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The Federal Government has said that $50 billion would be needed to recharge the drying of Lake Chad.
The Nigerian government alongside its Republic of Chad counterpart has called on the African Union and other international donors to assist in raising the money.
Speaking on the drying basin, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said the call was made at the summit of the heads of states and government of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) alongside of the ongoing 28th AU Summit.
Onyeama said an agreement was also made by Nigeria and Chad to host a formal international donor conference on the Lake Chad shrinking which he said is already affecting 30 million people.
He said conference will focus on recharging the Lake Chad and having a direct engagement with possible donors.
He also said that the review which consists of 33 countries is a self-monitoring policy to ensure social, economic and political development among member states
“We recognise the role that Chad has been playing in the framework of the International Joint Task Force and we pointed out the impact of the Boko Haram on the task force,” Onyeama said.
“On the question of Chad, we pointed out that the Lake had shrunk to about 10 per cent and has had catastrophic effect on the people living in that area.
“And the challenge is how to address such situation, I pointed out that what Nigeria is looking at in that context is the possibility of recharging the lake from a river from Central Africa, the Rangin River,” he said.
He said the Nigerian government had already paid $5 million for a research on the lake while it will cost $15 million to carry out a comprehensive feasibility study on recharging the lake.
“The cost of recharging is in the neighbourhood of $15 billion to 20 billion. I pointed out that we are looking at the possibility of organizing international donor conference to look for fund to addressing this issue.
“The environmental impact and the negative aspect, the President of Chad, Idriss Deby, followed up with us also elaborated on the issue, calling on the world to assist us in addressing the Lake Chad issue.
“Because there is ecological issue, there is environmental issue, social and of course we have seen that we can also have illegal migration of the youth and also war within the area,” Onyeama said.
