Govt resolves boundary disputes

Nigeria, Cameroun to okay draft agreementTHE Federal Government has reduced boundary disputes in the country by 40 per cent. The Director General of the National Boundary Commission, Mr. Mohammed Ahmed, made the disclosure in Abuja at a briefing on the activities of the commission in 2011.Also, Nigeria and Cameroun will soon sign the draft agreement on the management of straddling oil well, joint border and security patrol before the last quarter of 2012.Ahmed who noted that much progress had been made by the Federal Government to resolve all the interstate boundaries in the country identified arbitrary or undefined borders as some of the major challenges in resolving disputes that had led to the loss of lives and property in some cases.According to him, Nigeria has 86 interstate boundaries with 40 per cent of them resolved.He added: 'Efforts are ongoing to resolve the areas that are yet to be. The most problematic of the interstates among others is Cross River/Ebonyi State. We want it resolved but teams could not gain access into the area. We are making effort there but it is not conclusive.' The challenge of borders is dealing with human beings and demography issue, population increase that puts pressure on land and the resources alongside undefined areas. We are appealing to the protagonists in those communities to see themselves as Nigerians,' he said.Speaking on record of affected persons in the case of disputed areas leading to crisis, he said there was a major challenge in identifying the number of people affected in such cases because there was yet to be any agency dealing with the cases of internally displaced persons.The director general disclosed that apart from the interstate boundaries, the Federal Government was also focusing on ending international boundary disputes with neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Benin and Cameroun.He said the nation's Extended Continental Shelf Project on the eight nautical miles with Ghana will be concluded in the early part of 2012.'Only two months ago the Vice Prime Minister from Cameroun, Mr. Amadou Ali brought a letter to the Nigerian government on the draft agreement to conclude on the technical part of oil straddling area that is overlapped in the maritime boundary and joint security patrol measure for the land area.
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