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Buhari pledges to revive Lake Chad

By Terhemba Daka, Abuja
19 November 2018   |   2:33 am
The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment towards reviving the Lake Chad Basin and exerting more support from developed countries. Speaking during a courtesy visit by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation...

The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment towards reviving the Lake Chad Basin and exerting more support from developed countries.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) and his investiture as Patron of the Foundation, President Muhammadu Buhari said it was regrettable that the issue of the receding Lake Chad had not been addressed till recent times.

The president said, ‘‘The problem of climate change is real and desert encroachment is aggravating it. The drying up of Lake Chad is a serious thing for Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin countries. Nigeria is much more affected because fishing, animal husbandry and farming are affected very seriously. We are trying to prick the conscience of the developed countries that have the resources and the technology to quickly execute the inter-basin transfer from Congo Basin to Chad Basin”.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted the President as, “I welcom the advocacy by the Foundation on the need to protect endangered plants and animals in the country. The President directed the Federal Ministry of Environment to reflect this in its budgetary requirements in the next fiscal year. The rate at which animals are being hunted and eliminated around the country, we must seriously give the forest reserves our support and attention as much as we can’’, he said.

Earlier, a member, Board of Trustees of the Foundation, Ahmed Joda, told the President that the nation’s wildlife was fast becoming extinct.He added that for more than 10 years, the rate of deforestation in Nigeria has been one of the highest in the world with the country losing close to 95 per cent of its original forest cover.

He thanked the President for placing great emphasis on environmental challenges; especially climate change and invited him to take charge of ‘Greening Nigeria.’

He said, ‘‘We are all proud of the role that the Nigerian delegation headed by Mr. President played during the climate change agreement in Paris and your single-minded determination to keep the issue in the front burner both at home and abroad. Your Government has also recorded remarkable achievements in addressing soil erosion with about 60 projects executed by the Ecological Funds all over Nigeria”.

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