FG vows to save Lake Chad from drying

The Federal Government said everything possible would be done to save the drying Lake Chad Basin.

The Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu, stated this when a UNESCO delegation led by its Assistant Director-General paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

The minister said as part of the efforts, government had initiated a bilateral engagement to organize an international conference on the Lake Chad.

Adamu stated that there was the need to draw international attention to the drying up of the Lake in order to save over 47 million people living around the lake, who depend on it for farming, fishing and livestock production as well as water supply for drinking and sanitation.

According to the minister, the conference would look at ways of drawing experts to proffer solutions on how to save the Lake aside from the feasibility study of inter Basin transfer from Oubangui River in Central African Republic to the lake as agreed by Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin.

He said discussion should focus on developing a consensus on the feasibility of other options for resuscitation of the Lake Chad.

In his response, the UNESCO Assistant Director-General, Mr. Matoko Firnin, said they were aware of the sensitive nature and implications of the drying up of the Lake Chad as all the issues occasioned by the drying up of the Lake are associated with the core mandates of UNESCO.

He, therefore, called on all stakeholders to garner the political will to deliberate on possible sources of financing so as to address the challenges facing the Basin.