Saving Lake Chad

Being one of the greatest lakes on earth is now once an attribute Lake Chad had. Not only was it among the largest, but its then size can only be compared to seas such as the Caribbean. Around 5000BC, it had covered over a million square kilometers, that was half the size of the present day Mediterranean Sea and onethird of the celebrated South China Sea. Imagine a nation like Nigeria as an ocean, how big it will appear! But Nigeria is approximately 923,768km2; Lake Chad was bigger than Nigeria.

As mighty as it was, Lake Chad now struggles only to survive, not only for itself, but for the thousands of fauna and flora species that call it home. Already, many of its species have gone extinct and many more are endangered. Perhaps, its tears are not only for the vegetation that it hosts, or the animals both macro and micro that know only Lake Chad as home, but for the 68,000,000 people that depend on it for their socio economic life.

Here lies the Lake Chad, drained of its blood, severely dying of thirst, shouting for a savior. The selfless lake is not after it survival alone, but for the survival of the 68,000,000 people that have it as a source of livelihood. It is worried more about the future of these people, what will happen to them, how can they survive in its absence? It has not foreseen a better source of income for them when it’s gone. It shrinkage has left millions of people jobless, starving, crying and emigrating. It has made available many youths to be recruited into cults such as the Boko Haram.

But then, who are the saviors, who are those ready to save the lake? Whoever they are, then they are ready to save 68,000,000 people, millions of plant species and another millions of animal species. How about saving a tourist site, or better still an economic hub. Its imperatives are ever endless.

Sadiq Muhammad Rijiya, sadiqmuhammadrijiya@gmail. com