Lake Chad: Better late than never...
Historically, concerted ideological efforts on the revival of the largest basin in Africa has being ongoing. Interestingly, first transnational Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum to create an enabling environment and further foster peaceful co-existence within the nation states and beyond held in the city of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
It is on this background that the need to x-ray the developmental and gigantic efforts in addressing the problems bedevilling the area.
The Kanuri maxim “Awwon nggla nggumuri” meaning “everything good is festivity and worth celebrating” indicates the positivity of the outcome of the meeting and the support by the United Nations through United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as well as government of Germany, Sweden and Norway.
The Forum agreed to, one, formally constitute the Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum, which will act as a platform for fostering regional cooperation on stabilization, peace building and sustainable development for the region affected by the Boko Haram crisis; Two, that the Forum will serve to enhance joint efforts towards stabilizing, building peace and fostering sustainable development across the Lake Chad Basin through promoting dialogue and cross border design and exchange of information and crisis response solutions; Three, that the preparation of each Forum be supported by a designated team led by UNDP that would act in close collaboration with the host governor, the Lake Chad Basin Commission as well as international partners, to assist with logistical and substantive support; Four, to regularly convene the Forum, at least annually, and that the hosting of the Forum should rotate between governors in the four countries in the spirit of equal and shared ownership; Five, that a community-based approach is essential to ensuring sustainability and ownership of solutions to the Boko Haram crisis in the Lake Chad Basin; Six, to leverage the Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum as a means to specifically address subnational cross-border challenges and opportunities to provide a better life for all those who live in the Lake Chad Basin and depend on it for survival; Seven, to support ongoing national, regional and multilateral efforts towards stabilization of the Lake Chad Basin Commission to develop a Regional Stabilization Strategy, as well as supporting the efforts of restoring the Lake Chad waters as part of a long term solution to ensure sustainable development of the region.
Umaru Yakubu Kirawa, Maiduguri, Borno State