FELIX IKALEWUMI
Department of History and War Studies,
Nigeria Defence Acadamy, Kaduna
and
ADAM OKENE AHMED, PhD
Department of History and War Studies,
Nigeria Defence Acadamy, Kaduna
Abstract This paper undertakes a retrospective analysis of vital issues and challenges that dotted the Cameroon-Nigeria shared borders landscape before the signing of the trans-border security agreement of 2012. The affirmation of the sovereignty of Cameroon over the disputed Bakassi Peninsula by the International Court of Justice ruling heightened the brisking tensions between both countries. However, the international community’s intervention prevented the option of war and laid the foundation for a diplomatic solution, leading to the formation of the Cameroon-Nigerian Mixed Boundary Commission to implement the Green Tree Agreement as a conflict prevention mechanism. Notwithstanding, the intricate issues of security challenges, complexities of the Court’s verdict, maritime issues, piracy and emerging realities continued to signal threats to the collective interests of both countries. While scholarly efforts have discussed the trends and challenges of the shared borders of both countries, the urgent need to adequately reflect them in light of the emerging realities that have spanned a decade, between 2002 and 2012 of the ICJ decision, leading to the initiation of a transborder security agreement on February 28, 2012, necessitated a thorough consideration by this study. The paper uses a historical discourse – primary and secondary sources of data collection to interrogate these underpinning issues and challenges. The findings from