One U.N. official predicted that Thursday's retrocession would "serve as a model elsewhere in Africa where borders
are contested," and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon applauded it as "a victory for respect for the law."But not all in the aforementioned zone -- the Bakassi peninsula -- consider this pacific settlement of a dispute a victory. As many as 40,000 inhabitants now face the choice of moving to Nigeria or adopting Cameroonian nationality. Nigerian rebel groups continue militant opposition to the move, and as many as 50 persons on both sides of the dispute have been killed since late last year. Le Monde's report concludes:
On July 31, a judge of the Nigerian federal high court at Abuja, having received a petition from inhabitants of the peninsula, ruled in favor of freezing the transfer of sovereignty. But the authorities did not implement this judgment. According to certain sources, the tension in Bakassi is tied to rivalries not only over oil, but also over arms traffic.
Cession may not have closed the case after all.
