People of Old Calabar and Anglo-German Treaty, 1913, and the Validity of the Treaty in the Cameroon versus Nigerian Case, 2002

  • Bankole Sodipo Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria
  • Osita Adah Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined people of old Calabar and Anglo-German treaty, 1913, and the validity of the treaty in the Cameroon v Nigerian case, 2002. The research methodology was descriptive and the system theory was adopted. The study revealed that the 10 September 1884 treaty between Great Britain and the kings and chiefs of Old Calabar was a treaty of protection, not a colonial protectorate as it contains no clauses transferring sovereignty over old Calabar, including Bakassi territory, to Great Britain. It also found that by Anglo-German treaty of 11 March, 1913, Great Britain transferred the sovereignty over Bakassi territory to Germany without the consent and authority of the kings and chiefs of old Calabar. It further found that the kings and chiefs of old Calabar remained passive to the cession of Bakassi territory to Germany. The study concluded that the acquiescence of the kings and chiefs of old Calabar to the cession of Bakassi territory to Germany reinforced the defective-derivative title of Great Britain and rendered it valid or definitive. And that it is on the basis of the acquiescence of the kings and chiefs of old Calabar, not on the basis of the law in force at the time, that the Anglo-German treaty of 11 March 1913 is made valid and conferred derivative title on Great Britain and thus applicable to the Bakassi case in its entirety.


Keywords: Treaty, Pacta Sunt Servanda, Protectorate, Colony, Colonial Protectorate.

Published
2022-01-13
How to Cite
SODIPO, Bankole; ADAH, Osita. People of Old Calabar and Anglo-German Treaty, 1913, and the Validity of the Treaty in the Cameroon versus Nigerian Case, 2002. KIU Journal of Social Sciences, [S.l.], v. 7, n. 4, p. 75-84, jan. 2022. ISSN 2519-0474. Available at: <https://ijhumas.com/ojs/index.php/kiujoss/article/view/1351>. Date accessed: 29 mar. 2024.