Irresistible Model In Conflict Resolution

The choice Cameroon and Nigeria made; with the guidance of the United Nations, to amicably settle border crisis in the Bakassi peninsula, Ndian Division of the South West Region, speaks volumes of the power of reason over violence, to all and sundry today. Opting for dialogue and mutual understanding; in fact for the force of argument and not the argument of force, as some would have thought, puts the two countries on the limelight of world peace.
In effect, the Bakassi peninsula was an object of heated bickering between Nigeria and Cameroon. Tempers even flared high but in all maturity, leaders of the two countries defied all odds and dumped the battlefield to settle the matter in the office. Today, the peninsula is governed by Cameroon as a result of a judgment by the International Court of Justice. 
The 15th anniversary of the Green Tree Agreement, which regulates the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon, thus comes as reminder to world peoples and leaders that no matter how deep a problem is, frank talk, in respect of each other, can always calm the storm. Cameroon’s Head of State, Paul Biya, the then Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo and the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan used the tongue and pen to bring solutions to a deep-rooted problem in which many thought only the gun could solve. They all understood that violence is for the weak and chose dialogue which has paid off in the peaceful co-existence between the two peoples. Understandably so as Cameroon and Nigeria are two brotherly countries sharing close to 2,000km border lines in five regions notably the Far North, North, Adamawa, North West and South West. To say the least, what unites the two countries is more than what divides them. People-to-people relationship is excelling with huge similarities in cultures and successive leaders have been working tooth and nail to deepen bilateral cooperation, challenges notwithstanding. There was thus no reason to cut this historic link. For, the geographical location of Cameroon and Nigeria and the ancient and cultural links binding the two countries oblige them to share a lot in common: successes and failures. And whatever affects one affects the other. Overcoming common threats to peace and security notably terrorism, armed banditry, maritime piracy, trafficking of all sorts, agro-pastoral conflicts, hunting in reserves and parks along the border areas has been upheld over the years. 
The manner in which the two countries resolved the conflicting issue magnifies togetherness.   President Paul Biya is known as a peace-crusader who has always made it loud and clear that dialogue has alwa...