Saturday, 25 March 1995 19:00Border

Dispute “NO WIN WITHOUT

AMBAZONIA”Summary: Ambazonia the former

British Southern Cameroons, a buffer state located between

Nigeria’s South Eastern boundary and Cameroun Republic.

The final outcome of the case presently before the

International Court of Justice (ICJ), will be dependent upon

whether or not Ambazonia is acknowledged as a sovereign

state. Ned Nwoko gives a studied opinion on this rather

complicated matter.

INTERNATIONAL LAW ACKNOWLEDGES

Ambazonia as a state with internationally

recognized boundaries (fixed by the League of Nations,

inherited by the United Nations and which remains so today).

Cameroun has been forced to drop the politics of claiming

that Ambazonia is part of a single Cameroonian nation. In

its litigation it, in effect, claims that it is suing

Nigeria in exercise of a mandate given to it by the

Ambazonian people. According to Cameroon’s statement of

claim, the Ambazonian people gave it that mandate through

the United Nations plebiscite of February

1961.That has now put the said plebiscite in

issue and raised the question; had the UN legal authority to

conduct the said plebiscite in Ambazonia after trusteeship

had technically been terminated with the promulgation of the

territory’s independent constitution in October 1960?

The answer is that according to the UN Charter Article 76 B,

the UN trusteeship over territory ends once the territory

has achieved self-government or independence.In

1958 Ambazonia achieved self-government, then in 1959 the UN

Passed a resolution severing it fromNigeria, and

in October 1960, an independent Constitution was promulgated

For the territory. Therefore, the UN had no legal authority,

And therefore the plebiscite was invalid.Another

Question asked is; what then was the object of the

Plebiscite? The answer is that from the terms in the

Manifesto “The Two Alternatives”, the plebiscite

Was to give the UN a mandate to either “append”

Amazonia again with Nigeria if the people voted for joining

Nigeria or to unite Cameroun and Ambazonia in a confederacy

Of sovereign states, if they voted for joining Cameroon.

Therefore, Cameroons claim that Ambazonian people gave the

The Cameroon Republic a mandate to annex Ambazonia has no legal basis

at all.

TERENCE.NYANGA MANIHSCNC ACTIVIST UK