Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Seek Closer Cooperation With Cameroon

As the Heads of State ended their summit yesterday afternoon, some headed straight for the Yaounde-Nsimalen international airport while others stayed back for other functions of a bilateral, private or consular nature. Presidents Goodluck E. Jonathan and Alassane Dramane Ouattara of Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire, respectively, stayed back at the Conference Centre for bilateral exchanges with their Cameroonian counterpart.

President Goodluck Jonathan was the first at the make-shift presidential lounge at the Conference Centre for bilateral discussions with President Paul Biya. It is known that Nigeria has a long boundary spanning over 1000 kilometres with Cameroon and it could only be normal that leaders of the two countries concert from time to time on difficulties that can emerge from the complexities of running such a long boundary without hitches. Moreover, in the coming weeks, Nigeria is expected to renounce full sovereignty status to Cameroon over the entire Bakassi peninsula as per the Greentree Agreement of June 12, 2006.

It could only have been normal that such an issue came up for discussion especially as the two sides have expressed the political will to see a definitive settlement for the border dispute between the two countries so that they can maintain worthy relations and in conformity with the bonds of fraternity that such neighbourliness implies. At the most recent session of the United nations Mixed Commission for the Implementation of the International Court of Justice judgement of October IO, 2002 held in Yaounde last April 25 & 26, the same political will to forge ahead with the settlement spirit was upheld as attested by the declarations of the Nigerian Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke.

Beyond these natural bilateral issues, President Jonathan, upon leaving the long audience with his Cameroonian counterpart, told journalists that he was happy the countries spanning the two geo-political regions of West and Central Africa were able to come together to seek solutions to their common problems. "We had been fighting these problems all along with Benin alone, but the fact that other countries are joining means we can be more effective in the fight to stem the scourge," he told journalists.

Close Ties

At the heels of the Nigerian leader was Ivory Coast's President Alassane Dramane Ouattara who said he came to acknowledge his thankfulness to President Biya for the initiative of convening the conference. He said he was confident the summit's resolutions were going to help jump-start initiatives at curbing maritime crime, giving a deadline of three years to see all the countries of the Gulf of Guinea to implement all the exacting measures towards the attainment of set objectives. On a more personal note, he observed that President Paul Biya has been a faithful supporter of his from the time he served as a senior official of the International Monetary Fund to when he was Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire.