Lake Chad Basin countries are already working well in containing the challenges of terrorism but must now move to deal with the humanitarian crisis that sprung up in its wake.
This, according to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to a delegation from the AU Peace and Security Council, is the missing link in the total push for peace for the concerned countries.
The Council said it is impressed with the collaboration of countries in the Lake Chad Basin which has proven that the continent can resolve its own issues.
It commended Nigeria for championing the issues of restoring peace and security to areas of conflicts and countries where they have political impasse.
The Peace Security Council delegation was led by its Chairperson for the month of July, Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, who is also Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and has visited the four countries in the Lake Chad Basin in the past five weeks, specifically seven cities in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Adeoye reiterated that the visit to the Acting President is the highpoint of their mission and he commended the Multi National Joint Task Force for the good work it has done.
Osinbajo on his part, was pleased that the Multi National Joint Task Force set up by the four countries, have been able to work together to surmount the challenges of the insurgency.
But he expressed concerns that the humanitarian consequences of the insurgency have been compounded by deep poverty which makes the cost of dealing with the situation huge and enormous.
He expressed satisfaction with the work of the Peace and Security Council but hoped that it will pay more attention to the humanitarian issue in the Lake Chad Basin countries.
Membership of the 15 member-council is drawn from Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western Africa.
