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Nigeria's Indecent Haste On BakassiWith Sunny IgboanugoThe ding about the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula - formally a Nigerian enclave, which has been lost to Cameroun through its (Nigeria) strange ways of handling national affairs, has increased to deafening level in recent days. While hosting some envoys in Abuja, including that of Cameroun recently, President Umaru Yar'Adua, had assured that as part of the nation's desire to be at peace with its neighbours, his government would not renege on any part of the agreement to hand over the oil-rich region to Cameroun. In fact, he said the August 14 hand over was sacrosanct. However, things seem to have taken a new turn following the fresh legal twist that has been added to the unfolding drama over the issue. Stakeholders in the region obtained an Abuja Federal High Court's order, on Thursday, stopping the move pending when all ancillary issues surrounding it are tied up. But even at this, and given the directive of the court that parties in the suit should return on October 20 for hearing, indications are that the federal government is not budging. Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa, insisted the following day that Yar'Adua would go ahead with the handover. To many discerning Nigerians, many things seem quite suspicious about the attitude of the Nigerian government. Something doesn't just jell, especially with the haste in which this issue seems to have been handled since Bakassi became an international affair. Though it would be too preposterous to believe the contention of some people that Nigerian leaders deliberately bungled the nation's claim on the peninsula at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, for selfish reasons, that line of thought is increasingly becoming attractive, given the clearly weird manner the government is going about subsequent actions on the matter. Bakassi is not just made up of empty land. There is the human element. Thus, if the government is eager to cede its territory with such haste, would it also be too impatient with its nationals. What is the harm in calming frayed nerves over this issue, even if the people are purely being emotional, which in this case appears not to be so? Or does it have to do with gaining international credibility, for individual leaders, believed to have put the country in this sorry pass in the first place?
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