Nigeria-Cameroon Mixed Commission Meeting Holds In Yaounde

Nigeria-Cameroon Mixed Commission Meeting Holds In Yaounde
Helen Shokjok, Abuja

The 27 th session of the Nigeria/Cameroon Mixed Commission is due to begin in Yaoundé, Cameroon, from Wednesday 9 th to Saturday March 12 , 2011.

The meeting is expected to discuss and consider the agreement reached by the two countries at their 26 th meeting in Abuja last year.

Strengthening co-operation

According to the Chairman of the Commission and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Mr. Said Djinit, the commission received from Nigeria and Cameroon, their respective comments on “Resource Clause” which he said will allow for the formulation of recommendations aimed at preparing a consolidated report for the conclusion of a framework agreement on cross border co-operation.

The co-operation being sought is on how they can jointly explore the oil and gas fields straddling their maritime boundary as well as installations and related safety zones.

These agreements have been considered as a huge step forward in the relationship between Nigeria and Cameroon since the implementation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice over their disputed boundaries began eight years ago.

Demarcating boundaries

It is also expected that on the 27 th meeting, will consider the continuation of pillar emplacement and demarcating the two countries' land borders.

So far, since the commencement of the implementation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice, in respect of the border dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon in 2002, the two countries have reached an agreement on 1,463 kilometers of land boundaries;   180 kilometers have been permanently demarcated with over 370 pillars already in place.

Issus on the peninsula

One issue that the Nigerian delegation should be eager to receive report on, is the position Nigeria took at the 26 th session of the Mixed Commission, where the leader of the Nigerian delegation, Prince Bola Ajibola, agreed that though progress had been made in the mandate of the Mixed Commission, “Nigeria has continued to receive with sadness reports of brutality, harassment and killings of its people resident in the Bakassi Peninsula especially by the end of 2009.”

Since the historic ruling of the International Court of Justice on the Nigeria-Cameroon border crisis, the leadership of the two countries along with the United Nations has been doing everything possible to ensure that the two neighbors enjoy peaceful co-existence.

Williams