President Goodluck Jonathan has called on member States of Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) to develop new security plans to address the spate of violence in their territories.

Jonathan made the call at the opening session of the 14th Summit of the LCBC holding in  N’diamena, the Chadian capital.

Jonathan who arrived N’djamena last Monday morning to join five other Heads of State and Government for the Summit, expressed concern at the new spate of insecurity and the threat to peace around the borders of the lake.

He said the perpetrators, particularly in Nigeria, were taking advantage of the free movement around the border areas and urged member states to regard the security threat as capable of affecting the sub region.

Jonathan stated that the terror attacks would have wider implication on peace in the West African sub region.

The President suggested the expansion of the mandate of the existing multi-national joint task force around the lake, as part of measures to contain the security threats.

The President also underscored the urgent need to give a new lease of life to the activities of the commission to move it forward.

He said that after 48 years of existence, there was the need to provide the LCBC Secretariat with the necessary tools to function as a modern and forward looking organisation.

Jonathan challenged the member states to show more commitment to saving the lake.

He noted the effect of climate change and its socio-economic impact on human habitation, the ecology and bio-diversity of the basin.

The President re-affirmed the commitment of Nigeria to meet its financial obligations to the commission and called on other member states to also meet their obligations.

On equitable sharing of the resources of the basin, Jonathan said the commission should adopt the “Water Charter’’ initiative of the organisation.

He said the charter, if adopted, would also set the basis for the participation of international development partners in saving the basin from extinction.

Jonathan expressed delight on the feasibility study on inter-basin water transfer from Oubangi River in Central Africa Republic to Lake Chad.

Earlier in his remark, the Executive Secretary of the commission, Alhaji Sanusi Abdullahi, had stressed the need to reverse the drastic shrinking of the lake, in order to harness the resources of the basin in a more sustainable manner.

He said that the lake, which served as a common heritage and source of livelihood to over 30 million inhabitants, would go into extinction if urgent measures were not taken.

Abdullahi said that the lake had shrunk from its approximated 25,000 sq km coverage in 1962 to the present 1,300 sq km radius.

The Executive Secretary said the estimated cost of the water transfer project was N14.5 billion US Dollars.

He said with the exclusion of Nigeria and Chad which updated its contribution, a sum of 4.34 million CFA remained outstanding against other member states.

Abdullahi expressed gratitude to Nigeria and Chad for payment of regular contribution and commitment to the activities of the commission.

President Issufou Maahamadou of Niger, Francois Bozize of Central Africa Republic, and Idris Debby, of the host country attended the summit.

Cameroon, Libya as well as Sudan which had been granted observer status were represented at the summit.

Meanwhile, the directive by the Federal Government to close the country’s border in some troubled parts of Borno, Yobe, Niger and Plateau States with some neighbouring countries is taking a negative turn on the economies of the latter.

Nigeria’s Ambassador in Chad, Alhaji Abdullahi Omaki, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen yesterday in N’djamena.

Omaki said that Chad and Cameroon were the most affected by the directive.

“The volume of trade, largely unrecorded, is about 80 per cent in favour of Nigeria.

“Most of the goods and services coming into Chad, 80 per cent come from Nigeria with less than 20 per cent coming from Cameroon.

“If the borders were not closed and you go through the Banki road, the Gambo road you will see the numbers of trailers that are plying that route on daily basis.

“Now that the border has been closed with effect from the end of last year, if you ask the Cameroonian authority, they will tell you how much they are losing in terms of revenue that they collect from these vehicles that pass through Banki and Gamboru.’’