Leadership (Abuja)
28 March 2008
Abuja — President Umaru Yar'Adua yesterday urged Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) member states to live up to their responsibilities in order to realise the objectives of the commission.
Speaking at the 12th Summit of the LCBC Heads of State and Government, Yar'Adua said this was the only way to ensure that the Lake Chad did not disappear.
He said that available record showed that some member states owed $3.5 billion arrears of contributions as at 2007 and that the amount did not include the contribution for that year.
He said available water resources in the region had diminished and that if urgent action was not taken to address the situation it could escalate to crisis proportions.
"Lake Chad at a time measured 25,000 km but under the combined efforts of nature and man, the lake is now one per cent of its original size. This situation calls for more committed, proactive and visionary leadership from us as leaders in the region," he said.
He stressed the need for member states to mobilise resources and deploy the right political will to meaningfully complement the efforts of development partners.
Yar'Adua said the MDGs could not be achieved in the region without combating the looming water crisis.
He, therefore, challenged the leaders to work towards ensuring peace and stability within and between member states "because there can be no progress when conflict situation persists."
Also speaking, LCBC Summit chairman, President Mamadou Tandja of Niger Republic, commended the Nigerian government for providing most of the funds required to finance the water transfer project.
He said that Nigeria provided $5 million of the $6 million required for the inter-basin water transfer from the Oubangi River in the Congo to Lake Chad.
The project, if implemented, would benefit more than 30 million inhabitants along the basin and 200 million people in the member states, he said.
According to him, the project will enhance food production, irrigation and provide good lesson on cooperation to the rest of the world.
Tandja said the summit should avail all concerned the opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to LCBC by demonstrating political will, moral and financial support.
He said Lake Chad was facing huge "ecological and climatic challenges as well as operational capacity and institutional identity."
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) later, Mr Muhammadu Adamu, the LCBC executive secretary, said the water linkage would not be a white elephant project.
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