Dismay at Nigeria's Bakassi stand

Border disputes can hinder oil developments

Cameroonians are reacting with disappointment to Nigeria's refusal to hand over the disputed oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, as ordered by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

For Nigeria, it is not a matter of oil or natural resources

Transport Minister Ojo Maduekwe

Diplomats have also expressed dismay at the long awaited Nigerian statement, saying President Olusegun Obasanjo appeared to be going back on his earlier promise to respect the ruling.

Both Cameroon and Nigeria have had thousands of troops stationed in the disputed region and there have been several clashes over the peninsula. Cameroon referred the dispute to The Hague in 1994.

In Cameroon, shock and anger have greeted Nigeria's announcement.

'Disrespect'

The private daily newspaper, Mutations, said it was not right for President Obasanjo to say he would accept the verdict only to turn around and change his position when he did not like the decision.

"It shows some sort of disrespect for the court," a Cameroonian man told the BBC's Network Africa.

The BBC's Francis Ngwaniba in Yaounde says that government officials are unwilling to comment on the issue in President Paul Biya's absence.

Mr Biya left Cameroon on 4 September to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York, but his wherabouts over the last seven weeks are not known.

Communication Minister Jacques Fame Ndongo only said on Thursday that Cameroonians want to live in peace and brotherliness.

On Wednesday Transport Minister Ojo Maduekwe read out Nigeria's first reaction to the 10 October ruling after a cabinet meeting.

In his statement he appealed to UN secretary general Kofi Annan to intervene in the dispute.

A spokesman for the world court said it had received no representations from Nigeria, but pointed out that its judgements were binding and not subject to appeal.

Secession

The court ruling was based on colonial treaties between former rulers Britain, Germany and France.

But the ruling ignored the rights of traditional kings and chiefs as the true owners of the land, Mr Maduekwe said.

"On no account will Nigeria abandon her people and their interests. For Nigeria, it is not a matter of oil or natural resources on land or in coastal waters, it is a matter of the welfare and the well-being of her people on their land," Mr Maduekwe said.

The ethnic Efik fishing community living on the peninsula, regards itself as part of the Calabar kingdom of south-eastern Nigeria and has rejected the ruling.

Last week, some Bakassi leaders threatened to secede from Nigeria if the government handed the territory over to Cameroon.

"We will not hesitate to pull out of Nigeria and seek self-determination if Nigeria allows our lands to be taken away from us," the region's senator, Florence Ita-Giwa, told the French news agency, AFP.

The Bakassi peninsula is in itself a swampy strip of land with little value, but its ownership has implications for fishing and oil rights offshore.

High stakes

The BBC's Bilkisu Labaran Ohyoma in the capital, Abuja, says the strength of Nigeria's long awaited reaction has come as no surprise, with the stakes being so high.

She says that apart from the territory being oil rich, many Nigerians feel that it is a slap in the face for the regional and continental giant to lose territory to a perceivably weaker neighbour.

These are also sensitive times in Nigeria with President Obasanjo facing re-election in the next few months.

She says that any government action is likely to be heavily influenced by political considerations.