Wednesday, 10 October 2012
LAWMAKERS in the Cross River State House of Assembly left their chambers and took to the streets of Calabar, the state capital, in protest of the Federal Government’s decision not to appeal the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which ceded the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to the Republic of Cameroun.
The protest march ended at the governor's office with Governor Liyel Imoke appealing for calm.
"There is a lot of grievances, pains and hurt and emotion and we can only appeal to everyone at this time to remain calm to understand that there are processes and procedures that are followed in cases of this nature and all hope should not be lost.
"We may have reached the end of one stage of this struggle, but I believe there is still opportunity to address some of the real challenges that the ceding of Bakassi has brought upon the people. So, yes, we may not meet the deadline for a review. I hope we do, but we still have a few hours to be considered, but in the event that we don’t, I believe very strongly that there is still other opportunity which we will pursue to ensure that justice is done," Governor Imoke said.
Imoke commended the legislators and said their collective action was borne out of concern as representatives of the people whom they have their mandate and as well as delineate on things that affect them.
Earlier, Speaker of the House of Assembly and leader of the protesters, Honourable Larry Odey, explained that as representatives of the 2.3 million people of Cross River, they decided to embark on the protest following reports accredited to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke, concerning Bakassi.
Odey, who disclosed that he, Imoke and others were in Abuja to address the issue of ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun, said that President Goodluck Jonathan saw clearly the opinion of majority of members of the National Assembly who supported it and set up a committee to review it.
The speaker explained that after waiting with no response from the committee a week before the time to appeal the judgment, they were piqued and decided to find out the outcome or if there was any further information on the issue to enable them report to their respective constituencies.
The member representing Bakassi in the House of Assembly, Honourable Saviour Nyong, who described himself as one of the displaced persons from the area, said the Federal Government did not seek their consent before ceding them to Cameroun.
According to Nyong, no nation has ever ceded its portion to another without a plebiscite and said the decision of the Federal Government was an international conspiracy against the people of Bakassi and Nigeria which its leadership was part of.
Nyong noted that the Green Tree Agreement had not been ratified by the National Assembly and that the people of Bakassi had the right to take their destiny in their hands.
Meanwhile, Pro National Conference Organisation (PRONACO) has assured the people of Bakassi and others that the pan-Nigerian people’s platform has already commenced local and foreign consultations on how best to help them achieve political autonomy and self-determination within their territories
Reacting to the position of the Federal Government not to seek judicial review of the ICJ ruling on Bakassi which ceded Bakassi to Cameroun, Mr Olawale Okunniyi, PRONACO spokesperson, said on Tuesday in Lagos that the Federal Government betrayed the trust and confidence of the Bakassi people by such decision in spite of the preference of the Bakassi people to remain in Nigeria.
SOURCE: Nigerian Tribune, 10 October 2012. http://tribune.com.ng/index.php
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