Governors of the Lake Chad Basin have unanimously agreed that the war against terrorism would have to be fought from all fronts.
The two-day event was held in Borno had governors from Borno and Adamawa states, while Chad, Niger and Cameron Republics from outside Nigeria.
The newly inaugurated forum believes that tackling the receding Lake Chad, climate change, and other development issues cannot work without security.
The Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum centered its meeting on Regional Cooperation on Stabilization, Peacebuilding, and Sustainable Development.
Community leaders, religious leaders and opinion leaders, as well as key stakeholders from the international community, actively participated in the conversations.
While the top agenda is how to salvage the dwindling fortunes of the region owing to climate change and Lake Chad’s recession, insecurity in the region was noted as a stumbling block.
The Multinational Joint Task Force confirms that a large number of the Boko Haram elements have now moved to the Lake Chad islands.
A reality that threatens to be a setback to the noble resolve of the Forum and everyone in the room.
The United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambers admits that Boko Haram still constitutes a grave threat to the stability and survival of people in the Lake Chad region.
He assures that the UN and the international community would continue to support the region to ensure Boko Haram insurgents were routed in the Lake Chad.
A ten-point communique at the end of the closed sessions contains the resolve of the governors to keep communication channels open for cross-border response to crisis and solutions.
The forum also resolved to make the meeting an annual event with the Niger Republic to host the next meeting in 2019.
The Lake Chad Governors Forum meeting was convened and facilitated by the UNDP.
