Jonathan’s reluctance to challenge ceding of Bakassi, impeachable offence —Elechi Amadi

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Written by Bolaji Ogundele, Port Harcourt
Monday, 01 October 2012
Renowned writer and Nigerian Civil War veteran, Dr Elechi Amadi, has described President Goodluck Jonathan's reluctance to challenge the ceding of the Bakassi area of the country to the Cameroon as abdication of responsibility and an impeachable offence.

Amadi made the statement during a press briefing in his country home, Aluu in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

According to him, the nonchallant attitude so far displayed by the president to the plight of Nigerians in Bakassi is horrifying, especially after the National Assembly has passed a resolution on the matter.

He said Jonathan had no cogent reason not to act, adding that defending any part of Nigeria or any one Nigerian was neither an option for the Commander-in-Chief, nor a personal or arbitrary decision.

While noting that the president would have behaved differently if he were from Bakassi, Elechi argued that among other things, a president was elected to right the wrongs in a country.

He said it was a crazy thing that the Federal Government ceded Bakassi to Cameroun without giving the people of the area opportunity to decide where they want to belong.

“What if the president had come from Bakassi? Would he be so nonchallant about the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun? Are the people of Bakassi second class citizens? Are they not covered by the UN charter on fundamental human rights? Whose interest is the president serving anyway?

“I cringe with sheer horror at the fact that the Federal Government can abandon without qualms a group of Nigerians, large enough to make up a local government area which is recognised in the constitution, that it can ignore the National Assembly set up by Nigerians on the excuse that their resolutions have no force of law, and that it can treat a weighty matter of this nature with such reprehensible levity.”

“The President should not merely order his Minister of Information to talk to us. The situation calls for a TV broadcast in which he will look us Nigerians in the face and tell us why he is abandoning our compatriots.” he said.

"Nigerians do not want us to cede Bakassi; while we are urging the Federal Government to go on appeal, we will look again at the papers forwarded to us earlier and pass relevant resolutions.”

While no one can guess for now what the ruling of the ICJ would be if Nigeria eventually goes on appeal, the truth of the matter remains that Bakassi indigenes as well as Nigerians around them have rejected the ruling of 2005. The message to the president is to reclaim the territory, not just for economic reasons but also for cultural affinity. Only the events of the future can dictate how this eventually pans out."

“There is room for us to appeal. I think appeal is a line of action that should not be neglected because that is legal, since Nigeria subjected itself to the court. If that is what is available through the court, we should also utilise it. I think that is the most appropriate thing to do at this point in time, if there are other avenues we can explore them, but the most civilised thing now will be to quickly rush on appeal.”