By Kingsley Omonobi & Ben Agande
ABUJA — As part of the strategy to fight the Boko Haram
insurgency, President Muhammadu Buhari will today host a
meeting of Heads of State and Presidents of the Lake Chad
Basin Commission in Abuja. In a bid to perfect Nigerian
position for today’s meeting, President Buhari yesterday held
a closed door meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, Air
Chief Marshall Alex Badeh and the Chief of Naval Staff,
Usman Jubrin, at Defence House.
Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the
meeting, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Mr Ismali
Aliyu, said they came to brief the president on preparations
for a scheduled meeting of Heads of State and Presidents
today in Abuja to discuss on the Lake Chad Basin
Commission.
He said that defence chiefs and Ministers of Defence of the
member countries of the commission had earlier met
necessitating today’s meeting of presidents. According to
him, “the meeting held between the Chiefs of Defence Staff
of the Lake Chad Basin and Ministers of Defence culminated
in the presidents’ meeting tomorrow (today).
What were discussed
“We discussed the issue of the operationalization of the
Multi National Joint Task Force and the siting of its
headquarters in N’Djamena and the contribution from various
states. The objective was to fight the insurgency within that
region for the purpose of peace, security and prosperity
Among leaders expected to attend today’s meeting which will
hold at the presidential lounge of the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport are Paul Biya of Cameroon,
Mohammadou Issoufou of Niger, Idriss Deby of Chad and the
President of Benin Republic, Boni Yayi. Benin Republic is,
however, not a member of the commission.
$30m needed to set up MNJTF hqts in Chad
Meanwhile, Executive Secretary of LCBC, Sanusi Imran
Abdullahi, disclosed yesterday that about $30 million is
required to set up the MNJTF headquarters in the next 12
months in Ndjamena, the Chadian capital.
Abdullahi who disclosed this at the meeting of Ministers of
Defence, Chiefs of Defence Staff and heads of security of
member countries also noted that the commission had
articulated an emergency development programme for the
38.5 billion francs or about N13 billion for implementation in
communities affected by Boko Haram insurgency.
The executive secretary said: “It has become imperative to
quickly deploy the multi-national joint Task Force (MNJTF
HQ) to coordinate operations of the troops and sustain the
offensive on the Boko Haram terrorist group who should not
be given the time and space to re-group as this may
constitute a much more potent threat than has been
witnessed.”
He added that the troop contributing countries are to be
responsible for equipping and sustenance of their battalions.
On the directive of the heads of state and governments of
LCBC countries to develop an emergency development
initiative to be implemented in areas affected by the
insurgency, Abdullahi said: “We have articulated an
emergency development programme for 38.5 billion francs or
about N13 billion to be implemented.
“The programmes will be done in the Region of Lac and
Hadjar Lamis in Chad Republic; Far North region in
Cameroon; regions of Diffa and Zinda in Niger Republic;
Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Jigawa, and Kano States in
Nigeria; Prefectures of Nana Mambere, Ouham Pende and
Nana Gribizi in Central African republic.
“The overall objective of this programme which will last 18
months in the first phase is the reduction of poverty through
the implementation of development activities in the regions
to combat the causes and conditions that favour the
development of insecurity.
“These include undertaking actions that generate revenues
through micro agro-pastoral, business enterprises;
strengthening the capacity of youth, women and vulnerable
groups by financing social and professional integration as
well a raising awareness in the Lake Chad region on security
in order to create a climate of trust, conducive to the
improvement of their living environment and education.
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