Seun Bamidele
within this broader discourse, illustrating how these dynamics manifest in
the specific context of the Nigeria-Cameroon border dispute.
Postcolonial Borders, Statelessness, and the Bakassi Conflict
The Bakassi Peninsula crisis is emblematic of the broader challenges
that postcolonial African states face in navigating inherited colonial boundaries. Much like other African border conflicts, the Bakassi dispute has its
roots in the arbitrary demarcation of territories by colonial powers, with little
regard for the ethnic, linguistic, and socio-political realities on the ground
(Bonchuk 2014; Ezeilo 2010). The 2002 International Court of Justice (ICJ)
ruling that ceded Bakassi from Nigeria to Cameroon was lauded as a peaceful
legal resolution (ICJ 2002a; 2002b; United Nations 2008).
Table 1: Timeline of the Bakassi Conflict
Year
Event
1961
Bakassi becomes part of Nigeria following a United Nations-organized plebiscite
1971
Nigeria and Cameroon reach a maritime border agreement
1994
Cameroon submits a case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the
Bakassi Peninsula
2002
The ICJ rules in favor of Cameroon, awarding it sovereignty over Bakassi
2006
Nigeria and Cameroon sign the Greentree Agreement on Bakassi handover. The Bakassi movement for Self-Determination (BAMOSD) declares the
“Democratic Republic of Bakassi”
2008
Full withdrawal of Nigeria troops from Bakassi
2009
Cameroon completes the takeover of Bakassi
Source: Author’s compilation (2025).
Yet, as several scholars argue, the ruling failed to grapple with the
long-term human consequences of this decision particularly the displacement, statelessness, and socio-economic exclusion of the Nigerian Bakassians
(Odinkalu 2012; Hussain 2023).
Statelessness in the Bakassi region represents one of the most urgent
humanitarian dimensions of the conflict. The literature emphasizes that
the affected populations are caught in a legal limbo, denied Cameroonian
citizenship and, simultaneously, abandoned by the Nigerian state. The Cameroon Multi-Country Office (2017) and Manby (2016) stress that statelessness
Brazilian Journal of African Studies | Porto Alegre | v. 10, n. 19, Jan./Jun. 2025 | p. 144-169
147