By SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –
The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, has appealed to the Lake Chad Basin Governors to endeavour to concentrate on the possibility of recharging the drained Lake Chad Rivers and waterways to boost agricultural activities, create employment and social economic potentials in the lake Chad region
He also urged the governors to think of multiple interventions on how they can transfer water from river, Benue Gongola, Hadejia, Yobe and others to enhance economic activities in the North Eastern part of the country as a prelude to food security and sustainable development in the North.
Ganduje stated this on Friday during the closing ceremony of the 5th Lake Chad.Basin Governors’ Forum (LCBGF) meeting in Maiduguri held the University of Maiduguri Mohammed Indimi International Conference Hall.
The APC National Chairman also appreciated the efforts and contributions of humanitarian and development partners to peace, bilateral cooperation, security and sustainable development in the Lake Chad Region.
He further commended the state governors of the Lake Chad region for efforts and resilience in the development and sustainability of the climate change challenges in the region .
The APC chairman, however, called on the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to continue to rally round the state governors and towards supporting the implementation of the declared roadmap of the region in the overall interest of the population of the region.
He noted that this will enable the region restore its age-old critical economic position and significance role in Africa, while noting that the Lake Chad water has shrunk by 90 since 1960 and stressed that only that only this unique decision can enable the.region lake play its central role in the stabilization of the terror-troubled region.
Ganduje, who is one-time Executive Secretary of the multinational Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), further, expressed the fear that the Lake Chad Basin may derail and diversion of its water for farming and irrigation may drastically be affected.
“When I was at the commission, there were efforts by the commission to recharge the lake from rivers in the Central African Republic and Congo, while they, in turn will be paid with electricity and irrigation farms to be developed by the commission around the recharged lake.
“I don’t know the state of those efforts now, but I think the lake can be recharged from Nigeria’s internal water bodies such as the Gongola, Benue, Yobe and Hadejia-Jama’are rivers, and water bodies from the Central African Republic and Congo,” Ganduje said.
Similarly, the Executive Secretary of LCBC, Mamman Nuhu, at the end of the 5-day meeting of the governors forum commended the significant contributions and achievements of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and the troop-contributing countries of the LCB, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Benin in combating non-state armed groups, notably Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
“These efforts have greatly reduced the threat posed by these terrorist groups, enhanced civilian protection, and compelled many members of these groups to surrender,” Nuhu said.
The forum emphasized its commitment to redouble efforts and further strengthen the MNJTF and other efforts to completely eliminate the continued threat posed by Boko Haram, ISWAP, and other terrorist groups in the region.
The meeting which was organized by the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and hosted by the Government of Yobe State (Nigeria), with support from the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) made several declarations on Peace building, reconciliation, rehabilitation, reintegration and resettlement of refugees and IDPs in the region including commitments to restore and development.
