The Bakassi problem

Guardian

23 May 2011

The Bakassi problem

IT is quite an intriguing development that the chairman of Bakassi Local Government area of Cross River State, Dr. Ekpo Bassey, has accused the United Nations and indeed the international community, of reneging on promises made to the Bakassi people during the process of ceding their territory to Cameroun.

According to him, his people have been kept alive by the Cross River State government that has extended a helping hand to mitigate their plight, but the assistance they have received is nowhere enough.  The United Nations promised as part of the settlement that the dislocated people of Bakassi will be relocated and re-housed. Nothing much has happened and even the initial haphazard attempt to relocate the people to a landlocked area has been abandoned.  Apart from the glaring insensitivity of relocating fishermen into a landlocked territory, not much thought has been given to the hordes of homeless youths who according to Dr. Bassey are roaming the streets in search of something to do.