Government urge collaboration to tackle Boko Haram menace in Lake Chad

Governors from the countries in the Lake Chad Basin have called for concerted effort to address the Boko Haram insurgency in the region.

In a communiqué yesterday at the end of the meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Governor’s Forum for Regional Cooperation on Stabilisation, Peace building and Sustainable Development in Maiduguri, Borno State, the governors affirmed their commitment to the promotion of dialogue and exchange of information in responding to the menace which had cost the region millions of dollars.

At the inaugural meeting, organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Borno State government with funding from Cameroun, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, the participants stressed the need for a community-based approach as a lasting solution to the Boko Haram challenge in the Lake Chad Basin.

“It was further recognised that communities have identified traditional and religious institutions, women and young people as essential to charting a path towards stabilisation and peace, and the forum therefore resolves to include such groups in its regular consultations and meetings,” the communiqué reads in part.

The governors also agreed to leverage on the forum to address sub-national and cross-border challenges and opportunities with a view to providing a better life for the people that live and depend on the Lake Chad Basin for survival.

The forum equally resolved to convoke the meeting at least once yearly on a rotational basis among the four countries in the spirit of equity and shared ownership.

“In addition, the Lake Chad Basin Governors Forum agreed that the next meeting would hold by the end of the first quarter of 2019 in Niger,” the document added.

The gathering was attended by over 150 stakeholders representing regional and multinational organisations, development partners and state governments.