Relations between Cameroon and Nigeria was established in 1960, the same year that each country obtained its independence. Since then, their relationship has evolved in large part around their extensive shared border, as well as the legacy of colonial arrangements under which areas of Cameroon were administered as part of British Nigeria. The countries came close to war in the 1990s in the culmination of a long-running dispute over the sovereignty of the Bakassi peninsula. In the 21st century, however, a return to conviviality has been achieved, partly because the demarcation of their border has been formalized, and partly because the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad basin has necessitated increasingly close cooperation in regional security matters. In 1960, Cameroon and Nigeria acquired independence from France and Britain respectively, and they established bilateral relations in the same year. On 6 February 1963, they signed an “Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation”, a trade agreement, and a memorandum of understanding on the cross-border movement of persons and goods. Once he had reconciled himself to Cameroon’s loss of British Northern Cameroons to Nigeria. Ahmadou Ahidjo, the first President of the Independent Republic of Cameroon, pledged in 1964 that “We will see to it that our relations with Nigeria should be at their best.
Both countries are members of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the African Union. The initial bilateral trade agreement of 1963 was revised in January 1982 and April 2014, and Nigeria is a major source of imports to Cameroon. There is little or no formal trade relationship between Nigeria and Cameroon and this could be attributed to political and physical constraints arising from the long-drawn-out Bakassi issue. Few Nigerian products find their way into the Cameroon market informally. Cameroon on the other hand has been spreading its tentacles in the Nigerian market though, also informally but they are forging ahead to make sure their presence is felt in the Nigerian economy. For example, Choco-Cam, Nigeria’s counterpart of Cadbury has been spreading in some states in Nigeria with their chocolate products. Also, in the textile area, CICAM is gaining ground in Nigeria through an informal arrangement.
To arrest this informality in the trade relationship, the three Missions in Cameroon, jointly organized the Nigeria Trade and Cultural Week in Douala in March, 2009 and October, 2019 with a view to creating awareness, and providing a forum for exchange of goods and services between the two countries.