Nigeria and Republic of Chad have called on the African Union (AU) and international donors to assist in raising $50 billion dollars to recharge drying Lake Chad.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama said the two countries made the call at the Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), alongside the 28th AU Summit.
Onyeama said there was also an agreement by the two countries to have a formal international donor conference on recharging the lake, as well as having a direct engagement with possible sponsors.
The minister explained that the APRM, consisting 33 countries, was a self-monitoring policy, through peer review mechanism to ensure social, economic and political development among member states.
Onyeama said the peer review mechanism is a process where member states submit themselves to review each other, where Nigeria had peer-reviewed Republic of Chad.
He said that the two issues that came up on the Chad review were the impact of Boko Haram and shrinking of the lake, which affects about 30 million people.
“We recognised the role that Chad has been playing in the framework of the International Joint Task Force (IJTF) and we pointed out the impact of Boko Haram on the task force.
“On the question of Chad, we pointed out that the lake has shrunk to about 10 per cent of its size 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,” said Onyeama.
He also added that Nigeria has already paid about $5 million towards a study on recharging the lake.
Onyeama added that it was going to cost about $15 million, or more, to do a comprehensive feasibility study on recharging of Lake Chad.
“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 organising international donor conference, to look for funds to address this issue. The environmental impact and the negative aspect.
“President of the Republic of Chad, Idriss Deby, who followed up with us, also elaborated on the issue, and called 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.’’
The Foreign Affairs minister also added that after the discussion, it was agreed that they would have a formal international donor conference “and, that is why we really engaged directly with possible sponsors.”