About $14 billion is needed to carry out an inter basin transfer of water to save the receding Lake Chad basin, Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has said.
He said this during an interview with reporters in Abuja ahead of next week’s international conference to save the drying lake.
The minister explained that members of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) have agreed to come up with solutions on how to save the Lake.
He said a study carried out by a Chinese firm in 2012 showed that it was possible to conduct an inter basin transfer of water from the Congo River Basin to the Lake Chad.
According to him, the current situation of the Lake posed a serious security risk to member countries.
Specifically, he noted that lack of activities around the Lake had fueled Boko Haram activities in the region.
He said: “I met this situation and I now engaged with the Lake Chad Basin Commission and at some point we came up, we stumbled into a company that showed an interest, a Chinese company that has been involved in the transfer of water.
“They had done this feasibility study but they were not fully satisfied but the good thing about that study is that it confirmed that technically, it is possible to draw water from Congo Basin into Lake Chad.
“At least it is technically feasible. And they came up with a rough estimate of $14 billion dollars. It could be more or less but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.
“This problem of Lake Chad have created a huge security risk for all the member countries of Lake Chad Basin Commission. And that is why the time has come for us to really take the bull by the horn.