The Trans-African Highway as I see it

The visit of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, General Muhammadu Buhari, though it tended to centre more on strategies of the war against Boko Haram, it none-the-less touched on trade, the movement of people and goods between the two countries, and of course, bilateral relations and this reminds me of a giant project that was conceived more than 25 years ago.

It was a project that would on the ground, realise Africa’s dream of linking the continent to itself through the participation of member countries.

The Trans-African highway was originally designed to run from Cairo in Egypt to Johannesburg in South Africa and from Accra to Mombassa on the East coast.

Having agreed on the project in principle, Nigeria was at the time committed to construct its own portion of the road from Lagos up to Nfum, the last border town to Cameroon passing through Enugu.

At this point, the Cross River serves as the natural border line between Nigeria and Cameroon, with a 30-meter narrow bridge serving as the only official entry point from either side.

The last border town on the Cameroonian side is Ekok, facing Nfum on the Nigeria side across the river. The customs and immigration services of the two countries were operating on either side of the border across the bridge. One thing I noticed was the attitude of good neighbourliness that existed between the customs, immigration and security forces of both sides.

People from Ekok on the Cameroonian side had free access across to Ikom, a market town about 8 kilometers into Nigeria. Since Nfum on the Nigerian side was actually not a village, but a customs and immigration post, without much for amusement, men of the customs and other security outfits spent most of their evening and late nights on the Cameroonian side, drinking Cameroonian beer, eating Cameroonian dishes and having real fun with our Cameroonian girls.