Publication Details
Abstract
The end of the five-year transitional period 2008-2013 as stipulated by the Green Tree Agreement (GTA) purportedly laid to rest the Bakassi conflict. Before the agreement, hostilities between Cameroonians and Nigerians in the Bakassi Peninsula were persistent and deadly. As part of measures for effective occupation, the Cameroon government created the Committee for Coordination and Monitoring of the implementation of Priority Projects to be executed in the Bakassi area in August 2007. The main thrust of this paper therefore, is to examine the peacebuilding initiative undertaken by the Cameroon government in the educational sector of the Bakassi peninsula after the GTA. Using a qualitative design, data was collected from both secondary and primary sources to situate education within the context of promoting peace and social cohesion. Results show that the Cameroon Government has been making substantial efforts to stimulate development through peacebuilding in the education sector in the Bakassi Peninsula. This can be seen in infrastructural development, rehabilitation, quality assurance in education, increase in school enrolment and the number of schools created, provision for teachers. The essence of these measures is to consolidate authority to avoid a relapse of the conflict. This paper recommends that the government of Cameroon should allocate sufficient funds within the Public Investment Budget (PIB) for the area to be fully integrated to the rest of Cameroon, and increase the provision of teachers in schools.