Nigeria Cameroon Decide To Jointly Exploit Bakassi Oil Reserves

Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – Nigeria, Cameroon proposes to set up combined Oil Exploration activities in Bakassi.

Nigeria and Cameroon have mutually decided to enter into joint efforts to exploit oil and other cross-border reserves found in the Bakassi Peninsula.

Canadian based oil exploration company, Addax Petroleum, which has projects in Nigeria and Cameroon’s oil and gas domains, is one of the prospective companies which have been keyed in for the joint exploration of cross border oil wells, according to press reports.

A military base of Cameroon's Rapid Intervention Unit - Cameroon's Reaction Force on the Idabato, Bakassi peninsula, Cameroon.

The proposal to mutually start off oil exploration in the region was arrived at late Friday in a meeting of a joint commission of the two countries that was arranged by the United Nations to decide measures as against a 2002 verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the Bakassi region should be handed over to Cameroon.

The representatives from both Nigeria and Cameroon who had been involved in the negotiations have revealed that both countries have agreed to start off discussions that would aim at setting up joint exploration efforts in the vast oil reserves in the Bakassi Peninsula region.

Former Attorney General of the Federation and the major representative from Nigeria, Prince Bola Ajibola, told the press that “exploration of the oil wells would start this year”.

“This time around, there’s been cooperation and good understanding between our two countries to come together and jointly exploit the hydrocarbon deposits that we’ve on our common borders.

“The exploited hydrocarbons will be for the mutual benefits of both countries (Cameroon and Nigeria). We think exploration will be faster, cheaper and easier when both of us have one company to do the operations,” Ajibola confirmed.

A Cameroonian official who had been representing the country at the discussions also spoke to the press confirming that Addax Petroleum would be most probably the company who would be handed over the permission for cross border oil drilling from the two countries because the company is familiar with the region.

When asked about his opinion on the agreement, Cameroon’s chief negotiator and the country’s Vice-Premier Ali Ahmadou, said: “Work is complete on our maritime demarcation, but this is not the case with exploitation of the oil wells crossing the borders. This is an important issue which we’ve to pursue and reach a level of agreement for joint exploitation of the oil reserves by our two countries.”

The Bakassi Peninsula had been a region of dispute for over 15 years between the two neighbors Nigeria and Cameroon, mostly owing to the vast oil reserves that the region contains, until in 2002 the International Court if Justice issued a verdict which stated that the territory should officially be part of Cameroon. The commission that has representation from both countries has been put in place to bring that decision into force. Nigeria handed over the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon.

The ceremony of handing over took place in Calabar, and was commemorates by the ceremonial flag exchanging, bringing a happy ending to a long story of revenge and verbal disputes that had almost threatened to turn into a war in the past. Bakassi is a 1,600 km region that runs along the Nigeria- Cameroon border jutting out into the Gulf of Guinea. The major chunk of the population in this region is fisherman from Nigeria and their dependants.

The verdict from the International Court of Justice verdict mandated that Nigeria should totally eradicate the border dispute between the countries and handover the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon.

This was by no means an easy task and having been forced by the global commitments Nigeria had given the word that it would hand over the region to Cameroon so that peace in the region could be restored.

However a lot of legal battles and political arguments that had come up following the process had resulted in the official handing over being infinitely delayed.

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon chooses to call the transfer as a tremendous and unforgettable victory for the rule of law.

“Beginning with the withdrawal of Nigerian troops from Bakassi two years ago and culminating in this ceremony, the case of the Bakassi Peninsula has proven the viability of a peaceful and legal settlement of border disputes when it is done with the full support of the international community and in a spirit of mutual respect, good neighborliness and cooperation,” The UN chief had said.