Nigeria to Delay Withdrawal from Potentially Oil Rich Penins

 

By Carrie Giardino

Nigerian officials say they will not remove their troops and hand over the potentially oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon as scheduled Wednesday. The United Nations has been helping¹ to organize the hand-over following a 2002 decision by the International Court of Justice that awarded the disputed area to Cameroon.

The announcement follows months of negotiations² between Cameroon, Nigeria, and the United Nations to end the dispute after decades of arguing over which country held a legitimate³ claim to the 665-square-kilometer marshy⁴ swampland. An analyst⁵ with the London-based Royal Institute of International Affairs, Alex Vines says a delay of the hand-over is not surprising. But, he says Nigeria's underlying⁶ intentions are the key issue.

"This is a very kind of poor area with few people, but potentially oil-rich. There is an incentive⁷ to kind of hold on to maximum territory and there is a worry that Nigeria could swing away from having said it would agree to the International Court of Justice decision that it could swing away through complicating⁸ factors like a referendum. But certainly the presence or potential presence of oil complicates⁹ this issue tremendously."

The case was brought before the U.N. sponsored International Court of Justice in 2002, after several military skirmishes led to the deaths of nearly 100 people on the tiny peninsula. The court ruled in favor of Cameroon, but compensated¹⁰ Nigeria with other areas.

A spokeswoman for the court says it is not the role of the court to ensure its rulings are implemented¹¹, but that the parties need to comply with the decisions. If one party does not feel the ruling is being carried out, it can make a complaint to the U.N. Security Council.

A legitimate concern for Nigeria, Africa's largest oil-producing nation, is that there has been no maritime¹² demarcation for the Bakassi peninsula that juts¹³ out into the oil-rich Gulf¹⁴ of Guinea.

Mr. Vines says Nigeria should clarify why the delay is taking place in order to continue friendly relations with its neighbor Cameroon.

"Cameroon has the moral high ground here. It has the International Court of Justice ruling of October 2002 in its favor. It will, therefore, have international support for its position. Cameroon has not anything to worry about at this stage. Nigeria is the one that could come under pressure later on."

The Nigerian federal parliament has offered no further details for the delay, but the U.N. office for West Africa issued a statement saying a new agenda will be released in the next few days.

Carrie Giardino for VOA news in Abidjan,

注释：
Bakassi peninsula 巴卡西半岛
Cameroon 喀麦隆
legitimate 合法的
marshy swampland 沼泽地
potentially 潜在地
referendum 公民投票
tremendously 非常地
compensate 偿还，补偿
Gulf of Guinea 几内亚湾

 

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

4 marshy   

adj.沼泽的

参考例句：

• In August 1935,we began our march across the marshy grassland. 1935年8月，我们开始过草地。
• The surrounding land is low and marshy. 周围的地低洼而多沼泽。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

7 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

8 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

9 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

10 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

11 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

12 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

13 juts   

v.（使）突出( jut的第三人称单数 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• A small section of rock juts out into the harbour. 山岩的一小角突入港湾。 来自辞典例句
• The balcony juts out over the swimming pool. 阳台伸出在游泳池上方。 来自辞典例句

14 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。