presidents of the federation and all former heads of the government of the federation; all former chief justices of Nigeria; the president of the Senate; the speaker of the House of Representatives; all the governors of the states of the federation; and the attorney general of the federation. BEST PRACTICE 3.1: THE COUNCIL OF THE STATE An excellent quality of the Council of the State is its broad-based composition incorporating the elite leadership of Nigeria in a nonpartisan and advisory capacity to the chief executive of the federation. The bringing together of these stakeholders has the potential of becoming the ultimate internal guarantor of peace and stability in Nigeria. It could also provide an immediate national forum to guide the president in dealing with sensitive and divisive issues such as conflicts, distribution of national wealth, state aspirations against federal hegemony and so forth. Decisions based on the advice of the Council of the State could be viewed generally as credible and nonpartisan, and therefore acceptable to the people, if packaged properly. There is a general dearth of such national institutions in Africa, which normally leads to involving outside intervention to settle conflictual, divisive and sometimes explosive issues. Source: The constitution of Nigeria and field notes, February 2008. 206. The functions of the Council of the State include advising the executive on policy making on matters such as the national population census and the compilation, publication and keeping of records and other information concerning the same; the prerogative of mercy; the awarding of national honours; the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) (including the appointment of members of that commission); the National Judicial Council (including the appointment of the members, other than ex officio members, of that council); the National Population Commission (including the appointment of members of that commission); and advising the president whenever requested to do so on the maintenance of public order within the federation or any part thereof and on such other matters as the president may direct. Interstate conflicts 207. A potential cause of transboundary conflict noted by stakeholders in Adamawa State is the lack of equal access to water resources across the border with Cameroon. According to the views expressed by stakeholders, Cameroon has apparently been reluctant to share the dam that produces energy just across the border. Stakeholders expressed the need for joint use of the River Benue resources and called upon Nigerian authorities to exercise leadership by coming up with a framework for sharing the dam resources between Cameroon and Nigeria. 208. In 2006, in accordance with the ruling of the International Court of Justice and under the Green Tree Agreement of May 2007 between Nigeria and Cameroon, Nigeria began the process of withdrawing its troops from the Bakassi Peninsula. This has created resentment in several circles, including the Bakassi communities, some of which threatened secession over the 87