By Fatima Saka
Nigeria has planned to tap into UN Water Convention in helping to reach a point for cross border water cooperation, in contributing to security, climate adaptation and sustainable development in Lake Chad and Niger basins.
The Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu revealed this on Wednesday in Abuja at the National Workshop that is scheduled to hold between 27th to 29th July 2022 on the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes.
Adamu stated that Nigeria is the most populous in Africa with over 206 million people solely relying on water that is shared with neighbouring countries.
The Minister further explained that Nigeria attaches significant momentousness to transboundary water cooperation, and this will however, commit to a road map for its accession to and future implementation of the United Nations Water Convention.
“The government of Nigeria encourages all nations which share water resources to accede to the Water Convention to ensure its full implementation.
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“This offers a crucial means for us to work together to strengthen the foundations for peace, stability and sustainable development in the Lake Chad and Niger basins, for the mutual benefit of our populations and natural environment,” Adamu stated.
According to the minister, transboundary water cooperation is a key issue for the Lake Chad and Niger basins and Nigeria shares at least one transboundary water body with each of its neighbouring states.
He further revealed that Lake Chad Basin is the largest inland drainage area in Africa and covers an area of 2,434,000 km2, equal to 8% of the total area of the African continent.
However, Adamu enlightened that the basin extends through Algeria, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, Central Africa Republic, Chad, and Sudan, and in Nigeria, the basin drains about 20% of the country, damming, over extraction, climate change, and drought are all contributing to the rapid depletion of Lake Chad, which has decreased in size by 90% over the last 60 years. However, this has led to significant unemployment and insecurity challenges in the region.
He also emphasised that, Nigeria is also home to about 80% of the 100 million people residing in the basin of the Niger river, which crosses Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Chad before emptying through the Gulf Guinea into the Atlantic Ocean.
Also, Ms Sonja Koeppel, Secretary of the Water Convention, affirmed that these shared waters are increasingly threatened by water scarcity linked to climate change, pollution, and rising demands on their use, “transboundary water cooperation is crucial for peace, conflict prevention, sustainable development and human well-being.
