Editor’s Note: Lake Chad has literally gone from being an
oasis in the desert, to being just desert. Spanning the countries of Chad,
Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon and bordering the Sahara desert, Lake Chad has
contracted by a massive 95% between 1963 and 2001. Some stunning satellite
images from NASA and compelling time-series video from Circle of Blue
demonstrate the rapid decline of what was formerly the world’s 6th largest
lake. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), about half
of the shrinkage of the traditionally shallow Lake Chad has been caused by
climatic changes, and the other half by high demand for agricultural water. Poor
human management through overgrazing and unsustainable irrigation has resulted
in the replacement of natural vegetation with invasive plant species (now
covering 50% of the lake), deforestation and the drying of the climate.
NAIJAGRAPHITTI BRINGS YOU THE LATEST AUDIT REPORT.
NEWS POST:
Africa’s Vanishing Lake Chad
By Ahmad
Salkida
As
you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria, the
atmosphere of despair is telling. The air is dusty, the wind is fierce and
unrelenting, the plants are wilting and the earth is turning into sand dunes.
The sparse vegetation is occasionally broken by withered trees and shrubs. The
lives of herders, fisherfolk and farmers are teetering on the edge as the lake
dries up before their eyes.
Vegetation
and water, the traditional staples of livelihood for the Lake Chad community
dwellers, are vanishing. Vultures feast on dead cows as drought and
desertification take their toll. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
has called the situation an “ecological catastrophe,” predicting that the lake
could disappear this century.
According
to FAO Director of Land and Water Parviz Koohafkan, the Lake Chad basin is one
of the most important agricultural heritage sites in the world, providing a
lifeline to nearly 30 million people in four countries — Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad
and Niger.
Lake
Chad is located in the far west of Chad and the northeast of Nigeria. Parts of
the lake also extend to Niger and Cameroon. It is fed mainly by the Chari River
through the Lagone tributary, which used to provide 90 per cent of its water. It
was once Africa’s largest water reservoir in the Sahel region, covering an area
of about 26,000 square kilometres, about the size of the US state of Maryland
and bigger than Israel or Kuwait.
By
2001 the lake covered less than one-fifth of that area. “It may even be worse
now,” says Abbas Mohammed, a climatologist at the University of Maiduguri,
Nigeria.
Dams and irrigation
The
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), a
regional body that regulates the use of the basin’s water and other natural
resources, maintain that inefficient damming and irrigation methods on the part
of the countries bordering the lake are partly responsible for its shrinkage.
Emmanuel Asuquo-Obot of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an organization devoted
to wildlife conservation, points to the diversion of water from the Chari River
to irrigation projects and dams along the Jama’are and Hadejia Rivers in
northeastern Nigeria.
As
parts of the lake dry up, most farmers and cattle herders have moved towards
greener areas, where they compete for land resources with host communities.
Others have gone to Kano, Abuja, Lagos and other big cities for menial jobs or
to roam the streets as beggars.
Those
who remain in Lake Chad shoreline communities such as Doron Baga are haunted by
the speed with which the lake is vanishing. The Doron Baga settlement, which
used to be by the lakeside, is now 20 kilometers from its edge.
Alhaji
Baba Garba, a 78-year-old fisherman who has spent his life on the banks of the
lake, says that much of the village used to be alongside it. Pointing at one of
his children in his mid-30s, Garba adds, “even before that boy, Suleiman, was
born.” Another villager, Salisu Zuru, laments the death of livestock.
The
once busy Baga market in Maiduguri, where truckloads of fish from the lake used
to be processed and then transported daily to other parts of the country, is
now quiet. The villagers must now travel by canoe and on foot for days from
Doron Baga to Daban Masara, then to Darak in search of food. Darak is an
affluent fishing community to the east of Cameroon’s border with Nigeria.
Tensions rise
The
impact of the drying lake is causing tensions among communities around Lake
Chad. There are repeated conflicts among nationals of different countries over
control of the remaining water. Cameroonians and Nigerians in Darak village,
for example, constantly fight over the water. Nigerians claim to be the first
settlers in the village, while Cameroonians invoke nationalistic sentiments,
since the village is within Cameroonian territory. Fishermen also want farmers
and herdsmen to cease diverting lake water to their farmlands and livestock.
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Passengers in Nigeria taking
ferries to cross Lake Chad, whose shoreline is receding because the lake is
drying up. Photograph: Panos / Jacob Silberberg
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The
LCBC — established by the leaders of Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger in 1964
and later joined by the Central Africa Republic in 1994 — and its partners
continue to make efforts to save the lake or at least mitigate the impact of
its shrinkage on people’s lives. In his book An Inconvenient Truth, former US
Vice-President Al Gore shows several images of the lake shrinking from 25,000
square kilometres in 1963 to just 1,500 square km in 2001. However, a 2007
satellite image shows improvements from previous years.
Recent
drought may again have worsened the situation, says Professor Mohammed of the
University of Maiduguri. He urges the LCBC and its partners to tackle the
impact of climate change, as well as to control damming and irrigation by the
LCBC countries.
Replenishment plans
The
commission’s member countries have plans to replenish the lake by building a
dam and 60 miles of canals to pump water uphill from the Congo River to the
Chari River and then on to Lake Chad. The replenishment project “will be the
first of its kind in Africa,” says Martin Gbafolo, the LCBC’s director of water
resources and environment. The commission has raised more than US$5 million for
a feasibility study. Although the total cost of the project will not be known
until the study is completed, experts like Professor Mohammed expect it will
take a huge injection of funds to save the lake.
Already
the World Bank is providing US$10.6 million for a project to reverse land and
water degradation in parts of the lake. In addition, the LCBC is educating
livestock herders on gaining access to grazing and watering areas. Water users
are taught efficient water-utilization methods and fishermen more appropriate
techniques for catching fish.
At the opening of the
African World Forum on Sustainable Development in N’Djamena, Chad, in October
2010, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan stressed the collective
determination of leaders of the LCBC member countries to salvage the lake. But
among the 30 million people who depend on it, there is uncertainty as to how
much longer the lake will remain and when they will be able to get a relief.
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President
Buhari today received the Environmental Audit report on drying up of Lake Chad
from the Auditor General for the Federation Mr Samuel T. Ukura in Statehouse on
12th Oct 2015. Present at the meeting include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo,
Borno State Governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima, Plateau state Governor Simon
Lalong, SGF Babachir Lawal and Head of Service Danladi Kifasi.
|
NEWS Post: Nigeria, Others In Danger As Lake
Chad Dries Up
By
Tobi Soniyi
A
new report, the ‘Environmental Audit of the Drying Up of the Lake Chad’ has
warned of dire consequence for Nigeria and other neighbouring countries if the
Lake Chad basin is allowed to dry up.
Presenting
the report to President Muhammadu Buari at the Council Chamber of the
Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday, the Auditor General of the Federation,
Mr. Samuel Ukura, said the key message in the report “is that Lake Chad is
drying up very fast from 25,000 sq.km in 1963 to just 1,500 sq.km presently.
“We
must save Lake Ckad from extinction.”
He
noted that there was a correlation between the shrinking of Lake Chad and the
current insecurity in North-east of Nigeria.
“It
is believed that part of the root causes of violence and insecurity in the Lake
Chad Basin which has not been adequately addressed is the crucial issue of weak
water resources management which led to scarcity of water.
“A
significant part of the increasing population from 30 to about 47 million had
to move south in search of alternative livelihoods.
“Millions
of fishing and pastorialist population are worse affected by the shrinking Lake
Chad.”
He
said the audit report which was jointly undertaken by Lake Chad Basin
Commission (LCBC) member countries including Nigeria, Cameroun, Niger and Chad
had been presented to the National Assembly in August in line with
constitutional provision.
He
listed key findings of the report to include: weak control of human activities
on the issue of water resources in the Lake Chad Basin such as excessive
extraction of water, dam constructions, diversions of rivers.
Others
are that water resources management decisions were not based on water use data
even as water use regulations exist but are not enforced in the Lake Chad
Basin, among others.
However,
during the presentation of the report, a mild drama ensued.
Having
observed that the report presented did not reflect the feasibility study
carried out by a team under the tenure of former president Olusegun Obasanjo
for which Nigeria committed US$5million, Buhari said he was disappointed at the
report and asked the auditor general to explain the omission.
Ukura
in his narrative claimed that the feasibility report was not made available to
him for the purpose of the audit report, and swiftly passed the buck to the
Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) as the agency that should the report in
question.
Bewildered
by the submission of the accountant general, the president asked that someone
should interpret what he meant, and later asked the Executive Secretary of the
LCBC, Ambassador Sanusi Imran Abdullahi, to give his side of the story.
The
LCBC Executive Secretary, however, explained that the document in question was
already in public domain.
Buhari
said: “I have to digress here based on personal knowledge of this. I saw an
article in a journal in 1978 that a professor in the University of London in
1925 had foreseen what we are just seeing.
“I
handed over the article to Obasanjo and I understand that Obasanjo took the
initiative sometime ago, it is on record that he is the only Nigerian that has
presided over the country for more than 11 years.
“He
gave US$5million to the study, and the study was that unless some of the rivers
from the Central Africa Republic are diverted to empty into Chad Basin, Lake
Chad will dry up.
“I
understand that this report which was sponsored by Nigeria has been submitted.
I am a bit disappointed that in the speech of the Auditor-General, there was no
mention of this report, whether my own report was correct: that US$5million was
given.
“One
of the recommendations was that at the time the report was submitted, the cost
of diverting one of the rivers to empty into Lake Chad would be between US$13billion
and US$15billion.
“I
will like the Auditor-General to comment on this, whether they have received
this report or the Ministry of Water Resources has. I think this government
will like to see this report and see how we can ask our foreign friends how
they can help us.
“This
is because if that river is diverted to empty into Chad Basin, I think it will
affect at least, two million Nigerians and another two million from Cameroun,
Chad and Niger to resettle and perhaps that will help us to stop Boko Haram
around that area.
“This
is because once we identify the number of people there and their activities. We
have to check desertification there.”
The
Auditor-General then replied: “The report was not made available to the group,
it was only made available to the Lake Chad Basin Commission, may be they will
be in a better position to comment on it. It was not made available to us
during the study.”
Representative
of LCBC replied: “The report is a public document actually, it has been in the
public domain since the study was concluded. Departments of government of
Nigeria and other member states have received copies.
“The
situation is that the study had been completed. The cost estimate for the
project is US$14.5billion. We have been consulting the Congo Basin to allay
their fears on the environmental impact assessment they want us to add and we
need some additional political support to be able to convince them that it is
also in their interest to see that this water is diverted to Lake Chad.
“We
have made effort with the Champion of Save Lake Chad, former President
Obasanjo, to sensitize the international community, particularly Europe whom we
perceived have some unfriendly attitude towards the transfer.”
In
his remarks earlier, Buhari said he would prevail on the National Assembly to
ratify the Lake Chad Water Charter.
He
also stated that the country was committed to leading the war against
insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin and would not waver in her support to the
commission.
”Since
the audit report has been fully submitted to the Lake Chad Basin Commission
Heads of States and Government, we will ensure that recommendations are
considered for implementation.
“I
am aware that the Lake Chad Basin water charter which was adopted by the Heads
of States and Government summit on April 30th 2012 has not been approved by the
National Assembly. I will urge our National Assembly to domesticate this all
important Lake Chad Basin water charter,” the president said.
He
also expressed delight at the existence of the Summit of Governors of
Hadeja Jama’are, Kumadugu Yobe Basin Trust Fund from Bauchi, Borno, Kano,
Jigawa, Kano and Plateau State, which was established on June 8, with a takeoff
grant of ₦100 million from each of
these states with Federal Government matching grant of ₦850million.
He
pledged to strengthen the platform to ensure sustainable and equitable water
resources management based on integrated industrial principles.
“I acknowledge that the
office of the Auditor-General for the Federation could not carry out effective
re-organization to perform specialized audit based on international best
practices without sufficient funds, I will therefore do everything possible
within the law to ensure that you succeed,” Buhari stated.
Original stories from (1) Africa Renewal Online (2) THISDAY
Original stories from (1) Africa Renewal Online (2) THISDAY
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