The Ruler of Bakassi and Chairman of Cross River Traditional Rulers Council, Etiyin Etim Edet, has faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo decision in ceding the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon.
The Monarch said, Obasanjo ceded the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon without making adequate plans for the proper resettlement of the people, thereby exposing them to untold suffering, which they are still facing 13 years after the handover.
“Former President Obasanjo must be regretting what he did to the people of Bakassi and since he is still politically active, should redeem his promises to the people.”
“Obasanjo, who is the main actor in the ceding of Bakassi, is still alive. He made a lot of promises to us prior to the ceding and we thought that he would fulfil them but he did not. He met with us severally at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, and he spoke to us passionately as the father of the nation which gave us the assurance that the government would do something reasonable for the people of Bakassi but up till now, we have seen nothing.
“He promised us that we would be allowed to go to any place of our choice with all our institutions, but uphill now, we have not been given that choice. Perhaps, he had some other intentions which were not known to us, that if he gave out Bakassi, those benefits would accrue to him but eventually none of those things came to fruition and he decided to dump us by the way side.”
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission earlier claimed that the state had been given N36 billion as compensation for the ceding of Bakassi, but Mr. Edet said that the claimed was mere propaganda since no evidence was shown on who actually collected the money on behalf of the state.