LIMBE – Last week exposed how precarious the peace process between Cameroon and Nigeria has remained, following the settlement of the Bakassi dispute.
On Thursday, Nigerian lawmakers urged their government to report Cameron to the United Nations and the Africa Union over broken promises.
It followed alleged assaults by Cameroonian gendarmes on Nigerian citizens who are still living on the territory, a patch of marshland rich in fish and petroleum.
At least 700 people, most of them fishermen were forced to flee to temporary settlements in the Cross River state, according to Nigerian media.
The reaction of the Nigerian House of Representatives was arguably the most radical by a public institution since the August 2008 handover of the border territory to Cameroon.
In no small way, it highlighted the difficulty the two neighbours have had in managing the post-conflict peace process, in spite of accolades the leaders of both nations have had from the international community.
Nigerian politicians are given to exaggerating every small incident in the Bakassi region, where the majority of inhabitants are still believed to be of Nigerian origin.
Due to strong misgivings over the handover in Nigeria, Bakassi has become an easy wager for politicians seeking easy popularity.
Reversing the Green Tree Accord the UN brokered agreement that finalised the implementation of the ICJ verdict has become a common line in campaign rhetoric.
But Cameroon has not helped things as well - by posing as the victor the smaller neighbour entrenched itself on many issues, leaving Nigeria painfully frustrated.
Allegations of police/gendarme harassments of Nigerians, in or out of Bakassi, abound, yet there is no visible evidence that something is being done about it.
Both countries have failed to push forward the confidence building measures that were recommended in the dispute resolution process.
• Trade between Cameroon and Nigeria remains at best informal and at worst illegal. The only beneficiaries are corrupt customs officer on both side of the border.
• In spite of several pledges by international donors to fund the building of cross border roads, not a single project has taken off.
• Cameroon and Nigeria agreed in principle to jointly combat maritime security challenges in the sub-region but nothing is happening.
The current state of what looks like mutual distrust is blinding the governments of both countries to the huge opportunities available.
Nigerian for instance would bend over backward to import electricity and grain from Cameroon.
In a new trend, the Cameroonian population in Nigerian universities is dominated by students of francophone origin.
But the lingering chill over Bakassi, is standing in the way of any real progress.
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