The Green Tree Agreement over Bakassi: The Perception of the Bakassi Inhabitants towards its Implementation

Abstract

The Bakassi ruckus between Cameroon and Nigeria was primarily caused by colonialism and the discovery of natural resources in the area. This conflict was solved by the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling of October 10, 2002. To agree that they have stopped hostilities, Cameroon and Nigeria signed the Green Tree Agreement (GTA). The main thrust of this paper is to showcase the Bakassi inhabitants’ perception and views of Cameroon’s implementation of GTA. We obtained data from secondary interviews and observations. Interviews were conducted in the Bamusso, and Idabato subdivisions in Bakassi using snowball and purposive sample techniques. To analyse the data obtained, content and thematic analyses were used, as well as liaising them with the concepts of peace agreement and perception. From the paper's findings, it reveals that the level of development, security, interaction with official, and environmental problems are the inhabitants’ main views. It also reveals that, according to the people, the Cameroon government needs to do a lot on development and tackling environmental issues. The issue of security and interaction with Cameroon officials has positive thumbs up. This paper suggests that the Cameroon government should prioritize infrastructure development and address environmental issues in the Bakassi region. This will go a long way to ensure and preserve peace in the area.