The governors include governor Zulum from Borno, Issa Lamine of Diffa in the Niger Republic, Midjiyawa Bakari of Far North of Cameroon, Abate Edii Jean from North Region of Cameroon, Mahamat Fadoul Mackaye from Lac Province of Chad and Amina Kodjyana Agnes – Hadjer Lami also from Chad, as well as Governors of Adamawa and Yobe States in northeast Nigeria.
The Governors in the lake chad region are meeting in N’Djamena, Chad to review areas of regional cooperation, peace building and sustainable development.
The meeting was organised by the Lake Chad Basin Commission with the support of European Union and United Nations Development Programme, among other partners.
The meeting which has the theme: ‘New Opportunities for Peace in a Shifting Security Context’, stands out as a genuine initiative to promote regional dialogue and draw lessons on cross-cutting transnational challenges.
It is also an opportunity to coordinate joint actions and solutions to challenges affecting territories around the Lake Chad Basin.
The eight Governors attending the forum’s fourth meeting are expected to strengthen ownership of key priority areas, including the emerging security trends in the region and implications of ongoing efforts to complete the restoration of state authority in the region.
They will also take stock of the progress made in the past five years and propose key strategic priorities for the next phase, including community reintegration and transitional justice, role vigilante groups and other government-affiliated non-state security actors.
Other issues for discussion during the meeting include scaling up and building partnering for solutions to refugees and displaced persons, as well as climate security and natural resources management in the region.
The governors will similarly examine the agro-pastoral, farmer-herder dynamics, and implications for community resilience and sustainable peace in the lake chad region.