Nowa Omoigui in this third instalment argues thatthe Bakassi peninsula which was part of  Camerun/Cameroon since 1913, as inherited in the League of Nations mandate after World War 1, was excised from co-administration with the Eastern region along with the rest of the Southern Cameroons at the time of Nigeria’s independence

IN the first installment titled
“The Bakassi Story”, we reviewed a very brief summary of the history of the dispute starting from the Treaty between England and Old Calabar in 1884 all the way through to the ICJ judgment of October 10, 2002.

Those who want more information about the fall of Calabar should consult “Politics and Society in South Eastern Nigeria” by KK Nair or “Old Calabar 1600-1891” by AJH Latham. A nice summary is available in “The Fall of Nigeria – The British Conquest” by Obaro Ikime (Heinemann, 1977). In Part 2, we shall focus more specifically on the twenty-five-year period from 1950 to 1975.

Countdown to the UN plebiscite 1949-1954: As we noted previously, following the Second World War, League of Nation mandates were replaced by UN mandates. Dr. E. M. L. Endeley became President of the Cameroon National Federation in 1949. At that time Southern Cameroons (including Bakassi peninsula) was administered with Nigeria.

Following a dispute within the Eastern House of Assembly in Enugu in May 1953, nine out of 13 delegates from the Southern Cameroons, who had originally been elected on the platform of the National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), opted for ‘neutrality’, claiming that they were not Nigerian. Mr. S. T. Muna, the only Southern Cameroonian in the Eastern Executive Council at that time was actually dismissed. This crisis led to the name change from “National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons”, as the NCNC was then known, to “National Council of Nigerian Citizens.”

During the July 1953 London Constitutional Conference, Endeley, citing fear of “Nigerian domination”, requested the unconditional withdrawal of the Southern Cameroons from the Eastern Region of Nigeria, and its transformation into a separate region of its own in line with its trusteeship status.

Semi-autonomous quasi-region

Britain agreed and implemented separation in 1954, making the Southern Cameroons (including Bakassi peninsula) a semi-autonomous quasi-region of the Nigeria Federation with its own House of Assembly and Executive Council located at Buea.

Endeley was called the Leader of Government Business, not Premier, primarily because Southern Cameroons was not yet a full region. Importantly, the Bakassi peninsula which was part of  Camerun/Cameroon since 1913, as inherited in the League of Nations mandate after World War 1, was also excised from co-administration with the Eastern region along with the rest of the Southern Cameroons at that time. There is no evidence that anyone made an issue of the matter then (Nigeria Gazette No. 53 vol. 41, B389-408; [D440-59]). 1955 – 1960

In 1955 there was a split in Endeley’s party which was then allied with the Action Group (AG) and John Ngu Foncha emerged as his rival on the platform of the new Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP). This party’s goal was complete secession of southern Cameroons from Nigeria and eventual reunification with Francophone Cameroun. Endeley was accused of abandoning his former stance of pro-unification in favour of integration with Nigeria.

At about the same time the Union des Populations Camerounaises (UPC), a Bamileke based radical leftist party in Francophone Cameroun led by Felix Moumie was being banned by the French Governor.

As they fought a bitter and violent guerrilla war against ruthless French troops, they would often cross over to Bamileke sections of British Cameroons (i.e. “Nigeria”) for sanctuary. In mid 1957, there was a Constitutional Conference in London to resolve issues preparatory to Nigeria’s independence which was initially proposed for a date in 1959, but “not later than April 2, 1960.”

In August that year, Tafawa Balewa became Premier in an All Nigeria Federal Executive Council. Among the first three Federal Ministers from the Eastern region was a gentleman called Okoi Arikpo. He would later feature in the post-independence Gowon government. On September 25, the Willink Commission was set up to deal with the case of Nigerian minorities.

Interestingly, no submission was made to the panel regarding the case of Bakassi peninsula, considered then to be part of southern Cameroons. The Willink report was published in October 1958 – recommending against the creation of new regions in Nigeria.

Shortly thereafter the Constitutional conference resumed in London – and once again the Bakassi issue was not discussed, nor was the status of Calabar as a former “protectorate” rather than “colony” as some have said, an issue.

In the January 1959 southern Cameroons election (in which Bakassi residents participated), Endeley was voted out of power and replaced by Foncha, a man with even less disguised anti-Nigerian instincts. In October that year, the Enugu based First Queens Own Nigeria regiment (1QONR) was temporarily deployed to southern Cameroons for “Training”.

However, Bamileke UPC sympathizers in Bamenda viewed this as a counter-insurgency deployment in support of the hated French colonial administration. In early 1960, responding to more violence in the area, the 1QONR again returned to Bamenda area in full force, followed shortly thereafter by the 4QONR from Ibadan who were deployed further south to Kumba near the coast.

The 5QONR and 3QONR later replaced both battalions respectively – followed later by the 2QONR. These shows of military force did not endear Nigeria to certain opinion leaders in the local population.