Eight governors of the Lake Chad basin met on Monday in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where they discussed the insurgency and regional security cooperation.
Organized by the Lake Chad Basin Commission, with technical support from the African Union, the United Nations Development Program and the Crisis Management Initiative, the meeting was hosted by the Cameroonian government in collaboration with the Lake Chad Governors Forum.
The governors are Babagana Zulum from Borno, Nigeria; Issa Lamine from Diffa in the Republic of Niger; Midjiyawa Bakari from the Far North of Cameroon; Abate Edii Jean from the Northern Region of Cameroon; Mahamat Fadoul Mackaye from Lake Province in Chad, and Amina Kodjyana Agnes-Hadjer Lami also from Chad.
The governors of Adamawa and Yobe states in northeastern Nigeria were represented.
A statement from Zulum’s special advisor Malam Isa Gusau said the meeting, which was declared open by Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, accompanied by Younde Mayor Luc Messi Atangana, discussed issues of security with an emphasis on terrorism. humanitarian attacks and impacts in the region.
The governor expressed concern about the non-use of the shores of the Lake Chad basin which, he noted, could offer enormous economic potential to the region.
Borno, he said, was making efforts to establish free trade zones in Banki town, Bama LGA; Gamboru in Ngala; Baga in Kukawa and Damasak in Mobbar LGA, to strengthen socio-economic activities in the Lake Chad region in accordance with the territorial action plans for stabilization.