Water, Oil and Blood: The Cameroon-Nigeria Boundary Dispute Regarding Bakassi Peninsula and Lake Chad and the Threat of War Over Water Resources

Abstract

It has often been said that the wars of the future will be a reminder of the wars of the distance past, when not political ideas were the basis for a conflict, but the need to survive. The third Gulf War has been seen by some as a war for oil, yet true resource wars between neighboring nations over water and oil might not be too far away. Just how close the world has come to such conflicts shows the boundary dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria, which has now been brought to an end by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

In this paper, which was written before the judgement of the I.C.J., we will have a look at the issue from a Cameroonian perspective, examining the history behind the conflict as well as the current legal problems posed by it, which might return again in other conflicts in a not too distant future.

Keywords: International Law, International, Law, boundary, water, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, Bakassi, war, territory, sovereignty, land, claim, title

JEL Classification: K33