Mr. William Ballentyne is an accomplished Legal Practitioner and historian. He contested election as a candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for Calabar South, Akpabio and Bakassi Federal Constituency in Cross River State in 2011, “to give a voice to the aspirations of his neglected people.” In this chat with OKEE SYDNEY-OBIUKWU, he accuses the Nigerian State of failing the people of Bakassi, forcing them to team up with the English-speaking people of Southern Cameroun, to push for an “Ambazonia Republic.”
WHAT is the state of mind of the Bakassi people in terms of their fight for self-determination?
The issue, from the perspective of the Nigerian State, has been fought and lost since October 2012. So, legally speaking, since it is 10 years now that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave the judgment that ceded Bakassi to Cameroon Republic, it is no longer subject to review. It is a closed case from the point of view of the Nigerian State.
But some of the indigenous people of Bakassi have opted to stay in Nigeria while some have opted to remain where their ancestral home is in the Bakassi area ceded to Cameroon by the Green Tree Agreement signed by former Nigerian Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo and Cameroonian Head of State, Paul Biya. That agreement was upheld by the Nigerian Supreme court judgment of 2012, therefore resting the matter legally.
But Bakassi indigenes in Cameroon are still agitating for the right to self-determination. What is their latest course of action?
We have to go back to the pre-1961 plebiscite, which unfortunately made the Republic of Ambazonia become a part of the United Federal Republic of Cameroon. Therefore naturally, by geographic location, Bakassi will now fall under the Republic of Ambazonia, which is presently politically located in Southern Cameroon. And the English–speaking people of Ambazonia in the South of Cameroon, together with the Bakassi people, have said they no longer want to belong to the Republic of Cameroon.
So, the people of Bakassi have decided to join forces with Anglo-phone Cameroon to push for the Republic of Ambazonia?
That is the agitation presently since the Ambazonia people no longer want to remain in Cameroon. We are pursuing this cause purely in a legal way. That is why we have gone back to the United Nations to restate our case. We want to go back to the former position when the Republic of Ambazonia existed. Remember that in 1984, the Paul Biya government came up with the restoration law, which dissolved the Federal United Cameroons Republic to form Federal Republic of Cameroon. That technically meant Ambazonia is no longer part of Federal Republic of Cameroon. This also means that the two equal state structure, represented by the 1961 plebiscite has been nullified, with the interests and privileges of the Ambazonia citizens jeopardized under the present arrangement. This situation therefore, leaves us with the justifiable option of seeking for self-determination, by demanding that we should revert to the pre-1961 status ante.
Has any platform been created to sustain this struggle?
Yes, already the Ambazonia Liberation Movement has been formed to mount pressure internally within the bounds of international law and diplomacy, committee of nations and the principle of self-determination to restore the Republic of Ambazonia.
Don’t you think both the Nigerian and Cameroon governments would see this action as an affront to their sovereignty, and may declare military action?
No, the Nigerian government should really stay out of this issue because they did not help the Bakasi people by asking for or sponsoring a referendum for the people to choose whether to be in Cameroon or Nigeria or by insisting that the 1913 Anglo-German treaty was replaced by 1919 Treaty of Versailles. The 1919 Treaty handed over the oversea territories to the League of Nations.
Should the Republic of Cameroon threaten military action against the proposed Ambazonia Republic, have you any structure to contain them?
Well, if they want to resort to that option, we will leave them to the conscience of humanity and the United Nations Organization, which is the umbrella body that recognizes sovereign nations. Lastly, we should also check our history to properly situate this matter.
Originally published on The Guardian News Paper
