Nigeria and Cameroon have come to an agreement in which Nigeria will cede to the former the possibly oil-rich (and long disputed) Bakassi peninsula. Nigeria is not exactly acting merely out of largesse. The international community has engaged in more than its share or arm twisting over the Bakassi dispute, and Nigeria appears to be making a virtue out of necessity, but that in and of itself is perhaps telling.
No country embodies the dual-edged sword that is the so-called “oil curse” more than Nigeria. And arguably no country's oil industry is linked in the mind with violence more than Nigeria's. Furthermore, countries have waged war over less than a potentially oil-abundant swath of land. If the agreement holds, this will qualify as a significant development.
