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Another Presidential Visit You Should be Following – Nigeria’s President Buhari in Cameroon

Odonnell

Photo Courtesy of https://www.prc.cm/en/news/1383-concerted-action-to-eradicate-boko-haram.

Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Burhari concludes his first presidential visit to Cameroon today, where he has been discussing how to build a "strong regional alliance to confront Boko Haram" with Cameroon's President, Paul Biya. With Multi National Joint Task Force troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin still preparing to work together as a regional force, Boko Haram attacking civilians throughout the region, and enduring diplomatic tensions between Nigeria and Cameroon, President Buhari's visit with Paul Biya is one of the most critical diplomatic engagements in Africa this year.

Nigeria and Cameroon share a 1240 mile border that has been the source of much concern for the government in Yaoundé and in Abuja. Disputes over contested territory at the Bakassi Peninsula[i] and around the Lake Chad basin have soured diplomatic relations between the two countries before. The Bakassi Peninsula was officially passed from Nigerian control to the government of Cameroon in 2008, after third party adjudication by the International Court of Justice. In his visit, Buhari proactively worked to address the legacy of distrust between the two countries. Yet, the cool temperature of diplomatic relations between the neighboring states is not limited to the past — When Buhari had his inauguration on May 29th of this year, Paul Biya was visibly missing from the crowd.

Kah Walla, one of Cameroon's most recognized voices within the political opposition emphasizes that Cameroon is "very weary" of the Nigerian government, despite the transfer of power from Goodluck Jonathan to Mahammadu Buhari. These tensions have the potential to limit the success of regional security efforts to counter the insurgency. As Cameroon's information minister, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, said, "We have to combine our efforts to deal with this".

Yet, combining efforts will be less than straightforward. Regional distrust between Cameroon and Nigeria has given Boko Haram the space to maneuver at the border between the two countries before, and both governments have publically accused the other of not doing enough to address the threat. As a result, the intention of this visit is for both Presidents to reaffirm their joint commitment to "make it much harder for Boko Haram to operate across national boundaries."

Last week's attacks in Maroua, which is the country's northern most town, highlighted the regional dynamics of Nigeria's insurgency, once again. Maroua is about equidistant from Maiduguri, the Nigerian town that has been Boko Haram's epicenter, and Chad's capital, N'Djamena, the site of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, which has been designed to break the insurgency. Two blasts detonated there on Saturday in two successive bombings. One explosive was detonated at the entrance to the city's main market and another in the Barmare neighborhood it serves, killing thirteen and injuring thirty-two.

Boko Haram has been targeting towns in northern Cameroon where military installations and troops are operating to counter the insurgency. Cameroon's Rapid Intervention Battalion, the BRI, uses the town of Maroua as the headquarters for its operations against Boko Haram. In Fotokol, a town close to the border with Nigeria, insurgents targeted a bar close to a Cameroon Special Forces camp on July 12th. Explosions went off as people gathered to eat and relax, killing ten civilians and leaving seven soldiers with serious injuries.

In this context, Muhammadu Buhari's presidential visit marks the intent from both states to scale up Nigeria-Cameroon security cooperation. Lauren Ploch Blanchard, the African security analyst who wrote the first briefings on Boko Haram for U.S. congress, offers a reminder that when it comes to security cooperation, the key edict is "know your partners". If there is anything to know about Cameroon's Paul Biya, it is that 2015 will mark his 33rd year in power. He is Cameroon's second leader since the country's independence from France, and at 82 years old he has no demonstrated succession plan or intent to expand the political space while he is in office.

In Cameroon's extreme north, governance is thin and northern Nigeria is close. "Boko Haram recruits in the absence of hope", emphasizes Kah Walla, speaking of the situation in the extreme north, which the insurgents have used as a target for recruitment as well as attacks. Ms. Walla continues with "this is a region between drought and floods, [yet] every year the government does nothing". The former leader of the political opposition has a message for Cameroon's current government, when it comes to improving governance in the north, "show them that you are taking them into account, do something different".

The Biya regime should interpret the pressure Boko Haram is placing on life in the north as a catalyst to step up its attempts to address the lack of effort and accountability that defines governance in the area. The government's recent ban on informal street vendors and on wearing a veil in public after the July12th attacks is unlikely to do anything to attenuate Boko Haram's efforts, but it will certainly re-inscribe the marginality that many citizens in the north currently feel. Cameroon's extreme north is going to be perpetually threatened by insurgents as long as its people are aware that their government is indifferent to their lack of public service provision and willing to criminalize marginality in the pursuit of Boko Haram.

If President Buhari wants to establish positive Nigerian leadership among the region, he must figure out how to interact with the entrenched authoritarianism of Paul Biya's government, without enabling it. Buhari should use this week's visit to remind Cameroon's President that any long-term success against Boko Haram will require shifts in Cameroon's enduring, yet brittle, political status quo.

 

[i] The Bakassi Peninsula stretches into the Gulf of Guinea at the ocean-facing boundary of Nigeria and Cameroon. When Nigeria became free of British rule and Cameroon won its independence from France, the Bakassi Peninsula became fiercely-contested territory. The dispute was not just about land, it was about citizenship and resources. For the thousands of Nigerians living in Bakassi, a handover of the territory looked like the entrenchment of their own statelessness. The waters that surround the peninsula are also a significant source of fish, and at the time the neighboring governments took the dispute to International Court of Justice in 1994, there was hope that oil and gas reserves would be found too.

About the Author

Belinda O'Donnell


Africa Program

The Africa Program works to address the most critical issues facing Africa and US-Africa relations, build mutually beneficial US-Africa relations, and enhance knowledge and understanding about Africa in the United States. The Program achieves its mission through in-depth research and analyses, public discussion, working groups, and briefings that bring together policymakers, practitioners, and subject matter experts to analyze and offer practical options for tackling key challenges in Africa and in US-Africa relations.    Read more