NIGERIA-CAMEROON: BAKASSI HANDOVER - A WEDDING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 YAOUNDE 000817

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, AF/C, INR/AA
DOE FOR GEORGE PERSON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS PHSA CM NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA-CAMEROON: BAKASSI HANDOVER - A WEDDING
AND A FUNERAL

REF: A. ABUJA 01526 (NOTAL)

B. STATE 086216 (NOTAL)

Classified By: CDA STEPHEN FOX FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) Summary: The handover of final control of the Bakassi
Peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon took place in Calabar, the
capital of Cross River State, on August 14 as scheduled, amid
tight but spotty security and obviously poor coordination
between the two governments. It was clearly a difficult
ceremony for the Nigerians, but one of great national pride
for the Cameroonians. Cameroon,s official response has been
muted, focusing on the event as the next step in the legal
process that resulted from the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) decision of 2002 and the Greentree Agreement of 2006.
The two national delegations were headed by their respective
Justice Ministers, who have led the negotiations; the UN was
represented by former USG for Political Affairs Sir Kieran
Prendergast, who will head the follow-up commission. End
Summary.

No Love Lost
--------------


2. (C) Throughout the trip to Calabar, poor communication
between the governments of Cameroon and Nigeria was evident.
The Cameroonians told the Embassy repeatedly that our
representatives would not need visas; when we arrived, the
Director of Border Security came to our hotel to summon the
U.S. representatives (Charge and defense attache) back to the
airport for lack of visas. The problem was solved within 15
minutes, but not before the Director raised it with the
Minister of Interior, who had to get authorization
specifically from President Yar,Adua. The following
morning, the Cameroonian Consul General in Calabar (and
Ambassador-designate to the U.S.) expressed outrage to us
that we had been &summoned off by armed men.8 We reassured
him of completely professional treatment by the Nigerian
government. (Comment: we attribute the incident most likely
to inadequate communication between the two sides as to what
constituted visa requirements for the &Cameroonian
delegation8 and a literal-minded working level immigration
official handling the stack of passports. End Comment).


3. (C) Later that evening, the Cameroonians invited the
Yaounde-based representatives of the witness states (U.S.
plus the German Charge) to join them at the Consul General,s
residence for dinner. At the last minute, they canceled the
invitation to the residence for all and moved the dinner to
the restaurant at the hotel. (Comment: Given the security
concerns, any event at a location as prominent and obvious as
the CG,s residence was questionable from the outset and it
is doubtful that had the Government of Nigeria (GON) been
aware of it they would have let it be scheduled. End
Comment.)

Ceremony Marked by Clear Lack of Coordination
--------------


4. (C) The Cameroonian delegation told us as we prepared to
leave the hotel that the caravan would stop en route to the
site of the ceremony at an intermediate location to wait
until time to begin and would meet the representatives of the
British and French governments at the intermediate location.
The convoy actually proceeded directly to the banquet hall in
the Governor,s residence complex and was joined shortly
afterwards by the British High Commissioner and French
Ambassador from Abuja. Plans to use this location clearly
had been made well in advance, as there was a TV satellite
truck parked in front, with dozens of press representatives
awaiting the arrival of the delegations. The Cameroonian
delegation was held at the Governor,s mansion; when the
mistress of ceremonies announced that the ceremony was
delayed by &the late arrival of one of the delegations,8 a
rumor circulated that it was because the Cameroonian
delegation was demanding assurances that the last of the
Nigerian security forces had left Bakassi. They later denied
that this was the case and complained that they had been left
in the dark and not contacted.


5. (C) The ceremony began at 11:35 a.m. (95 minutes after

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scheduled time) with the playing of both national anthems )
but without either delegation in the room. Shortly
thereafter, the delegations, headed by Nigerian Attorney
General (AG) Michael Aondoakaa and Government of Cameroon
(GRC) Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Amadou
Ali, joined the UN representatives, Sir Kieran Prendergast
and Said Djinnit, onstage. Security officers ) menacingly
dressed in black, wearing sunglasses in the relatively dim
room, and with automatic weapons across their chests )
attempted to keep the press off the stage at the beginning of
the ceremony with some success.

Remarks Highlight Difficulties, Symbolism
--------------


6. (SBU) Said Djinnit, UN representative to the Mixed
Commission that has managed the lead-up to the event,
highlighted the &remarkable foresight and unrelenting
efforts8 of the two governments that created &yet another
milestone in cooperation.8 He also cited great progress in
demarcating the land border between Cameroon and Nigeria that
is also part of the process. &As an African, I think we
should all take pride in this. Most borders in Africa have
not been marked yet.8 He also promised that the people of
Bakassi &will not be left behind.8


7. (SBU) Nigerian AG Aondoakaa,s remarks were notable for
the tone. He &specially welcome(d) the representative of
the United Nations Secretary General and the entire UN
delegation,8 but only noted that &I must also welcome the
delegation of the government of Cameroon,8 characterizing
his role as being &saddled with the painful but most
important task of completing the . . . handing over (the)
Bakassi peninsula to the government and people of Cameroon.
As painful as it is, we have a responsibility to the
International Community to promote international peace and
cooperation and advance the cause of African brotherhood and
good neighborliness. Most importantly however, this is
President Umaru Musa Yar,Adua,s practical demonstration of
his administration,s total commitment to the rule of law.8
He reviewed steps the GON has taken to address economic and
resettlement concerns of those residents of Bakassi who
wished to return to Nigeria and concluded with thanks to
Cameroonian, UN and witness state officials.


8. (C) Security officers, who had been front and center
during Aondoakaa,s remarks, backed away during those by
Cameroon,s Minister Delegue for Justice (No. 2 to Justice
Minister Ali) Maurice Kamto; Ali does not speak English and
no translation was provided. Kamto thanked the GON for &its
warm welcome,8 noting that the ceremony was on Nigerian
soil. He paid &profound homage to the two architects of the
Greentree Agreement, Presidents Obasanjo and Biya,8 noting
particularly the courage and foresight of Obasanjo and UNSYG
Kofi Annan. He expressed the hope that the agreement would
inaugurate a long period of peace between the two countries
and reassured the residents of Bakassi that the GRC would
meet their basic human needs. He concluded, &Long live
fraternity between Nigeria and Cameroon. Long live
international peace and security.8


9. (SBU) Sir Kieran Prendergast read a short personal message
from UNSYG Ban Ki-Moon, which characterized Greentree as
&testimony to the political will of the two governments to
move beyond a difficult past.8

Signing ) Crowd Control Breaks Down
--------------


10. (C) As the ceremony moved to conclusion, with the
signing of the document and exchange of flags, security
onstage collapsed, with TV and newspaper reporters flooding
the stage, blocking each other from view, and completely
obscuring the stage for observers. Observer states,
representatives had to press through the crowd and lean over
the table to sign the multiple copies of the document that
were passed around. No one save the most aggressive of
journalists (and perhaps television audiences) could see the
symbolic exchange of flags that was to have capped the
ceremony.


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11. (C) After short consultations between the two
delegations in a separate building, the Cameroonians departed
the compound in a security convoy with the Nigerian
delegation, but at the first intersection outside the
compound headed a different direction - with no security )
to the airport.

Letting Their Hair Down, Finally
--------------


12. (C) The flight back to Yaounde was markedly different
than the previous day,s activities had been. Delegates were
animated and excited; Minister Ali was joking and drinking
champagne at the front of the plane. As the plane touched
down in Yaounde, passengers broke into a round of applause
and an emotional chorus of the Cameroonian national anthem.
That night, though, on television, Kamto was sober and
conciliatory in his discussion of the day,s events. He
cited the political difficulties the process had presented
for Nigeria, the challenges of integrating Bakassi into the
country, and the need for Cameroon to improve security
without alienating the population. Twice when reporters
tried to suggest that this was a victory for Cameroon over
Nigeria, he refused to be goaded, characterizing it as a
victory for both countries and for Africa.

Comment
--------------


13. (C) As the reaction when the plane touched down ) and
Friday,s newspaper headlines in Yaounde and Douala )
demonstrated, this agreement was a significant boost to
national pride for Cameroon. The government,s sober public
statements are being carefully crafted to avoid alienating
their powerful neighbor again as much as to help ease their
assumption of control of Bakassi. They know there is a long
and difficult process ahead to assert real control, and that
they will need cooperation from Nigeria to succeed. The
repeated breakdowns of security and the most basic
communication between the governments during the
orchestration of the ceremony demonstrate just how far they
have to go.

FOX