The role of the Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum in the stabilisation of not only the Northwest region of Nigeria but also neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger cannot be over-emphasised. The Boko Haram insurgency has created the biggest humanitarian catastrophe in Nigeria in contemporary times, with thousands of people killed and millions of others internally displaced. The insurgency affects not only Nigeria but also the neighbouring countries whose communities contend with the spillover of the crisis. The situation has been exacerbated by climate change conditions that impact negatively on people in the region.
The Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum is the brainchild of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) consisting of representatives from Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad. It was established in 2016 following the creation by member countries of a document called “Regional Strategy for Stabilisation, Recovery and resilience” and has remained one of the platforms set up for regional cooperation, stabilisation, peace building and sustainable development in the affected countries. It benefits millions of people with construction of homes, health centres, roads, and police stations, as well as the return of displaced people. It is an opportunity for leaders in the region, specifically the governors, to take ownership of forum processes and promote multi-stakeholder engagement to consolidate gains and advance regional cooperation in priority areas.
The forum’s last summit held for three days in the Chadian capital N’Djamena in July, 2023. It was attended by key stakeholders such as heads of state, policy makers, civil society organisations, multilateral agencies, the UN system, etc. As the Executive Secretary of the LCBC, Ambassador Mamman Nuhu, pointed out during that summit, the meeting was “planned to build on the gains of the past” and “fast track efforts towards building resilience, improving the condition of the people of the region and setting the direction for the 5th edition in 2024.”
The 5th LCB Forum, to be hosted by the Yobe State government, will hold between October 16 and 18, 2024 in Maiduguri, Borno State – a little over one month from now. The summit is expected to focus mainly on security. As the Technical Director of the LCBC, Mr. Hyacinth Banseka, stated, the representatives of member countries are expected to provide inputs on how to tackle insurgency in the region during the meeting.
However, other issues are as critical to the dour situation as the security challenge. They include extreme levels of poverty, climate change, and health issues, all of which cannot and should not be divorced from the security crisis. Even though it may be argued that the security situation has been gradually stabilised by the combined efforts of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) of the LCBC member countries and the armies of various countries, as well as the governments of affected countries, there is still a very long way to go. Since the last grand meeting of the forum two years ago, 2.9 million people – 2 million of whom are from Nigeria – remain displaced. This shows that only a few gains have been made. Experts gave the reasons for that as the instability still being orchestrated by the insurgency and the negative impact of climate change on the environment.
In the view of Blueprint, the Forum should be made an annual summit rather than a bi-yearly one. This is because of the consuming and multidimensional crisis that bedevils the region. As UN data shows, the interconnected factors that assail the region have led to the most debilitating humanitarian crisis, leaving almost 3 million displaced, more than 11 million in need of humanitarian aid, more than half of whom are facing food insecurity, and more than half a million children suffering from severe malnutrition. The UN shows that 13 years of conflict and violence have resulted in the loss of human lives, massive internal and cross-border displacement of populations, destruction of the social fabric and property, human rights violations, disruption of public services and weakening of public authorities. This situation persists.
The LCBC member countries can ill afford to wait two years before meeting to discuss all these. Moreover, they should include contributors from other crisis-prone zones, specifically the Northwest, among the critical stakeholders in their summit deliberations. Even though the crises may appear dissimilar, but they are interconnected in more ways than one. We hope that this year’s summit will provide a more purposive blueprint for the resolution of the catastrophe that has caused so much pain and degradation. We also hope that those saddled with the responsibility of execution of all resolutions arising from the summit would renew their commitment to the Multi-sectoral Crises Recovery Project (MCRP) and carry out their mandate diligently.