Bakassi: Implications for Nigeria's Oil Industry.

(From This Day (Nigeria): AAGM)

Byline: Mike Oduniyi

News Review

As Nigerians grapple with the import of Thursday's landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ceding the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, much of the concern in the oil industry is the political and economic implications of the judgement as no fewer than six acreages may be affected by the politics of the age-long feud between the two countries.

Multinational oil companies as well as their local counterparts as at press time, were still unclear as to how the ICJ judgement would affect their operations.

In the ruling delivered by ICJ President, Frenchman Gilbert Guillaume, the court decided that, pursuant to the Anglo-German Agreement of March 11, 1913, sovereignty over Bakassi lies with Cameroon. Furthermore, the court fixed the maritime boundary between the two countries, accepting Cameroon's contention by upholding the validity of the Declarations of Yaounde II and the Maroua, which Nigeria's former military ruler, General Yakubu Gowon and Cameroon's former leader Ahmadu Ahidjo signed in 1971 and 1975.

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