Inaugural Annual International Forum Of The Development Of Lake Chad

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SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE INAUGURAL ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FORUM OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF LAKE CHAD, HELD AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE, ABUJA ON MONDAY 11TH APRIL, 2022

It is a special pleasure to join you at this inaugural annual International Forum on the Development of the Lake Chad region. Nigeria is excited and honoured to be the first host of these annual forums and I bring you the very warm greetings of Mr. President, President Muhammadu Buhari who by his relentless advocacy on the matter of the recovery of the Lake Chad area, has made the whole question a geostrategic issue for ECOWAS and the Africa Union.

I must say that for many of us who have watched Lake Chad go from a blessing to some sort of a conundrum, the Lake Chad Region Recovery and Development Project is sheer music to the ears. But the story of the rise and fall of Lake Chad bears repeating that the work of recovery can be done with sufficient insights into the multiple issues that must be contended with and resolved.

 

At the height of its glory (as we have heard repeatedly), Lake Chad was one of Africa’s largest natural deposits covering 25,000 Square Kilometers. The lake, a freshwater lake provided water for over 30 million people in the four countries surrounding the Sahel Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad. But its huge economic value included fishing, agricultural productivity, health and security.

 

Today, Lake Chad has shrunk disastrously to barely 2000 square kilometres, a case of the devastating impact of climate change on natural resources. This sharp drop in size and decrease in water levels has also led to a chain of catastrophic events, including the impairment of the capacity of that region to deliver food, health, and security to its population. Resulting first in economic instability and downturn in agricultural productivity and subsequently in the festering insecurity all around the Sahel, and in many cases, in the violent contests for food, water and pasture. The insecurity in the Sahel region has spun off another crisis – a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions. We have heard here that 23 million residents and citizens of the four countries are displaced currently.

The PROLOAC project’s approach to the recovery of the Lake Chad region is an inspired one because it focuses on investment to support regional coordination and crisis monitoring, (and we have also heard repeatedly that regional coordination is the key to resolving many of the issues in the region) and connectivity and agricultural livelihoods. These investments are rightly expected to address the underlying fragility and the acute humanitarian and forced displacement crisis in the four countries.

 

Collaboration, cooperation, and synergy between our countries, and stakeholders across the region and the Sahel are the key actions that will determine the speed and effectiveness of the delivery of economic stability and peace, and containing the humanitarian crisis. It is important to also bear in mind that there is a need for international cooperation and collaboration especially as we have seen in the domain of military action and we have seen this work for cross border security interventions, especially in terrorism situation in that neighbourhood. All of the successes in our fight against terrorism exemplify what we can achieve by working together.

 

We therefore must continue to build on this spirit of cooperation in other areas of intervention and forge even stronger ties for sharing information and lessons from our different experiences. There have been several studies that deal with different aspects of the security challenge and a multi-faceted approach for long term security and stability of the region will be informed by discussion and analyses from this body of knowledge that is already available. While there has been a lot of progress, there remains much to be done in addressing especially the drivers of the insecurity and where we can improve, we must take every opportunity to do so.

 

One of the things that the crisis has affected is social cohesion within and around many of the communities in the region. So, as we rebuild the physical structures within these areas, we should be mindful of the need to foster peaceful coexistence and restore the social fabric of those societies. For without sustainable peace we are limited in how much we can attract the kind of investments necessary for the growth we need to fulfil the needs of our populations.

 

As we listen, learn, and share over the course of the forum, we hope to build stronger ties with our neighbours that will endure and grow beyond the immediate task in front of us, yielding results, we hope, over the short and long term with new strategies, renewed vigour and drive to improve the lives of our brothers and sisters across the four countries. Our experience has highlighted the importance of dialogue and interactions such as what we expect to see in confronting common challenges and we are confident in its potential for achieving our objectives.

 

The results and recommendations of this forum are to be transmitted to the various governments to guide policymaking and strategic decisions that need to be taken in the short and long term related to the development of the region. I can assure you that the Federal Government of Nigeria will be an active participant in turning these recommendations into actions. I am confident of the same level of willingness of the Governments of Cameroon Chad and Niger, evidenced by their presence here.

 

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to assure all our partners in this effort of the government’s commitment to working with you for a sustainable peaceful and prosperous region. We also wish to assure you of our unwavering determination to address the crisis and rebuild the livelihoods of people who have been affected by the humanitarian crisis especially.

 

I must commend the Hon. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, and her team, the Lake Chad Basin Commission, The North East Development Commission and the Lake Chad Region Recovery and Development Project, for your commitment to the recovery and development of the Lake Chad Basin.

 

It is now my special privilege and pleasure to declare open the 1st Annual International Forum on the Development of the Lake Chad Basin.

 

Thank you very much.