Ceding Bakassi to Cameroon was a Litmus Test - Florence Giwa

A delegate to the on-going National Conference, Florence Ita Giwa, has said Federal Government ceded the oil rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon to serve as a litmus test in the Green Tree Agreement.

While making her contribution on the report of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Diaspora Matters in Abuja on Tuesday, she said the ceding arrangement, which was ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague and carried out by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration, was just to show to the world that two countries can settle a dispute without necessarily losing blood or staying perpetually in court.

According to Ita-Giwa, it would have been a misplaced priority if the issue of ceding Bakassi to Cameroon led to war between both countries, adding that all the people needed to be placated was better settlement through compensation.

She, however, appealed to other stakeholders to prevail on the Federal Government to adequately compensate the people of Bakassi even though they have been relocated.

Her words: "Commenting on the Green Tree Agreement, Nigeria, after the end of the military intervention, subjected herself to that jurisdiction in The Hague.

"Nigeria was obliged to abide by that ruling as we were told but by being obliged to that ruling, used Bakassi as a litmus test to show to the world that two countries can settle a dispute without loss of blood and without staying forever in court."