforts to advance in the direction mapped out by Presidents Paul Biya and
Olusegun Obasanjo.
I would also like to express my
gratitude to the Head of the Cameroonian delegation to the Mixed
Commission, Mr. Amadou Ali, Minister of State for Justice, Keeper of the
Seals of the Republic of Cameroon, for hospitality renewed and for his
encouraging remarks. I would also like to thank the Head of the Nigerian
delegation, Prince Bola Ajibola (CFR), former Minister of Justice of
Nigeria and former High Commissioner of his country to the United Kingdom,
whose statement augurs well for a fruitful meeting.
Today, the roar of cannons echoes on
the international stage and only a few days ago, during a change of regime
in the Central African Republic, we heard the sound of jack-boots in our
own region. These developments and the violence attendant upon them can
only highlight the wisdom of the decision taken by Presidents Biya and
Obasanjo to request 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.
I would like briefly to recall
the
mandate which your two Presidents entrusted to you in Geneva on November
15, 2002. The Mixed Commission should, in their view, consider, and I
quote “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; 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
demilitarisation of the Bakassi Peninsula with the possibility of
international personnel to observe withdrawal; and reactivation of the
Lake Chad Basin Commission.”
Let me now briefly take stock of
progress made since our first meeting in Yaounde
on December 2 and 3, 2002 :
- Firstly, a Sub-Commission
responsible for the demarcation of the land boundary between the two
countries was established and its programme of work adopted on February 4
in Abuja. This afternoon, you will have submitted to you the preliminary
report which you requested at that time, taking into account a number of
additional guiding elements;
- Secondly, a contact mission was sent
to N’Djamena, as you requested on February 5, when you agreed to appeal
to your respective Heads of State to organize a special summit meeting of
the Member States of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. You will hear a
detailed oral report on that mission this afternoon.
- Thirdly, at your meeting in Abuja,
you also established a Sub-Commission on Affected Populations with a
mandate to assess the situation of these populations and to consider
modalities relating to the protection of their rights. My colleagues have
drawn up a draft mandate which will be submitted to you for your
consideration, and which could serve as a basis for drawing up, in the
course of our current meeting, a programme of work for this new
Sub-Commission;
- Fourthly, the communiqués issued
following the meeting between your Presidents and the United Nations
Secretary-General in Paris on
September 5 and in Geneva on
November 15, 2002 attach utmost importance to the issue of
confidence-building measures between your two countries. On this score, I
believe I may say that the meetings of your Commission are the most
striking of confidence-building measures, and that they well reflect the
spirit of harmony and cooperation inspiring Presidents Biya and Obasanjo.
The meetings of your Commission have even been extended to the field, as
representatives from your two delegations and from the United Nations have
already made two field trips out of Abuja and Yaounde. The first of these
was the contact mission to N’Djamena. The second was a visit by a
tripartite Cameroon-Nigeria-UN delegation to the
Mamfe-Eyumojok-Ekok-Mfum-Ikom road on February 7 of this year. Once
improved on the Cameroonian side, this road which links your two countries
in the South will contribute significantly to cross-border cooperation and
trade as well as bring local populations closer together. You will also
hear a report on that visit this afternoon;
- Lastly, at its Abuja meeting, your
Commission requested the United Nations Secretary-General to lend his
personal support for the mobilization of the resources necessary for your
work. On this score, I am pleased to report that contacts made with
European Union representatives to the United Nations in New York will
enable determination of the European Union’s willingness to make
available 200 000 dollars to the Mixed Commission, in the hope that such a
contribution will encourage others from the Governments of Cameroon,
Nigeria and friendly countries.
The Mixed Commission has achieved
substantial progress in four months towards implementing the October 10,
2002 ruling by the International Court of Justice. But our Commission must
still discuss other important issues which are part of its mandate. I very
much hope that this third meeting, here in Yaounde, will see agreement
reached on practical modalities which will enable us to tackle these other
issues, including that of the maritime boundary.
During my bilateral talks with the
Heads of the Cameroonian and Nigerian delegations, I have already explored
possible items to be included on our June meeting agenda. The keynote
address by the Vice- President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in
Abuja, on February 2, and my consultations held with the Cameroonian
authorities should serve us as guidance on this. The decisions which you
take at this meeting will determine what preparatory technical work will
be required before our next meeting in Abuja. In this regard, it is
already envisaged that a meeting of the Sub-Commission on the Demarcation
of the Land Boundary could be held in Nigeria immediately prior to the
fourth meeting of the Mixed Commission.
Now that I have touched briefly on the
detailed reports which you will be hearing later in our meeting, I await
with great interest the words of the next speaker and take great pleasure
in giving him the floor.
Thank you for your attention.
