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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Cameroon:Paul Biya in the Southwest

Ayah Paul Abine(Hon)
By Ayah Paul Abine

 It is now an open secret that Mr. Biya will celebrate the 30th anniversary of his rule/reign in the Southwest Region. What apparently remains a secret is the exact venue. But the devastating and brutal demolition of shacks from Tiko through Mutengene to Buea betrays Buea as the “secret venue”. 

This is all the more apparent with HYSACAM embarking on the cleaning of erstwhile bushy borders of the main street in Buea for the first time ever. No reasonable man can be misled by the lame diversionary argument that the cleaning of the road is no pointer because Mr. Biya would normally come by air. The lesson of paralysing traffic in Yaounde streets whenever Mr. Biya is flying to Nsimalen Airport is too notorious to lend any credence to that argument. 

 Besides, Mr. Biya’s Secretariat General has recently sent messengers to the University of Buea to write down the names of students for the payment by the Presidency of their registration fees. This certainly is a ploy to calm the recent hostilities in that institution, if only during Mr. Biya’s imperial visit. Cameroonian youth being what they are, their coming out to swell the crowds will thus be guaranteed even as in the past the very youth received nothing of the money promised for marching in support of Mr. Biya. 

 Not any less supportive is the exceptionally belated commencement on November 12 of the all-important budgetary session of the National Assembly. The session commenced last year on November 1. And one has no memory that it has ever commenced later than November 8 for the past ten years. It follows that some important event is in the offing. Clearly, the indispensable speaker, Hon Cavaye, cannot be in Buea on the commencement of the parliamentary session. One may argue that Mr.Speaker could well be elsewhere out of Yaounde than in Buea. But only Buea is cleaning up intensively and extensively. 

 Nor should one underrate the deferred trial of Chief Inoni Ephraim. Putting him on trial prior to Mr. Biya’s visit could result in a dwindling turn-out. And if Mr. Biya does not make it to Buea now so that his being represented at the so-called 50th Anniversary of Reunification would be palliated by the fact that Mr. Biya had just been to Buea, the appearance of Chief Inoni before the special criminal tribunal which is now functional would complicate the equation. 

 The most pointing indicator yet is the meticulous checking these days of travelers’ identity by the usually complacent police and gendarmes. Only this very month were several persons arrested, detained and charged to court for wanting to travel to Buea on the mere suspicion that they wanted to celebrate the independence anniversary of West Cameroon. Embarking on similar exercises again strongly suggest some event is about happening in Buea. Of course, yes: the new un-enacted offence covers traveling to Buea only. If not, where else?

 But what is intriguing is that Mr. Biya is going to the region at the time Kumba has gone for three months without water. Buea has been in a blackout 80% of the last 48 hours. And water rationing in Buea has been accentuated. As for Mamfe, water and electricity are Siamese twins that need evacuation to Saudi Arabia for surgery. Mr. Biya may not have heard that my tribesmen, the Olitis, in 1963, built an airstrip at Akwaya in five days, and the first plane landed on the 6th day.

 Mr. Biya may have to hire them to rehabilitate the airports at Tiko and Mamfe in one day; and have others built at Mundemba, Menji and Bangem in two days for the airlifting of Mr. President’s blind supporters. Who is lying that the Southwest roads are horrible or even impassable? Nonsense! 

Tori sweet soteeeeeeeeeh tifman laf for banda!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Cameroon:Ngoa Ekele, I remember you

The days of yore of Cameroon’s single university evoke nostalgic sweet-bitter memories

By Douglas A. Achingale*

It was exciting how young GCE Advanced Level holders of yesteryears craved to go to Ngoa Ekele, Cameroon’s lone university at the time. Those who were there before them fuelled their desire either silently through their alluring appearances or by word of mouth. You just could not stop many young people from going to live the Ngoa Ekele experience, even if fleetingly. Then when they got there and lived the sweet-bitter experience, everyone had their own tale to tell of how the institution “received” them.

Science Faculty, a no-go area for Anglos
Academically, Ngoa was not friends with everybody; it did not smile at everyone, so to speak. The vast majority of English-speaking students who did the sciences went there only to avail themselves of the bursaries (“bourse” or “epsi”) offered students at the end of each month. This was because their French-speaking lecturers mystified their lessons for them. Some lecturers of the Physics-Chemistry Department had the effrontery to tell them that Physics and Chemistry were not meant for Anglophones.
However, there were a few Anglos who mustered the courage to study either in the above-mentioned Department, in the Natural Science Department or in the Department of “Mathe Info” (whose translation eludes me to this day); the three Departments having made up the Faculty of Science at the time. And instead of the normal three years, those English-speaking students each spent not less than six years to take a first degree. Some spent as many as nine!
Others, after spending a fruitless year in the Faculty of Science, switched to the Faculty of Law and Economics or Letters and Social Sciences. Many of whom succeeded in those Faculties. In 1988 when some of such students were about to switch, they were told that “epsi” would cease to flow for those who had not scored a minimum average of 5 on 20 the previous year. Since most Anglophones doing the sciences did not bother to attend classes, they scored far less than the average required for them to maintain their “epsi”. And because they considered it suicidal to study at Ngoa without “epsi”, they were forced to drop out.
History-Geography dep’t – where students went to die!

Another department which was nightmarish for students, Anglophones and Francophones alike, was the History-Geography Department of the then Faculty of Letters and Social Science. Here too, lecturers complicated matters for students ad nauseam.
Succeeding in this department was so difficult that it was nicknamed “Faya Largeau”, the Chadian town where most soldiers were killed during the infamous Chadian war of the 1980s. Otherwise put, “surviving” in the History-Geography Department was as difficult for students as it was for soldiers to leave Faya Largeau unscathed. It was therefore not uncommon to find students here who spent up to five, six or even seven years to obtain a “licence.”
“Mandat burning” – a bitter experience
The system at the time made matters even more complex for repeating students who failed their promotion exams for the second time. When this happened, the students were considered unfit to study in that Faculty, and so were obliged to withdraw from it. This was applicable to first and second year students only. If they wished to continue their studies in the university, they were required to move to another Faculty.
This phenomenon was known in French as “griller le mandat”, literally translated to mean “to rupture one’s stay” (in a faculty).  Anglophone students preferred a funky word-for-word translation: “to burn the mandat.”
“Mandat burning” was common in all Faculties and Departments. It was quite a doleful experience for those who lived it and who had taken their studies seriously. You needed to witness how bitterly some of them (especially girls) wept when they saw their results. Such yowls and wails around the campus often announced cases of “mandat burning.”   
Even though some students were sufficiently courageous to put this failure behind them and register anew in other Faculties where they did well, others simply dropped out of the university and were haunted by the failure for long years. There were yet others whose courage only led them into more misery. For, after “burning their mandat” in one Faculty, they moved to another and suffered the same fate!

The “cartouche” syndrome
The scare of “burning their mandat” or of simply failing an exam actuated many a student to indulge in unconventional practices such as the use of “cartouches”. “Cartouche” is the French word for cartridge. At Ngoa, it was used to mean something that the students used to kill (and overcome) the examination monster; that is, pieces of paper on which students copied sections of their notes and took secretly into exam halls. If what they copied were answers to the questions that came in the exams, they would cheat using the “cartouches”.
Many slothful students could really not do without “cartouches”. It was common to see some of them enter exam halls with wads of paper containing all the year’s notes in different subjects. In this way, they would not be baffled by whatever questions that came in the exams.
Most of the time, they cheated and went scot-free. But at other times, they were caught red-handed and punished accordingly. Some even forgot their “cartouches” in their answer sheets. However, to avoid being caught, a good number of these dishonest students, particularly girls, came up with new tricks. On examination days, they would copy the notes not on pieces of paper, but rather on their laps and on the lining of their skirts and dresses from which they stealthily read and answered the questions. 

Sexually transmitted marks
If SOME female students did not employ “cartouches” to succeed in exams, they used their bodies to do so. In the English Department where I was, this phenomenon was rampant. True it is that there were upright lecturers in that department such as Kitts Mbeboh (RIP), Jot Tambi (RIP), Siga Asanga (RIP), Pa Atabong (RIP), Tala Kashim, Agbaw Ekema, Paul Mbangwana, etc. who would resist the temptation of pouring their treasure into foreign laps. But SOME of their colleagues were ready at all times to trade marks for sex.
And the girls knew them. And they did everything to seek their notice and entice them. Since cell phones were not available at the time, their first points of contact were the lecturers’ offices which the latter shared with one another.
One of such lecturers was so infatuated with sex that he found it difficult to hide his feelings each time he was before one or more pulchritudinous female students. In such circumstances, he would wear a permanent lascivious smile and become unnecessarily antsy nay frivolous. His strange antics at such moments always spoke of someone who was burning with an inner salacious desire.
Hot-panted as he was, the lecturer in question once transformed his office into his bedroom and forgot to key the door. That was at dusk when everyone had left the academic section of the campus. Little did he know that a colleague of his would call around to collect a document from his neighbouring office. Seeing light in the office-cum-bedroom through the window louvres, the newcomer understood that one of his colleagues was there and so pushed the door to greet him. Behold! He saw him in full action, a damsel groaning under his weight!                      
The following morning, the lecturer who had caught his colleague in action broke the news to us when he came for a lecture. But he said it so offhandedly that he failed to reveal the identity of the student – probably because he might not have seen her visage. He said, however, that she was fair-complexioned. Thereafter, we became suspicious of all our light-skinned second-year female course mates.      
The joy of receiving “epsi”
Discussing Ngoa-Ekele in its legendary halcyon days without shedding effulgent light on “epsi” is like cooking ekwang without putting palm oil. For, above anything else, “epsi” brought meaning and sunshine into the lives of the majority of students. I really do not know the origin of that word. But I remember that it was the word used by every student to refer to the bursaries that were given to us every month.
The sole criterion that was used to offer “epsi” to students was age. Students who were above 21 when they entered Ngoa did not have it. But once such students made it to the second year, they were entitled to it until they left the university.
When I came in 1987, first and second year students earned 30000FCFA each, third year students 40000FCFA, “Maîtrise” students 50000FCFA and “Doctorat” students 60000FCFA. But the following year, a new text came up which modified the rates and conditions for receiving “epsi”. Freshmen were paid 25000FCFA while repeating first and second year students who scored an average of at least 5 on 20 received 15000FCFA. For their part, repeating third year students earned 20000 FCFA. When the former category of students progressed to the next level, they were entitled to 25000FCFA and 30000FCFA respectively.
Students normally began classes in October, but they started receiving “epsi” in December at which time they were given three months’ arrears popularly known as “gros lot” (lump sum). Thereafter, they were paid their normal monthly dues at the end of each month.
It was amazing to see how freshmen, many of whom had never before had many tens of thousands of their own, enjoyed themselves when they received their “gros lot”. In my days, “Carrefour” Obili was the spot of call; the place where we did justice to the bottles, and the rest…Those who were not very careful got easily derailed by this sudden contact with money and failed their first year exams.
Around the student hostel where “epsi’ was paid, there was often unusual effervescence at the time of payment. You could see a smile on every face and a smidgen of verve in every gait. Some lectures that were held at the period of payment, however important they might have been, had to wait.  Feisty creditors stayed glued to their debtors and only liberated them when their debts were settled.
Students used their “epsi” in different ways. I happened to have been in the midst of friends who had so much love for sartorial elegance that they used more than 2/3 of their “epsi” every month to buy good, snazzy outfits for themselves. The rest of it was for their restaurant tickets, beer and a few handouts from their lecturers. House rent was not a problem for my friends and me because we lived in the hostel where we paid a paltry 2000FCFA a month. 

“Epsi pitié” causing pity
While the majority of students benefited these grants from government, first year students who were not privileged to be entitled to it watched them with a heavy heart. They felt utterly discriminated against and would curse the system, the powers that be and fate for not being sensitive to their plight.
This category of students waited impatiently for their own special grant of 100 000 FCFA each which was paid once, towards the end of the academic year, and which was nicknamed “epsi pitié”, meaning something like “pitiful epsi”. It was a welcome relief for them after all, as those who had not been able to procure a single new outfit for themselves throughout the year were able to buy one or two items in a desperate attempt to prove to their chums that they too could dress well.

Freshmen’s experience with “restau” food
The story of the two university restaurants at the time can constitute a whole write-up on its own. But for want of space, I will dwell only on the experience freshmen had when, for the first time, they consumed a particular kind of food prepared in them.
The food in question was spaghetti and tomato(?) sauce. Since it was often served with overly sizeable chunks of pork or chicken – quantities of meat which the freshmen had hardly ever eaten in one sitting – the latter tended to eat everything that was served them. Then minutes or hours later, they would run helter-skelter in search of toilets to empty their bowels! If you were in the amphitheatre when the watery stool came calling, then you were in for real trouble!
It was only after having had this experience that freshmen understood that they had to go slow on the sauce which was more or less a laxative. 

*The author is a Yaounde-based critic, social worker and free thinker                

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Free Expression Under Threat in Cameroon:Report

PEN, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Internet Sans Frontières issue report on Cameroon to the UN Human Rights Council
NEW YORK, October 16, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Free expression is under threat in Cameroon, according to a report submitted this week to the UN Human Rights Council by PEN International, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Internet Sans Frontières.
Cameroon is a “perilous country in which to be a writer or journalist both on- and off-line,” says the report, which spells out how the country, ruled by President Paul Biya since 1982, has used increasingly authoritarian measures to stifle writers, musicians, and the press. A host of draconian criminal laws punish writers and journalists for their work, including lengthy pre-trial detention in severely overcrowded prisons, routine torture, and a lack of a fair trial.
“Writers who express dissident opinion in Cameroon run a tremendous risk,”
explained Cathal Sheerin, Africa Researcher at PEN International. “Enoh Meyomesse, the founder of the Cameroon Writers Association, has been wallowing in Kondengui prison for 11 months, including one month spent in solitary confinement, despite having had all charges dropped against him.” Meyomesse is currently on trial before a military tribunal, with minimal access to attorneys or medical care.
The government has also clamped down on the press with expensive and selectively enforced licensing laws for newspapers and publications.
“Investigating corruption and reporting on political unrest are punishable acts for Cameroonian journalists, leading to their detention and even death,” explained Mohamed Keita, Africa Advocacy Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists. “Self-censorship is not a sustainable safety mechanism and undermines the right of citizens to independent, reliable information that empowers them to make vital decisions.”
Threats to free expression persist online as well. Cameroon has censored or blocked Internet content and has privatized the enforcement of cybercrimes with no effective judicial review process. Less than 5 percent of citizens in Cameroon access the Internet because of firm state control over infrastructure and restrictive regulation, resulting in soaring costs for Internet Service Providers and users.
“The UN declared access to the Internet a human right and fundamental to personal and economic development. In Cameroon, the Internet is not available for everyone to use. The state's control of the Internet, and its restrictive monopoly on access to it, have hindered free contribution by users and prevented them from expressing themselves online,” said Archippe Yepmou, President of Internet Sans Frontières.
Cameroon will be reviewed by the Human Rights Council in April and May 2013.
PEN International celebrates literature and promotes freedom of expression. Founded in 1921, our global community of writers now comprises 144 centers spanning more than 100 countries. Our programs, campaigns, events and publications connect writers and readers for global solidarity and cooperation. PEN International is a non-political organization and holds consultative status at the United Nations and UNESCO. www.pen-international.org
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1981. We promote press freedom worldwide by defending the rights of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal. www.cpj.org
Internet Sans Frontières is a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 that promotes and defends online freedom of expression, privacy, and net neutrality. We also believe that the Internet is a powerful tool for social change. www.internetsansfrontieres.org

Provided by PR Newswire

Monday, October 15, 2012

Cameroon misses out on another African Cup

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) -The return of Samuel Eto'o wasn't enough for Cameroon, which missed out on another African Cup of Nations on Sunday as Cape Verde held its nerve to qualify for its first major tournament.

Cameroon won their second-leg game 2-1 in Yaounde with striker Eto'o back as captain, but Cape Verde still made history following its 2-0 win at home last month for a 3-2 aggregate victory.

Four-time winner Cameroon also didn't make the last tournament and misses successive African championships for the first time in more than 30 years.
"The Lions have played the way they could, unfortunately they lost,'' said new Cameroon coach Jean-Paul Akono, who took charge for the second leg after stuttering form led to the firing of Frenchman Denis Lavagne. "But it's important to wish the Cape Verde team good luck.''

Ethiopia, African champion 50 years ago, qualified for its first Cup of Nations in 30 years while Alain Traore's very late goal for Burkina Faso - his second on the night - cruelly prevented Central African Republic from being the second debutant in South Africa next year.
Togo qualified for the first time since the gun attack on its team bus in 2010 led to its withdrawal from that tournament.
Malaga's 16-year-old striker Fabrice Olinga scored the winner deep into stoppage time for Cameroon from an Eto'o cross. But many of the 55,000 home fans had already left Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium well before the end of what was another desperately disappointing campaign by one of the continent's former powerhouses.

Cape Verde took a 12th-minute lead through Antonio Pereira. Achille Emana equalized before Olinga's goal on debut. But the team, which is nicknamed the Indomitable Lions, was tamed by one of Africa's minnows, which has risen rapidly in FIFA's rankings to now be among Africa's top 10 teams.

Five government ministers from Cape Verde, led by the Atlantic Ocean nation's sports minister, watched their team's biggest moment as it became one of 15 qualifiers to join the host at the finals in January and February.

Ethiopia turned its tie against Sudan with a 2-0 home win to qualify on away goals after a 5-5 aggregate score. Sudan was set for a place at the Cup of Nations after winning the first leg 5-3, but the Ethiopians struck twice in quick succession in the second half to end a long absence from Africa's top tournament.
France-based Traore's double, either side of a Moumouni Dagano penalty, saw Burkina Faso win 3-1 and go through 3-2 on aggregate. The decisive strike in the 96th minute dramatically and cruelly ousted the Central Africans, who scored first and were ahead on away goals until the final seconds. Burkinabe fans flooded onto the pitch to celebrate at the end.

Former Manchester United striker Manucho scored a precious double in the first 10 minutes as Angola beat Zimbabwe 2-0 at home and squeezed through on away goals having lost the first leg 3-1.

Togo beat Gabon 2-1 to win their tie 3-2 in front of 50,000 in Lome. Dove Wome and Tottenham forward Emmanuel Adebayor netted and the Togolese held on following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's goal for Gabon in the 77th.

Niger surprised Guinea 2-0 with goals in the last 20 minutes at home by Mohamed Chikoto and Boubacar Issoufou to go through 2-1 on aggregate, Congo beat Equatorial Guinea 5-2 on aggregate and Algeria took the final qualifying place when it beat Libya 3-0 on aggregate in their North African derby later on Sunday.

Seven teams, including defending champion Zambia, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria, qualified on Saturday, leaving Cameroon the one big-name absentee.
Eto'o was reinstated as skipper by Akono after the Russia-based player was suspended for eight months and then went into a self-imposed international exile during the troubled reign of Lavagne.

Yet, Cape Verde shocked the home fans with Pereira's early free kick to make it 3-0 on aggregate. Emana replied and Eto'o hit the goal frame before Olinga's debut goal, but disappointed home fans had already headed for the exits as early as 20 minutes before the end.
Troops and riot police with water cannons patrolled the stadium to prevent a repeat of the crowd trouble that occurred in Senegal on Saturday, when fans rioted and forced the abandonment of the qualifier against Ivory Coast with the home team trailing and set to be eliminated. That game and tie were awarded to the Ivorians.

The African Cup of Nations will be held back-to-back in 2012 and 2013 to move it to odd years and avoid it clashing with the World Cup and European Championship. Next year's tournament kicks off on Jan. 19 in Johannesburg, with the final back at the city's FNB Stadium - formerly Soccer City - on Feb. 10.
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2013 African Cup of Nations finalists: South Africa (host), Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Tunisia, Zambia.
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Associated Press writers Ebow Godwin in Lome, Togo, Dalatou Mamane in Niamey, Niger and Brahima Ouedraogo in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso contributed to this report.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

‘No cause to appeal ICJ ruling on Bakassi’

Statement by Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, CFR on the position of the Federal Government of Nigeria in response to the agitation for the review of the 2002 International Court of Justice judgment in respect of the land and maritime boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria.

IT will be recalled that on 10th October 2002, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered judgment in land and maritime boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria, which covers about 2000 kilometres extending from Lake Chad to the sea. It will also be recalled that before the judgment was delivered, President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR of Nigeria and President Paul Biya of the Republic of Cameroon gave their respective undertaking to the international community to abide by the judgment of the court.

The commitment and undertakings given by both Heads of Government were confirmed by the establishment of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC) pursuant to the joint communiqué adopted at a summit meeting on 15 November 2002 in Geneva. The CNMC is composed of the representatives of Cameroon, Nigeria and the United Nations and is chaired by the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for West Africa.

The CNMC has held 29 Sessions since its inception and has peacefully, amicably and successfully:
(a) brought Cameroon and Nigeria back to negotiation table;
(b) supervised the handing  over of 33 ceded villages to Cameroon and one to Nigeria in December, 2003 and received three settlements and territory in Adamawa and Borno states Sectors from Cameroon in 2004;
(c) initiated the Enugu-Abakiliki-Mamfe-Mutengene road project as part of the confidence building measures between the two countries;
(d) supervised peaceful withdrawal of civil administration, military and police forces and transfer of authority in the Bakassi Peninsula by Nigeria to Cameroon in 2008 in line with the modalities contained in the Greentree Agreement signed by Cameroon and Nigeria in 2006 which the United Nations, Germany, USA, France, UK and Northern Ireland witnessed; and
(e) commenced the emplacement of boundary beacons/pillars along the land boundary and initiated final mapping of the whole stretch of the boundary. It is instructive to note that about 1800 kilometres of the boundary have so far been assessed for pillar emplacement leaving only about 220 km to complete the assessment of the entire boundary.
The Greentree Agreement was also signed by H. E. Paul Biya, and President President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR, on 12 June, 2006, in Long Island, Greentree, New York, USA; reaffirming their willingness to peacefully implement the judgment of the ICJ. The Agreement contains the modalities for withdrawal and transfer of authority in the Bakassi Peninsula by Nigeria to Cameroon in pursuance of the ICJ Judgment. The Follow-Up Committee comprising representatives of Nigeria and Cameroon was established to monitor the implementation of the Agreement and settle any dispute regarding the interpretation and implementation of the Agreement. Nigeria handed over the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon in 2008.
The Statute of the International Court of Justice provides that the Judgment of the court is final and without appeal. However, following the Resolutions of both Houses of the National Assembly calling on the Executive to take steps to apply for a review of the judgment, His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR called a stakeholders meeting comprising the leadership of the National Assembly, the governors of Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, members of the National Assembly from both states, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director General, National Boundary Commission to review the situation.

The stakeholders meeting after due deliberations constituted a committee comprising of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Director General, National Boundary Commission and members of the National Assembly namely: Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, SAN, CON, Hon. Dr. Ali Ahmed and Hon Nnena Ukaje to examine all the issues in contention and available options for Nigeria including, but not limited to the application for review of the ICJ Judgment, appropriate political and diplomatic solutions.

Although the judgment of the ICJ is final and not subject to appeal, the ICJ Statute provides for circumstances under which its judgment can be reviewed. The relevant provisions are:

(a) Article 61 (1) which provides that the Court can review its judgment upon the discovery of some fact of such a nature as to be a decisive factor, which fact was, when the judgment was given, unknown to the court and also to the party claiming revision, always provided that such ignorance was due not to negligence;
(b) Article 61 (4) which stipulates that application for revision must be made at least within six months of the discovery of the new fact, and
(c) Article 61(5), which provide that no application for revision may be made after the lapse of ten years from the date of the judgment.
The implication of the above provisions of the ICJ Statute is that a case for revision of the judgment of the court can only be successful if:
(a) the application for revision is based on the discovery of   a new fact;
(b) the fact must have existed prior to the delivery of the judgment;
(c) the newly discovered fact must be of a decisive nature; and
(d) the party seeking revision (Nigeria) and the Court, must  not have known of the fact at the time of the delivery of the judgment.

The Committee proceeded to examine the case for revision against the requirements of Article 61 of the ICJ Statute and was constrained to observe from the oral presentations made to it by the proponents of the revision that the strict requirements of Article 61 could not be satisfied. This is because their presentation was unable to show that Nigeria has discovered a decisive fact that was unknown to her before the ICJ judgment, which is capable of swaying the Court to decide in its favour. This is more so as most of the issues canvassed in support of the case for a revision of the ICJ judgment had been canvassed and pronounced upon by the ICJ in its 2002 judgment.
The Federal Government also retained a firm of international legal practitioners to advise on the merits and demerits of the case for revision.  The firm after considering all the materials that were placed at its disposal against the requirements of Article 61 of the ICJ Statute came to the reasoned conclusion that  “an application for a review is virtually bound to fail“ and that “a failed application will be diplomatically damaging to Nigeria”.

In view of the foregoing, the Federal Government is of the informed view that with less than two days to the period when the revision will be statute barred (9th October, 2012), it would be impossible for Nigeria to satisfy the requirements of Articles 61(1) -(5) of the ICJ Statute. Government has therefore decided that it will not be in the national interest to apply for revision of the 2002 ICJ Judgment in respect of the Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria.

Government is however concerned about the plight of Nigerians living in the Bakassi Peninsula and the allegations of human rights abuses being perpetrated against Nigerians in the peninsula and is determined to engage Cameroon within the framework of the existing implementation mechanisms agreed to by Nigeria and Cameroon in order to protect the rights and livelihoods of Nigerians living in the peninsula. Nigeria will also not relent in seeking appropriate remedies provided by international law such as the invocation of the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ; petitioning the United Nations Human Rights Council and good offices of the United Nations Secretary General which has played pivotal role in ensuring the peaceful demarcation and delimitation of the boundary between the two countries and other confidence building measures and calls on the United Nations to continue to provide assistance to the affected populations.

Finally the Federal Government wishes to assure all Nigerians especially the people living in the Bakassi peninsula of its determination to explore all avenues necessary to protect their interests including but not limited to negotiations aimed at buying back the territory, if feasible, the convening of bilateral meeting of the Heads of State and Government to ensure protection and development of the affected population. In the meantime, we call on all well meaning Nigerians in the Bakassi peninsula to be law abiding and to allow the various initiatives being undertaken by the Federal Government to bear fruitful results.
Source:The Guardian,Nigeria

Nigeria says won't appeal award of oil-rich Bakassi to Cameroon

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's attorney general said on Tuesday the country would not appeal an international ruling that handed the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to its neighbor Cameroon ten years ago, despite calls from the Senate to re-open the dispute.

Nigeria gave up Bakassi in 2008 after years of political disputes, legal skirmishes and violence that killed dozens of people and nearly pushed the two nations into war.

 Its decision not to pursue a legal challenge was an attempt to avoid a new diplomatic row over the disputed territory.

Nigerian senators had argued that the original 2002 ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was unfairly based on an agreement between the British and local chiefs in 1881 and should be put to a referendum monitored by the United Nations.

But Attorney General Mohammed Bello Adoke said on Tuesday the government had decided to drop the matter because "a failed application will be diplomatically damaging to Nigeria".

"The Federal Government is of the informed view that with less than two days to the period when the revision will be statute-barred, it would be impossible for Nigeria to satisfy the requirements," he said in a statement.

"The government has therefore decided that it will not be in the national interest to apply for revision of the 2002 ICJ judgment."

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan had on Thursday ordered a committee headed by Adoke to review the ICJ ruling, after the Senate called on him to appeal it.

Around 90 percent of the peninsula's population - estimated at between 200,000 and 300,000 people - regard themselves and their families as Nigerian. Many of them are fishermen and do not want to be Cameroonians, though the main motive for the dispute remains the oil reserves beneath Bakassi.

"The government wishes to assure ... the people living in the Bakassi Peninsula of its determination to explore all avenues necessary to protect their interests including ... negotiations aimed at buying back the territory," Adoke said.

Tensions remain high in the area. A movement called the Bakassi Self-Determination Front declared independence from Cameroon in August, hoisting a flag and setting up an FM radio station.

"We call on all well meaning Nigerians in the Bakassi peninsula to be law abiding and to allow the various initiatives being undertaken by the Federal Government to bear fruitful results," Adoke said.  (Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

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