Bakassi People and
Their Land, Bakassi Peninsula.
A BAF position statement
on the matter
November
2002.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"...We
recommend that our Bakassi people seek a plebiscite
with the United Nations. A plebiscite is a universally well-recognized binding
legal arbitration mechanism used to settle border disputes, relying on the voice
and choice of the people affected. It has happened in the past, even here at the
Nigeria-Biafra-Cameroon border. We shall show the world that our people, Bakassi
people, were not heard nor represented at the IC [International Court]; that the IC chose to sustain
and maintain all that is legally and morally wrong with colonial mentality, in
its recent ruling...
"
We
urge the Bakassi people, our people, to opt for an AUTONOMOUS structure outside
of
Nigeria
and
outside of
Cameroon, as the
first choice, in the plebiscite process. Only as a last resort should they ask to re-join
Nigeria
; and even so, it should be with the knowledge
and understanding that sooner or later,
Biafra
actualization and formalization shall liberate
us all from the colonialism practiced and imposed on us by
Nigeria...
"...We want the world to know that
the humanity that inhabits the Bakassi
Peninsula
is human, and was not consulted and was not
even considered in the human enterprise of the legal business of the IC..."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fellow Biafrans:
This week, we shall visit the Bakassi
people’s issue. Notice that we used the term, “Bakassi people,” and not
the
Bakassi
Peninsula
.” We do so because this is about a people primarily, and their
humanity shall not be ignored. Because of the fact that these our brothers and
sisters are human beings first and foremost, and the focus should be first and
foremost on their humanity. Because the only meaningful impact of the situation
therein, can only be measured in terms of the people—the Bakassi people, our
brothers and sisters—not on fishing resources or oil resources. This is about
our people, Bakassi people, our fellow Biafrans.
First and foremost, Bakassi people are
Biafrans. Like all peoples of
Biafra
, we had sovereign kingdoms and nations prior to
the advent of the European colonialists. We were self-governing before the
imposition of colonial rule. We were our own great nations before these
colonialists drew boundaries of countries on paper and thereby, forced these
different nations together without the latters’ consent, and without any
regard for our uniqueness as individual nationalities. This is how the country
known as
Nigeria
was born, same as
Cameroon
, and how we came to find ourselves lumped
together with an evil country-structure known as
Nigeria
. This is the origin of all our problems today.
Herein lies the key to our return to the way we were, the way we are, and the
way we should always be: the Nation of Biafra enjoying its natural sovereignty,
independent of and different from
Nigeria
. The key is the understanding of how we got
where we are today: how it all started on the wrong foot.
When the International Court (IC) ruled
recently that the
Bakassi
Peninsula
belongs to
Cameroon
, the judges relied mostly on treaties signed in
circa 1913 between
Britain
,
France
and
Germany
quartering and dividing this region—just like
the rest—of
Africa
. To note: nowhere in the circumstances and
event of these treaties does it mention the representation or consent of the
indigenous nations, who along with their land and resources, were being traded
like mere property by these colonialists.
Like the treaties that predate the court but
which nevertheless informed them, the IC judges also ignored the people living
on the
Bakassi
Peninsula
. Nobody bothered to ask the people what they felt, and what they
thought, and what is right by them and for them. The Bakassi people were
non-existent as far as the IC was concerned; only the land on which they live
and physical resources contained therein mattered to the IC judges. And even
then, the IC could not find the justice and wisdom to give the land back to the
people to which it naturally belongs, the Bakassi. This is natural law and
common sense.
So here we are in the 21st
Century, and the IC would apply and impose the odious, stinky and immoral
colonial rules on us again. Does the IC not realize that these rules were
self-serving rules that enabled the colonialists to rape and ravage
Africa
, the results of which are only too evident today? Besides the
exploitative and blood-sucking quality of these rules, the fact that they were
made without consulting those whom the rules would impact on the most—and the
impact was uniformly devastating to Africans—should have been obvious. It
should have set off an alarm of conscience in the IC. We can logically accuse
the IC of practicing colonialism in 2002; the Bakassi people—our people—are
the direct losers and the victimized this time around. We can safely conclude
that the IC is extending colonialism to the beginning of the 21st
century—what a shame!
And what role has
Nigeria
been playing in all this? It is interesting
that some Nigerians are now trying to place the blame on
Biafra
after this IC ruling. Never mind that it was that inept airhead called
Gowon who promised or signed away the
Bakassi
Peninsula
to
Cameroon
when he was the Military (mis)ruler of
Nigeria
. Never mind that it was the Nigerian legal team
that presented a lame and losing argument to the IC—a typical performance
pattern for Nigeria ever since she adopted the Nigerian Federal / national
policy of keeping Biafrans out of meaningful positions in that country. What can
you expect when the capable, the able, the willing and the knowledgeable are
deliberately kept out of the action? Poor Ejoor: he is only interested in
defending his inept master, Gowon, while falsely blaming
Biafra
for what is happening now.
Did you hear General Obasanjo’s first
reaction to the IC ruling? He said something to the effect that, “not to
worry, the ruling did not affect
Nigeria
’s Oil-producing capacity.” Yes—that’s
his first and truly genuine reaction. No, his first concern was not the people.
No, his next concern was not the people. The people weren’t his last concern
either. In fact, he had no concern at all for the people affected by this
ruling. General Obasanjo is only concerned about the Oil. So is the rest of
Nigeria
outside of
Biafra
—the constituency that the General represents.
Here again, we present the obvious irony.
What do you call an institution that reaps where it did not sow? An institution
that comes from another place and grabs the resources of another nation by sheer
force, and keeps the revenues to herself? An institution which does not care
about the welfare of the people who remain victimized and traumatized by the
calculated policy of such an institution? You call such an institution a
colonial master. This is what
Nigeria
is today (and has always been) to
Biafra
.
Nigeria
is practicing colonialism, and the victim is
Biafra
. This has come to such a sharp and clear focus with the case of the
Bakassi people, our (Biafran) people. General Obasanjo is continuing the work
started by the arch-colonialist,
England
’s Luggard; General Obasanjo is performing for
Nigeria
the function which Luggard performed for
Britain
. And
Biafra
is the victim.
Can we predict how
Nigeria
will react to the Bakassi people’s issue and
the IC ruling? Of course! The first thing
Nigeria
usually does is to blame
Biafra
. Well,
Nigeria
did that—thanks to Ejoor for formalizing this
prediction-now-become-fact. The next step for
Nigeria
is to determine how this will affect oil
revenues accruing to (not really accruing, but to be stolen by)
Nigeria
. General Obasanjo himself already proved this
prediction with his earlier statement. Now what is
Nigeria
’s next step, after first blaming
Biafra
, and then ascertaining that the oil revenues to
Nigeria
will not be affected? Ask yourself: What does
Nigeria
do best? Punish
Biafra
, of course! So, we expect
Nigeria
to make moves calculated to hurt Bakassi-Biafrans.
What can those moves be? Well, don’t be
surprised if
Nigeria
negotiates away the fishing rights of the Bakassi people. Do not be
surprised if General Obasanjo and the Northern cabal give away the oil resources
of Bakassi to Cameroon—not in return for anything—just to spite Biafra,
really; and to deny Biafra any future benefit from that which naturally belongs
to Biafra.
If
Nigeria
thinks that going to war with
Cameroon
would hurt
Biafra
,
Nigeria
would engage
Cameroon
in war today. This would give
Nigeria
an opportunity to amass troops and equipment on
Biafran territory, with which to intimidate Biafrans. Then with no reason at all
or at the slightest excuse,
Nigeria
would use this force against
Biafra
—not against
Cameroon
.
By the same token,
Nigeria
figures that Bakassi is
Biafra
. Why risk any Nigerian lives for a region which belongs to
Biafra
, seeing that sooner or later,
Biafra
shall be independent of
Nigeria
? It would suit
Nigeria
’s purposes all too well if she could arm
Biafrans and send Biafrans to fight for Bakassi and perish, against
Cameroon
.
Nigeria
loves nothing more than to see
Biafra
suffer and be destroyed. On the other hand,
Nigeria
is afraid that armed Biafrans will use their
arsenal against their only true enemy, and that enemy happens not to be
Cameroon
.
Nigeria
’s agenda in this issue is simple: Hurt
Bakassi-Biafra as much as possible. If Nigerian can keep the oil revenues, the
people of Bakassi are expendable and can be negotiated away by
Nigeria
. If
Nigeria
cannot keep the oil, then
Nigeria
will negotiate it away to
Cameroon
so that Bakassi-Biafra could never benefit from
it in the future. If war with
Cameroon
can destroy
Biafra
, go; if it will help
Biafra
now or in the future, don’t go—that’s
Nigeria
’s motto. We know
Nigeria
all too well!
We shall not wait for
Nigeria
to come to the aid of the Bakassi people. We
recommend that our Bakassi people seek a plebiscite
with the United Nations. A plebiscite is a universally well-recognized binding
legal arbitration mechanism used to settle border disputes, relying on the voice
and choice of the people affected. It has happened in the past, even here at the
Nigeria-Biafra-Cameroon border. We shall show the world that our people, Bakassi
people, were not heard nor represented at the IC; that the IC chose to sustain
and maintain all that is legally and morally wrong with colonial mentality, in
its recent ruling. We know that
Nigeria
is incapable of delivering sound legal
arguments: we do not have to show the world this. We want the world to know that
the humanity that inhabits the
Bakassi
Peninsula
is human, and was not consulted and was not
even considered in the human enterprise of the legal business of the IC.
We
urge the Bakassi people, our people, to opt for an AUTONOMOUS structure outside
of
Nigeria
and
outside of
Cameroon, as the
first choice, in the plebiscite process. Only as a last resort should they ask to re-join
Nigeria
; and even so, it should be with the knowledge
and understanding that sooner or later,
Biafra
actualization and formalization shall liberate
us all from the colonialism practiced and imposed on us by
Nigeria
.
Our prayers are with you, our people, the
Bakassi people, fellow-Biafrans.
Biafra
lives!
Biafra
shall be;
Biafra
is!