President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, said his administration will focus on re-activating the Lake Chad and deploy enormous resources to resume vigorous search for oil along the Chad Basin in parts of Borno State after the war against insurgency in the region would have been won. Speaking at his residence in Kaduna while responding to requests made by Governor Kashim Shettima, the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi and some elders from Borno State during a congratulatory visit, Buhari said he was very much aware of the problems of the northeast and will not waste time in tackling them one after the other. According to Buhari, who is to be sworn in as Nigeria’s president on May 29, his government will enhance collaboration with neighboring governments of Chad, Niger and Cameroon to curtail the trans-border movement of Boko Haram insurgents as a way of restoring peace to the region. Buhari recalled that there had been exploration activities in and around the Chad Basin as far back as 1978 when he was Minister of Petroleum. This, he promised, would be revived when he settles in office. The president-in-waiting said he had many years ago, suggested the need to take the search for oil in the north seriously, not only to increase the export potentials on Nigeria, but also to balance cross regional perceptions and manage agitations so as to enhance the stability of the country. He also assured the delegation that the receding of lake chad will be addressed through the channeling of water from the central African Republic to the lake to boost its commercial activities for fishing and irrigation farming. Buhari said he once read a document raising fears about receding of the Lake Chad which he handed over to then President, Olusegun Obasanjo. As nothing had been done about the lake until now, the president-elect said he will handle the matter himself. He noted that the lake has the potentials to create millions of jobs through irrigation and many other commercial uses. Governor Kashim Shettima who led the delegation in company of all traditional rulers, elders, elected National and State Assembly members and other stakeholders, had earlier disclosed that they were at the resident of the president-elect to congratulate him over his historic victory at the polls and to also remind him of problems affecting Borno State which he already knew.
President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, said his administration will focus on re-activating the Lake Chad and deploy enormous resources to resume vigorous search for oil along the Chad Basin in parts of Borno State after the war against insurgency in the region would have been won. Speaking at his residence in Kaduna while responding to requests made by Governor Kashim Shettima, the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi and some elders from Borno State during a congratulatory visit, Buhari said he was very much aware of the problems of the northeast and will not waste time in tackling them one after the other. According to Buhari, who is to be sworn in as Nigeria’s president on May 29, his government will enhance collaboration with neighboring governments of Chad, Niger and Cameroon to curtail the trans-border movement of Boko Haram insurgents as a way of restoring peace to the region. Buhari recalled that there had been exploration activities in and around the Chad Basin as far back as 1978 when he was Minister of Petroleum. This, he promised, would be revived when he settles in office. The president-in-waiting said he had many years ago, suggested the need to take the search for oil in the north seriously, not only to increase the export potentials on Nigeria, but also to balance cross regional perceptions and manage agitations so as to enhance the stability of the country. He also assured the delegation that the receding of lake chad will be addressed through the channeling of water from the central African Republic to the lake to boost its commercial activities for fishing and irrigation farming. Buhari said he once read a document raising fears about receding of the Lake Chad which he handed over to then President, Olusegun Obasanjo. As nothing had been done about the lake until now, the president-elect said he will handle the matter himself. He noted that the lake has the potentials to create millions of jobs through irrigation and many other commercial uses. Governor Kashim Shettima who led the delegation in company of all traditional rulers, elders, elected National and State Assembly members and other stakeholders, had earlier disclosed that they were at the resident of the president-elect to congratulate him over his historic victory at the polls and to also remind him of problems affecting Borno State which he already knew.
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