₦airaland Forum

Paul Biya’s Vacation: An Idea For Obudu Cattle Ranch
Pius Adesanmi
September 03, 2009

“His country is one of the poorest and most corrupt in Africa but he sure can afford an expensive vacation. And the cost of his vacation is beginning to make tongues wag in La Baule”. That was how the news anchor of France 24 cable news station (France started that TV station in the vain hope of catching up with CNN and Al Jazeera) started her 7 p.m. news broadcast on Wednesday September 3, 2009. I hurriedly phoned to announce to some Nigerian and French friends who were waiting for me at a pub around the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris that I would be late. Something just cropped up on TV, bla bla bla. It is my last week in Paris and the friends had organized a beering session at the pub to bid me farewell. Next week, I return to the grind of Canadian academia after two months in France.

Arriving late for my own sendoff because of a news item on TV? That’s the eternal damnation of the Nigerian/African in the West! Every time you hear “Africa” or “Nigeria” on TV, you behave like an antelope whose hyper-sensitive ears have just caught the whiff of an unwelcome lion in the neighbourhood. I wasn’t going to miss a France 24 news feature about the ongoing vacation of one of Francophone Africa’s most corrupt Présidents à vie (Presidents for life) and Pères de la Nation (fathers of the nation).

Details soon came with flamboyant footage of Monsieur le Président Biya holidaying with his wife in the French resort town of La Baule. As Professional as she tried to be, the news anchor couldn’t hide her disgust and contempt as she reeled out the details of how another African buffoon and his ostentatious wife “are currently on an expensive holiday in La Baule”. Naturally, the Biyas have taken over the most expensive hotel in very expensive La Baule for their three-week vacation. They booked 43 – yes, forty-three! – luxury rooms for themselves and aides! The price tag for the people of Cameroon? Only eight hundred thousand euros!

At this point, the focus shifts to the French journalist who started the investigation and blew the whistle on this crazy vacation. He gives the usual talking points that we hear regularly from Western liberal friends of Africa. He tells of how disgusting the whole thing is. He tells of what the money that the Presidential couple has wasted could do for the starving children and women of Africa – yes, he said Africa, not Cameroon. I was about screaming in frustration at the Africanization of the madness of the President of one specific African country when a better idea occurred to me…

President and President Mrs. Paul Biya have eight hundred thousand euros to blow on a three-week, forty-three-rooms vacation in France. You and I know that, as African “leaders”, they will come again next year and even adjust their expenses for inflation. Since we can’t stop them from coming, why don’t we at least struggle to make them keep the money in the family back in Africa? Nigeria’s Obudu cattle ranch in Cross River state is walking distance from the Biyas. I suggest that the management of Obudu, the Governor of Cross River state, and the Minister of Tourism send a high-powered delegation to Yaoundé with immediate effect to offer a discounted 2010 summer vacation at Obudu to the Presidential couple of Cameroon. Eight hundred thousand euros is a lot of money and we could use it in Nigeria. Do they really need it in France? If we knew how to market the tourism potential of Obudu properly, we just might be able to convince the Biyas to bring that excess Cameroonian money to Nigeria next year. After all, it could even be Nigerian money that they are already spending in France! There is no telling if Cameroon has already started making money from the oil reserves in the Bakassi peninsula, hence the very expensive holiday in La Baule.

Back to the news. The Mayor of La Baule was interviewed for the clip. He showered praises on the Presidential couple and commented on the friendship between the people of La Baule and the people of Cameroon! Asked if he was aware of the fact that the Biyas’ vacation in his town contributes to corruption in Africa, he smiled and quipped: “no comments”. My friends at the pub had comments when I finally joined them. I announced my intention to write and publish this piece. “You would be doing the Nigerian people a disservice”, one of them said. “You don start again o. Wetin be disservice for inside dis matter?” I asked. “If you write and publish that President Biya spent eight hundred thousand euros on 43 hotel rooms in Europe, don’t be surprised to hear next year that a Nigerian Governor, Senator, or Rep has spent two million euros on seventy rooms in La Baule. You will just give the looters of Abuja ideas on where next to spend the loot.” I kept quiet. There is nothing a group of Nigerians can’t say over beer when discussing our disgraceful rulers. How do you respond to that one?

You forgot the following:

Blacks are slaves.
Zulus are good presidents who know how to spend money
Whites are superior to everyone on the planet
etc.

That my friend is not prejudice - it is called bigotry, there is a difference between the two; learn it.
Prejudice: 2 a (1) : preconceived judgment or opinion (2) : an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge b : an instance of such judgment or opinion c : an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics

Bigot -  a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance


Summary: [size=14pt]Prejudice is uninformed opinion of others, bigotry is devotion to prejudice, even when shown to be in the wrong.[/size].

MaziUche0:
My prejudices:

I do not trust the Yoruba.

I think the Hausa are violent and extremist.

Igbos are too egotistical

Efik women are highly sexual beings

Ijaws are lazy and scream about oil oil oil

Ikwerre are confused Igbo

Ngwa are criminals

etc

Ileke-IdI:
wdh, does Cameroon even have have a forum?
Yet we have so many on Nairaland. . . .

It is either they create one so we can retaliate with a virtual invasion of cameroun or we invade real camerounian villages and towns. It is their choice now, and they brought it on themselves ;

becomrich3:
Look at it yourself and ask if Nigerian are not criminal for wanting to claim another man land.

Nobody is arguing about Bakassi, but they want to start something about Obudu ranch or any other land currently within the Nigerian space. Please show on your map where Obudu ranch is located - however, even if it were on top of Yaounde the point is that all Cameroun will ever get is Bakassi. And if they make any more silly attempts Bakassi itself will be seized from them. Can't maps be redrawn? No?

On second thought below is a google map showing Obudu firmly inside Nigeria's border - not that otherwise would have changed a thing, but may be it would save Cameroun from being whiplashed mercilessly for huxley and cos. stupidity.

Not to bust your bubble about Google Maps, but you cannot put your entire faith in these maps anyway.

@huxley
Why are you running from thread to thread - you must be really getting paid for this. Well, there are more than enough Nigerian volunteers here to pursue you into the ground.

From the other thread that you opened comes the following summary for you and your friend rethink (who is no Nigerian at all)

@rethink
Rankadede, okuse, more elbow to your grease - keep covering your brains with goo from Cameroun.

You speak of nation-to-nation land issues as if they are up or down votes. Go tell that to Britain in the Falkan Islands or the US in Guantanamo Bay!

Ode buruku, a lai ni ronu ara Galatia. Iwo lo ma sun to ni ji!

In case you can't follow an argument, here are the main points again:

1. Both Northern and Southern Cameroons were administered as part of Nigeria before any of these. However, they were considered separate from both Nigeria and Cameroon before 1960 (creations of the colonialists by the way) - hence the need for a plebiscite.

2. The two plebiscites were characterized by manipulation and intimidation.

3. The people of Southern Cameroons particularly thought all they were getting was independence from Nigeria, with the option of reunification with Cameroun. However, this was a ruse used by agents of Cameroun at the time to get votes for the plebiscite - the UN organized a vote to decide between Nigeria and Cameroun. Huxley's purported cool-headed approach amounts to exactly that - ruse and intellectual fraud. The idea is to start an illegitimate conversation, and then transport it into the realms of possibility. Well, it is not going to happen.

4. The people of Bakassi never saw themselves as Camerounians, but Nigerians. Hence they were quick to raise the point that they were voting to be Cameroon and not part of Cameroun once the deceit embedded in the plebiscite became clear. They would have voted to stay in Nigeria if given the chance 40 years later, since by actual livelihoods they have always been Nigerians.

5. Now that Nigeria has given Bakassi to Cameroun the only thing Cameroun will get from any further silly land grabbing would be its btk thoroughly whipped and Bakassi seized from it.

Get that into your fart-filled oblongata by repeating a 1000 times for the next 40 years

Faeb:
Cameroonian commando's rushing off to [b]DIE [/b]a wretched death at Obudu!!!!!!

www.nairaland.com/attachments/299970_CameroonGrandTheft_jpg0b73bd9d1664e9f4210cdeb6528fb215

huxley:
As a result of endemic mental indolence of the Nigerian ruling class, a problem was made to exist where none needed to exist. From the moment when it became a problem, the Bakassi issue dragged on for many years before it was eventually settled peacefully at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2008. But this need not have been a problem, nor taken that long to resolve or clarify.  That it did is testament to the mental indolence that the Nigerian ruling class and large parts of the ordinary Nigerian population. Even the Nigerian intellectual class do not seem to have a voice anymore.

All that needed to be done was for someone to check the records of the history of the Bakassi Peninsula, but such simple fact-checking seem to be beyond the ability of an entire country that want to pass itself off as the Giant of Africa.  The entire country seemed to have been mentally paralysed into a mode of thought that bore no resemblance with reality, and no one seemed capable of getting them out of this coma.  They let themselves be dragged into the ICJ and be humiliated by such an elementary matter as referring to the archive or history records of the period. What really is happening in that country?


If there are Nigerians out there who can read and have the faculty to understand and be rational, please read this report (http://www.omoigui.com/files/the_bakassi_story.pdf)  in its entirety, or at least the excerpts below:

12. On February 11th and 12th 1961, a plebiscite was held to " clarify the wishes of the people living in Northern and Southern Cameroons ". The population of Northern Cameroons had earlier - in 1959 - "decided to achieve independence by joining the independent Federation of Nigeria", while the population of Southern Cameroons, whose plebiscite could not be done in 1959 for security reasons, now "decided to achieve
independence by joining the independent Republic of Cameroon" (General Assembly resolution 1608 (XV) of 21 April 1961). Note that there were 21 polling stations on the Bakassi peninsula itself and that 73% of the people living there voted to "achieve independence by joining the independent Republic of Cameroon". (Note the blunder here. By spelling it as "Cameroon", rather than "Cameroun", the UN created an opening for the
people of the "Southern Cameroons" to say they never voted to join "Cameroun" which is the former French territory.

13. In 1962, the government of Tafawa Balewa exchanged diplomatic notes with Cameroun acknowledging the fact that Bakassi was not Nigerian territory. General Gowon was a T/Captain. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun, following the results of the 1961 plebiscite.

14. In January 1966, Major General Ironsi came to power in Nigeria. He committed his government to respect all prior international agreements made by the Balewa government. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun.

15. In July 1966, then Lt. Col. Gowon came to power in Nigeria. He too committed his government to respect all prior international agreements made by the Ironsi and Balewa governments. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun

16. In 1970, moves began to be made by independent Cameroun and post-civil war Nigeria to clarify their maritime border which was vaguely defined by the 1913 Anglo-German Treaty. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun, but the offshore boundary was unclear since there was no detailed demarkation of the "navigable portion" of the approach channel to the Calabar estuary. Then Attorney General Elias correctly advised the Gowon government that post-colonial Nigeria had no legal basis for contesting the Bakassi peninsula itself, but that work to delimit the offshore boundary and
vague sections of the land boundary should proceed at full speed in accordance with the original Anglo-German Treaty of 1913. The technical problem thus became deciding exactly what part was "navigable" and what was not. It is this matter that was addressed on April 4th, 1971 at Yaoundé when Nigeria's General Gowon and Cameroun President Ahidjo, accompanied by large delegations, signed the "Coker-Ngo" Line on British
Admiralty Chart No. 3433 "as far as the 3-nautical-mile limit." The status of the Bakassi peninsula proper was not an issue for discussion. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun.

17. On June 1st, 1975, Gowon and Ahidjo signed the Maroua Declaration for the partial extension of the 1971 maritime boundary. Again, the status of the Bakassi peninsula proper was not even an issue for discussion. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun.

====================================================================================================


Now, if you did not know this,  ask yourself - Why is it you did not know this?

Were you not educated properly about the modern history of your country?  Did you not seek to educate yourself about your country's modern history? Have the media you your country failed to educate you about this?

OR are you just very simple-minded, dumb, stup1d, trigger-happy and plain ignorant, someone whom no amount of education could change your benighted?


If you think you have and had been poorly served by your government, leaders, media and intellectuals, can you continue to trust that they are capable of doing the morally correct thing, the things that are in keeping with your high values of moral rectitude?  What are you gonna do if you think you can no longer trust these people?

THE AMAKA:
[color=#cc00cc]seriously are you going by what you read on NL to judge all Nigerians?
if you don't like us, POOF, BE GONE!
WTF?[/color]

Starting today, Nigerians to begin to invade Camerounian forums/fora - you will hear wen.

@re(no)think

rethink:
I will never and I shall never ronu with your brains take me anywhere, where was your brains when presidents before never took that matter.

Hence you are "a lai ni ro nu ara galatia". You wish you had my brains - o mu go to n fe nu ho ra.

@rethink
Rankadede, okuse, more elbow to your grease - keep covering your brains with goo from Cameroun.

You speak of nation-to-nation land issues as if they are up or down votes. Go tell that to Britain in the Falkan Islands or the US in Guantanamo Bay!

Ode buruku, a lai ni ronu ara Galatia. Iwo lo ma sun to ni ji!

In case you can't follow an argument, here are the main points again:

1. Both Northern and Southern Cameroons were administered as part of Nigeria before any of these. However, they were considered separate from both Nigeria and Cameroon before 1960 (creations of the colonialists by the way) - hence the need for a plebiscite.

2. The two plebiscites were characterized by manipulation and intimidation.

3. The people of Southern Cameroons particularly thought all they were getting was independence from Nigeria, with the option of reunification with Cameroun. However, this was a ruse used by agents of Cameroun at the time to get votes for the plebiscite - the UN organized a vote to decide between Nigeria and Cameroun. Huxley's purported cool-headed approach amounts to exactly that - ruse and intellectual fraud. The idea is to start an illegitimate conversation, and then transport it into the realms of possibility. Well, it is not going to happen.

4. The people of Bakassi never saw themselves as Camerounians, but Nigerians. Hence they were quick to raise the point that they were voting to be Cameroon and not part of Cameroun once the deceit embedded in the plebiscite became clear. They would have voted to stay in Nigeria if given the chance 40 years later, since by actual livelihoods they have always been Nigerians.

5. Now that Nigeria has given Bakassi to Cameroun the only thing Cameroun will get from any further silly land grabbing would be its btk thoroughly whipped and Bakassi seized from it.

Get that into your fart-filled oblongata by repeating a 1000 times for the next 40 years

rethink:
@Kuri tio fe ji

With brains like yours I cant climb the steps or an elevator. You must be an Einstein in the Troglyditic times. I refuse to think the way you think take me to court, ,.,.,.,.,, Oh sorry you dont know what that means.

@rethink
It seems you are not thinking - and to think you call yourself rethink. No you don't have to respect a vote that happened a gazillion years ago, and note the following part of my argument, IF A SIMILAR VOTE AMONG PEOPLE ALIVE TODAY REJECTS THE OUTCOME OF THE VOTE FROM A GAZILION YEARS AGO.

You and your half-baked deceit make me laugh. Who told you that the Bantu that use to live in Cameroun did not vote NOT TO BE KICKED OUT OF THEIR TERRITORY AEONS AGO. Or are you saying that because they didn't write it down makes it worthless?

The fact is that what we need to do is promote peace within our territories. You already have enough problems on your hands in Cameroun - focus on that, rather than attempting to grab more people that are not interested in being PART OF YOUR COUNTRY.

rethink:
@huxley
Just read below and see what a normal human being is saying. If all the lands of say the yorubas to determine an Odua or More vividly of the IGBO went to a vote to form a land and state called Biafra. Assuming the vote went in favour of Biafra even if it was Gazillion years ago so far there is proof that there was a vote the poster below says we can not respect a decision.

@huxley
It is certainly no argument to say that most of the nation states in Africa today were artificial creation of colonialists. Yes, there is neglect and marginalization, but each region of Nigeria is represented by an arm of the Nigerian government at some level - they feel that sense of identity. That to me is the issue - Bakassi continued under Nigerian administration even 40 years after the plebiscite.

To your point however, Northern and Southern Cameroons were separate from both Nigeria and French Cameroon before any of these, but both were ruled by the British as part of Nigeria. As such, the citizens of those territories considered themselves Nigerians. As I suggested to you in my previous post the plebiscite of 1961 was not as straightforward as we now think it was. Other historical accounts of the period shed more light. The Introduction to the book "The 1961 Cameroon plebiscite: choice or betrayal" seems to make that clear here: http://books.google.com/books?id=uZOWF8zZLHgC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=During+the+Cameroon/Nigeria+plebiscite+of+1961&source=bl&ots=2v0IGcjput&sig=9Lqj4czMYQlQ6yBi7y1_X5hcuKA&hl=en&ei=OKlVTPreD8P68AbKnIGKAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

It mentioned both manipulation and intimidation during the plebiscites in Northern and Southern Cameroon, as well as a "popular" disinclination for an "early reunification after secession from Nigeria". Southern Cameroon peoples seemed to want an independent nation of their own, but were not given a choice in 1961. The problem, as it was with the colonial masters, is that maps are just that, artificial constructions - what matters is what the people want in cases like this and as bad as it may be in Nigeria the people of Bakassi would have chosen Nigeria over Cameroun.

It is well known that groups within both Cameroun and Nigeria would rather have their own separate nations. So why are we complicating things by further useless land grabbing based on colonial laws, institutions and history - especially when those peoples don't want to be Camerounians? Cameroun needs to take care of Bakassi and all the other restive groups it encompasses, so does Nigeria. Enough said.

huxley:
Are there no people today in Nigeria who are NOT neglected and marginalised by the Nigerian state? How about most of the peoples of the Delta regions, like the Ogoni - how about people in the far North West? There fact that government aid and influence does not reach them on a day-to-day basis, does the give other neighbouring countries the right to come in and claim them?

Remember, the question of Bakassi was not in dispute in 1975 and all the maps of the 60s and 70s showed Bakassi as belonging to CAmeroon. Does Cameroon need to do anything further to claim it, when it is already its territory?

@huxley
In other words Cameroun has being doing this over and over again since 1961. The question you need to ask yourself is why? Furthermore, you should look at your first item below more critically". There is something fishy with the plebiscite of 1961: 1) Security reasons prevented such a plebiscite in 1959 - what were these reasons and what changed 2 years later? ; 2) 73% voted to join Cameroon, but argued they never voted to join Cameroun - when was this Cameroon/Cameroun argument made? That should tell you something about what went down in 1961.  Whatever happened back then the truth is that Cameroun never took possession of Bakassi, neglecting it for 40 years while repeatedly making border claims - "serial border claimer"! As a result, the people never felt Camerounian and did not want to be part of Cameroun. It seems to me that 40 years from now the people living in Bakassi would continue to consider themselves Nigerians, and Cameroun would still be making border claims.

12. On February 11th and 12th 1961, a plebiscite was held to " clarify the wishes of the people living in Northern and Southern Cameroons ". The population of Northern Cameroons had earlier - in 1959 - "decided to achieve independence by joining the independent Federation of Nigeria", while the population of Southern Cameroons, whose plebiscite could not be done in 1959 for security reasons, now "decided to achieve
independence by joining the independent Republic of Cameroon" (General Assembly resolution 1608 (XV) of 21 April 1961). Note that there were 21 polling stations on the Bakassi peninsula itself and that 73% of the people living there voted to "achieve independence by joining the independent Republic of Cameroon". (Note the blunder here. By spelling it as "Cameroon", rather than "Cameroun", the UN created an opening for the
people of the "Southern Cameroons" to say they never voted to join "Cameroun" which is the former French territory.

huxley:
If there are Nigerians out there who can read and have the faculty to understand and be rationa, please read this report (http://www.omoigui.com/files/the_bakassi_story.pdf)  in its entirety, or at least the excerpts below:

12. On February 11th and 12th 1961, a plebiscite was held to " clarify the wishes of the people living in Northern and Southern Cameroons ". The population of Northern Cameroons had earlier - in 1959 - "decided to achieve independence by joining the independent Federation of Nigeria", while the population of Southern Cameroons, whose plebiscite could not be done in 1959 for security reasons, now "decided to achieve
independence by joining the independent Republic of Cameroon" (General Assembly resolution 1608 (XV) of 21 April 1961). Note that there were 21 polling stations on the Bakassi peninsula itself and that 73% of the people living there voted to "achieve independence by joining the independent Republic of Cameroon". (Note the blunder here. By spelling it as "Cameroon", rather than "Cameroun", the UN created an opening for the
people of the "Southern Cameroons" to say they never voted to join "Cameroun" which is the former French territory.

13. In 1962, the government of Tafawa Balewa exchanged diplomatic notes with Cameroun acknowledging the fact that Bakassi was not Nigerian territory. General Gowon was a T/Captain. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun, following the results of the 1961 plebiscite.

14. In January 1966, Major General Ironsi came to power in Nigeria. He committed his government to respect all prior international agreements made by the Balewa government. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun.

15. In July 1966, then Lt. Col. Gowon came to power in Nigeria. He too committed his government to respect all prior international agreements made by the Ironsi and Balewa governments. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun

16. In 1970, moves began to be made by independent Cameroun and post-civil war Nigeria to clarify their maritime border which was vaguely defined by the 1913 Anglo-German Treaty. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun, but the offshore boundary was unclear since there was no detailed demarkation of the "navigable portion" of the approach channel to the Calabar estuary. Then Attorney General Elias correctly advised the Gowon government that post-colonial Nigeria had no legal basis for contesting the Bakassi peninsula itself, but that work to delimit the offshore boundary and
vague sections of the land boundary should proceed at full speed in accordance with the original Anglo-German Treaty of 1913. The technical problem thus became deciding exactly what part was "navigable" and what was not. It is this matter that was addressed on April 4th, 1971 at Yaoundé when Nigeria's General Gowon and Cameroun President Ahidjo, accompanied by large delegations, signed the "Coker-Ngo" Line on British
Admiralty Chart No. 3433 "as far as the 3-nautical-mile limit." The status of the Bakassi peninsula proper was not an issue for discussion. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun.

17. On June 1st, 1975, Gowon and Ahidjo signed the Maroua Declaration for the partial extension of the 1971 maritime boundary. Again, the status of the Bakassi peninsula proper was not even an issue for discussion. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun.

====================================================================================================


Now, if you did not know this,  ask yourself - Why is it you did not know this?

We you not educated properly about the modern history of your country?  Did you not seek to educate yourself about your country's modern history? Have the media you your country failed to educate you about this?

OR are you just very simple-minded, dumb, stup1d, trigger-happy and plain ignorant, someone whom no amount of education could change your benighted?

If you conducted a referendum and "won", but failed to take possession of the land or secure it, whose fault is that? Why would you consider a plebiscite in 1961 relevant if conducting another one forty years later would give a different result.

Mind you, the statement "more Nigerians have over the years migrated and settled there" is not really valid. It was most likely the same group of people that grew in population over 40 years under Nigerian rule. They were neglected by Cameroun, and after 40 years of neglect their descendants simply didn't want to be Camerounians - that is the basis for a new plebiscite.

Cameroun and whoever is goading it should refrain from making any more silly claims. You can't just change people's nationality anyhow, wiping out identities they have built for themselves. Now that you have Bakassi, just make sure that 40 years hence the people would be able to proudly say they are Camerounians. Otherwise such useless land-grabbing may actually backfire if you continue to incorporate more nominal Camerounians, but actual Nigerians, in your nation. Incidentally, the write-up by Omoigui that you forwarded included this paragraph:

"Late President Ahmadou Ahidjo of Cameroun was a Fulani man whose father was originally from Kano in Nigeria. His mother was from Garoua in Cameroun. In fact Ahidjo grew up around Yola and Mubi in Nigeria and was a playmate of Senator Iya Abubakar. His former District Head in Nigeria, Ambassador Malabu, was made Ambassador to Cameroun to cement the relationship. It is said that every time late Alhaji Ahidjo saw late Alhaji Malabu he would genuflect."

Gof figure.

huxley:
Such a referandum has already been conducted in 1961 at the time the borders were being decided, and the people of Bakassi voted overwhelming in favour of joining Cameroon. This is an excerpt from the report I posted ealier. That decision cannot be made null and void by the fact that more Nigerians have over the years migrated and settled there.

Remember, Cameroon ceded a lot of land to Nigeria in the same period. Supposing that many Cameroonians have now settled in the land Cameroon ceded to Nigeria in the 60s, should we now conduct another referandum now to decide whether such land should remain Nigerian or returned to Cameroon?
:

=============================================================================
12. On February 11th and 12th 1961, a plebiscite was held to " clarify the wishes of the
people living in Northern and Southern Cameroons ". The population of Northern
Cameroons had earlier - in 1959 - "decided to achieve independence by joining the
independent Federation of Nigeria", while the population of Southern Cameroons, whose
plebiscite could not be done in 1959 for security reasons, now "decided to achieve
independence by joining the independent Republic of Cameroon" (General Assembly
resolution 1608 (XV) of 21 April 1961). Note that there were 21 polling stations on the
Bakassi peninsula itself and that 73% of the people living there voted to "achieve
independence by joining the independent Republic of Cameroon". (Note the blunder here.
By spelling it as "Cameroon", rather than "Cameroun", the UN created an opening for the
people of the "Southern Cameroons" to say they never voted to join "Cameroun" which is
the former French territory.


13. In 1962, the government of Tafawa Balewa exchanged diplomatic notes with
Cameroun acknowledging the fact that Bakassi was not Nigerian territory. General
Gowon was a T/Captain. Maps from that period show Bakassi peninsula in Cameroun,
following the results of the 1961 plebiscite.

@huxley
I guess by that measure everyone that ever had any historical claim to Cameroun land should begin checking the "history" books - the Bantus that were kicked off this area aeons ago are about to repossess their land, and the people of Cameroun can move into the world wide ocean.

How do you even define law, history or other sources as regards historical land occupation? On what basis do you set a point in time as the reference for laying claim to land? These questions apparently have no concrete answer and anybody that pretends otherwise either has submitted himself to someone else's decision or has a vested interest in their self-chosen date. In your case, the latter is very true.

The only sound basis for deciding on a disputed piece of land between nations is to conduct a time-relevant referendum on the issue. Given the protest raised by Bakassi residents OBJ should have argued for such a referendum before the UN rather than ignorantly sign away people's lives.

So, if Cameroun thinks there is a mumu next door who can be dragged through the mud of pseudo-arguments, begining with your half-baked deceit, then something else is coming. We will change the reference point for you - then we can talk.

huxley:
Hello,

Very good questions - The first thing I would say is - Let's check the claim in law, history or any other sources that may validate the claim. If the Nigerian claims proves to be backed by these sources, I would whole-heartedly be in favour of handing the land over to Nigeria.


The Last LAST LAST thing I would even suggest is WAR.


WAR is for empty-headed people. The fact that MOST Nigerians are so much in favour of WAR suggests to me that MOST Nigerian are empty-headed. ( NOTE - I use the word "MOST" loosely, simply from the comments on this forum. It may in fact be the case that if the entire Nigerian population was surveyed, the majority may not be in favour of war)

Surely you must know how that happened. You don't? One word: IBB. He really "transformed" Nigeria during with his various ill-fated experiments.

EzeUche:
I can't even trust the education system in Nigeria to be honest. It is quite substandard compared to the education system found in other African nations such as in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.

On the other hand, you and your sponsors are the ones thinking with the sole of your feet!

huxley:
The Nigerian blockheads are living up to their emptied-headed dumbskull heads again. Keep up guys, you are doing you people proud - every silly and boneskull Nigerian is proud to see such vacuous responses from you guys.

It doesn't matter what the history books or the UN says this time. If Cameroun makes any more silly claims the Nigerian army should be sent to occupy the Western half of Cameroun. Then we can talk - this time we'll conduct a referendum in Bakassi. A 1960s refrendum is no good for the 2000s. OBJ made a big mistake.

Nigeria has got to stop this "stupid" big brother approach to AfricKa foreign policy.

I just hope President GJ realizes the limits of the internent, especially when you are sitting at the top of a country's rulership. Remember the radio interview scam Sarah Palin fell for during the 2008 campaigns - and that was in the USA. It won't be funny if our president falls for a 419 scam with this level of enthusiam for facebook

Ileke-IdI:
And I thought "Seeking end to Middle East Crisis" was the last straw.

Until our citizens promise these bufoons fire for fire they would not stop - whether it concerns stealing our resources or visiting violence on the populace. Using state resources to invade someone's house should land you in jail, but who is going to arrest someone who was assisted by policemen?

Every now and then somebody digs out old photos without dating it. This doesn't say anything about 419. What it says is the irony of living in Nigeria. The irony? Almost everyone has a laptop, but they are packed into one room like sardines! Those were the "good" old days!

MandingoII:
i thought 419 was DEAD!!!!

@Eziachi
I could care less about what happens to Al-Mustapha - he deserves it, but you are right that there are many others, and in fact it seems to be a practice, to treat people accused of criminal offenses this way in the Nigerian justice system. My point is really about Buhari's sense of justice as a NIGERIAN presidential candidate. Are we to assume that his thoughts on the shortcomings of the Nigerian justice system consists of getting Al-Mustapha released? What about the 1000s of REALLY innocent people languishing away in dingy prisions - is that how he is going to solve the problem? Shouldn't he balance concern over letting murderers and other criminals loose on our streets with ensuring swift justice? If he was to show himself to be a capable potential president he would have addressed Al-Mustapha's case only in passing, perhaps not even by name to avoid being seen as friends of these murderers, as part of a serious policy speech to bring justice to the Nigerian masses.

His call, coupled with his unflattering antecedents from 1984/85, is a big flashing [size=24pt]RED LIGHT[/size] warning.

Eziachi:
How can you hold someone in prison without conviction for 12 years and thr trial is still on going? That must be the longest trial in the history of the world. They should release the guy now if they can't find something to convict him for 12 long years.
If they had found him guilty and sentence him to life, that would have been a different issue altogether now.
Nigerian jungle justice.
You can just imagine ordinary innocent people the rogue police picked up and lock them up for years on end without trial or even accusation of anything without anyone like Buhari to ask for them, until they roth and die in prison.

If your relative is missing for years, don't be surprised that the person is not dead, but locked up inside one of Nigerian gulag prison for nothing.

@akyus
We know that our choice, at least in this next election, is between the devil and the deep blue sea. Still, we want the "better" of the two options. We cannot fold our arms and fail to interrogate those are planning to rule us. Not after the Yar'adua fiasco, who, I must say, was supposed to be some kind of saint and promised "rule of law". By the time we started asking questions it was too late.

Now is the time to do our utmost to select the best of the lot that is available to us. From Buhari's antecedents and his focus on Al-Mustapha I am suggesting that we need to be careful about his sense of justice - my point is not really about Al-Mustapha! Buhari was an even closer witness, perhaps first-hand knowledge, of how Al-Mustapha and his goons ran Nigeria like a killing ground. Their methods, under the direction of Abacha, broke the Nigerian spirit to fight for their rights - people were still protesting in IBB days. A couple of years after Abacha and his gun men took over nobody dared raise a voice in public as it was to the gulag with your head. That spirit is just starting to come back after Yar'adua and his own goons showed us how far they were willing to take their joke.

Now that Buhari is trying to contest for the presidency, and despite the myriad of problems the next president will have to address, his public concern is the release of Al-Mustapha.

We are not looking for perfection, but for Nigeria to make progress we would need someone that has a keen sense of justice for the masses and whose feet we can hold to the fire to make sure he will do the job for which we are "hiring" him or her - that is how we need to see our government officials from now on. We need to be careful what we wish for this time around.

akyus:
That's just our problem, we're all good historians and too much educated that every good materials available we must do reseacrh and make sure we find reasons to condem. Ok, who is that perfect candidate? Bring him and you'll be surprise when our researhers return. We are not suppose to be where we are today. Let's wake up.

I don't know what's with Nigerians and their moronic attribution of everything to tribe anyway. If adults cannot figure out the fallacy of such elementary explanation of human behavior what hope is there for the young.

While these people quickly noticed that the culprit was Igbo they failed to inform us of the tribe of the policeman who "finally" solved the case, as well as that of the police spokesman in Lagos - both mentioned in the article.

Na wa for Nigerians

sjeezy8:
has nothing to do with being igbo-

theyre not the only ones who steal- so whats the big deal?

whats funny is his response about "water turning into fuel"

Did Balogun commit or get charged with murder? What is happening to Al-Mustapha is based on strong circumstantial evidence because were all witnesses. There is also recorded and confessional evidences. Still this may be hard to prove in a court of law, but this is not an ordinary case, these were the guys who ran our armed forces as judge, jury and executional for 6 years - may be longer. Looks like somebody want his goons back for the political fight that is brewing! Otherwise, the least of the corcern of anybody trying to do well as a president of Nigeria is Al-Mustapha's well-deserved travails for snuffing life out of people at will.

Gadols:
i think they should be released too. The trial has dragged into 3 administrations. Let the guys go jare. Afterall wetin balogun and co did no pass dat one?

oyb:
actually, i agree with buhari - they should either convict mustapha and co or let them go

it has been ten years - they hold him any longer and people may not even remeber what he was jailed for

sort of like what happens to petty and other criminals whop spend years awaiting trial

Your comment is closer to what you would expect Gen. Buhari, who is trying to become president to say, and promise to do, not just for Al-Mustapha (actually least for Al-Mustapha) but for our entire justice system. Instead he suggested that they need to be let go - the correct statement should have been "speed up the trial". There is no default let them go, once you are dutifully charged for a capital offence - it can take forever to decide. That is why there is usually something called "time served". Still, no matter how long Al-Mustapha serves before final judgement, he deserves more! That his concern was for Al-Mustapha is revealing a deeper problem that we better pay attention to before it is too late.

What miscarriage of justice? Buhari did not say speed up the trial, he said let them go. We know why it is difficult to provide the kind of "proof" needed in a law court - because these people basically ran our armed forces for 6 years. They were judge, jury, and executioner all at the same time. We know what they did, and they deserve more than they are getting.

Miscarriage of justice - Buhari needs to go tell that to Abiola, Saro Wiwa or the untold numbers that had life snuffed out of them during the their reign of terror.

You people complain about injustice, and yet do not shy away from encouraging the release of trigger happy goons into our midst. Who knows where they kept the rest of their stolen loot ready to wreck havoc on the nation once beyond prison walls.

Whatever happens to Al-Mustapha should be the least of anyone's problems. What we need to worry about is the nature of the person that will take the reign of rulership in Nigeria next. Buhari pupports to be a strict disciplinarian, but we always had doubts, and he has unflattering antecedents. In reality his main claim was the brief 1984-85 rule during which, despite some flashes, they showed a serious lack of a sense of justice.

With this kind of attempt at political talk it is clear that Buhari is NOT going to be a good president . I was hoping that with certain adjustments he might actually be one, but this is merely due to short memories - thanks to Gen. Buhari that is no longer the case. A small reminder of Buhari's sense of justice:

http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/human-rights-in-nigeria-the-buhariidiagbon-and-abacha-situations-compared-and-contrasted-666113.html
No sooner did Buhari/Idiagbon seize government than the infamous Decree Number Four (DN4) of 1984 was promulgated by the duo; Buhari/Idiagbon became famous for coming down heavily against the Nigerian press, making the report of truth a very serious offence in the country, not many will forget the terrible situation of Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor of the Guardian who were imprisoned for making a report on the Government.  The Buhari/Idiagbon regime would also executed Bernard Ogedengbe, Bartholomew Owoh and Lawal Ojulope for an offence committed by them as alleged by the regime after a national debate in spite of public pleas, the execution of these gentlemen were made possible by a retroactive decree courtesy of Buhari/Idiagbon regime.

Buhari and his Deputy would again promulgate another Decree called Decree Number two (DN2) of 1984 which made it possible for Tunde Idiagbon to detain anybody whether such person is a citizen of the country or foreigner, this decree stripped the court of law of the powers to depend the reason such person is being detained. In essence, the decree did not recognize the significance of the judiciary but was merely interested in achieving its aims of dictatorial tendencies. In what would later follow, the world became amused to hear the verdicts of 125 years imprisonments handed down to the regime suspects.

Buhari was also noted to have utilized excessive force in handling drug peddlers caught, as he issued death penalties to them in what political commentators believed should not have attracted death sentences, still death was the fate of several of these suspects in laws that resembled that of Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations.

The tactics of the Buhari/Idiagbon regime became too harsh for the survival of the people, with arbitrary creation of decrees to lead the regime but promulgated to harshly lure the Nigerian public into playing into the waiting ready-made hand of the regime. Victims who became preys of these draconian decrees were mostly detained and made to remain inside prisons for as many years as Buhari and Idiagbon pleased.

Ramsky:
What Buhari said is that a trial for 12 years is a miscarriage of justice. Is this true or False? We all know that they committed these crimes but they should face trial and get a judgement

Form working with Abacha to attempting to free Abacha's goons from the long hand of the law, it seems Gen. Buhari's sense of justice is non-existent.
Abiola died in prison for the "crime" of winning a free and fair election, while Buhari was working for Abacha. Al-Mustapha is  facing murder charges that we all know he committed.
Buhari disappoints me completely at this point - 1984-85 seems to be a mere flash in the pan afterall

Tribune
Written by Dipo Laleye, Minna
Thursday, 22 July 2010

Former head of state and presidential aspirant of the Congress for Progress Change (CPC), General Mohammed Buhari, stormed Niger State on Wednesday,  calling for the immediate release of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and others standing trial.

General Buhari, who was welcomed to Kontagora by supporters of the new party, said the incarceration of Major Al- Mustapha and others was too long and did not show fairness.

Buhari, who fielded questions from newsmen after inaugurating the party secretariat in the town, noted that  “for one to be facing trial for over 12 years was unfair and a miscarriage of justice.”

The presidential aspirant also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for the positive step he had been taking to give Nigeria a free and fair election, especially with the appointment of the Independent National Electoral Commission chairman, Professor Attaihiru Jega.

He specifically referred to the removal of some national commissioners of the electoral body by the president, because they were card-carrying members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying this showed the sincerity of the president to give Nigeria a credible election.

@EzeUche
Did you take time to finish the story. If you did, you will see that it disagrees with your statement below:

Quote:  “In fact the January 15 coup is a fathom of Igbo coup and I still maintain that Major Kaduna Nzeogwu was not Igbo. He was a Hausa boy.

Quote: “Eastern Nigeria had a lot of peace at the time, they didn’t lead a coup; the Igbos were Commander-in-Chief, the President of the Senate, they had two regions out of the four in that federal set up. So it would be madness for an Igboman to offset a structure that favoured them. So our analysis, scientific studies have proved beyond reasonable doubt that the January 15 coup was probably the last Nigerian revolution," he argued.

So now, Nzeogwu is a Hausa boy, and the Igbos did not lead the coup.

These documents that were scientifically studied: whose names are contained in them? These documents should be scanned and made available to everyone who care to read it - personally I will scour it, if only to understand where we took the wrong turn. Can we at least get a link to a paper summarizing the study? Surely, a 22-year study must produce some literature trail.

In addition, this is the second time I am hearing this new storyline that the "coup plotters", aka revolutionaries, were trying to make Awo the prime minister - soon this would be transformed to "Awo sponsored" the coup. As Yorubas would say: "E ni to ma pa ro a ni eleri oun wa lorun" i.e. "those about to lie would claim their witness is dead".

What happened to the Igbos should be an object of national remembrance, but both the leaders we have had so far, and a large section in the East that refuse to wake up from the Biafran dream would not let it be.

Also, the person telling this story is named Emeka Okocha - I don't know if he is Igbo, but that doesn't suggest an independent and unbiased study to me.

In any case, the only benefit we can get from our histroy are the lessons we learn from it.

EzeUche:
Thank you! An independent review that was not sponsored by Nigerians.

Now I know people can't deny it since, we now have a unbiased view on the situation.

See we even wanted to make Obafemi Awolowo Prime Minister. See we Igbos believed in One Nigeria. I think we have been vindicated.

@sjeezy8
That is exactly the point. This man and his group of elites are bereft of vision. The only thing they see with those bright eyes is power for themselves - no thoughts about the people, the future, greatness of nation and individual. Completely static, they see us doing the same thing over the next aeon years. Not only do they plan accordingly, they put in place structures that ensure we never move forward.

See how they are all coming out of the woodworks straining neck and mouth muscles over zoning. Where were they when Yar'adua took the nation hostage and put this so-called northern elite to global shame? Where were they when Nigeria was almost drawn into war over the actions of someone who came from the north? Look at how awake they are over zoning and the presidency - yet we know they speak only for themselves and their pockets, not the suffering masses of the north.

The fact is that they are not that smart. Otherwise, how could OBJ have single-handedly imposed a sick man on them. That lack of smartness originates from their selfish pursuit of closeness to the corridors of power. Look at who they are presenting to Nigerians, even after all the fracas we 've been through since 1993 - _ibb. How smart can they be? They are not smart, but they know Nigerians are scared - that is all they 've got. The sooner Nigerians call their bluff the better - we can't let this continue any longer!

sjeezy8:
All this Zoning talk is disgusting and not needed.

I mean this is basically implying that there will be rigging all throught out Nigerias future elections with Zoning.
Its like the Elite esp North are going through all these loops because they are not doing the right thing, If there is Federalism and free elections- All this Zoning BS will not be needed.

Having a president from your region is nothing, IF Jonathan becomes president and doesnt not implement true federalism he is a FOOLISH person.