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Introduction
The oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula, on the Gulf of Guinea, has generated conflict to an oscillating degree between Nigeria and Cameroon since both countries attained independence in the 1960s. In 1966, Nigeria failed to sustain a democratic take-off, and it reverted to military rule lasting for over 13 years. This was followed by a brief period of democratic government between 1979 and 1983. For the next 16 years (1983-1999), Nigeria was reputed to be an autocratic country. During this period, Cameroon was also not a democracy, although it did not operate a military dictatorship like Nigeria. Its first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo, remained in power for 22 years (1960-1982) under a disguised presidential system of government. Its second president, Paul Biya, has remained in power even longer than his predecessor, frequently manipulating the Constitution to maintain his hold on power. Given the frequent and sometimes violent disputes between Cameroon and Nigeria over the Bakassi Peninsula, a sustained military contention and occupation would have appeared attractive for both undemocratic countries in the dyad. As non-democracies, there was the likelihood of a slide into a full-scale war. However, Nigeria and Cameroon reciprocated each other's cooperative behaviour and accepted third-party mediation, thereby extending the logic of Democratic Peace Theory (DPT) beyond democratic dyads and providing a case for the construction of a Non-Democratic Peace Theory (NDPT). Democracies are widely believed to manage their conflicts (no matter how sensitive they may be) at the negotiation table rather than on the battlefield. This has remained the basic tenet of the DPT. The paper argues that non-democracies at the dyadic level can also manage conflicts and crises in a manner that reflects the character of democracies. At the height of the Bakassi conflict, Cameroon and Nigeria, being non-democracies, were able to resort to the bargaining table rather than the battlefield. This adds credence to the development of a NDPT.
Cameroon and Nigeria: geographical location, strategic interest and the border question
The Republic of Cameroon is a Central African nation on the Gulf of Guinea bordered by Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It covers an area of about 475,000 km2 and has an ethnically diverse population of about 16 million people (Akpan...
