Abstract: | The international boundaries shared by Nigeria and its francophone neighbours - Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin - are the legacy of colonialism and, by this fact, bisect different ethnic groups between these States. They are, for the most part, ill-defined, undelimited, undemarcated, and above all, very permeable. These characteristics, as well as the lack of a coherent boundary policy by the political authorities concerned, the presence of vital economic, mainly mineral, resources within the frontier zone, and the transborder activities of nationals and government agents from all the States in question, render these boundaries easily subject to dispute and conflict. To date, Nigeria and its neighbours have attempted to reconcile these differences through direct bilateral negotiation, military confrontation, and more recently, multilateral negotiations and unilateral action. Note, ref. |