President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on Sunday in N’Djamena, Chad Republic, stressed the collective determination of all leaders of the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) to salvage the fast depleting lake. President Jonathan who spoke in his capacity as the out-going President of the LCBC, at the opening ceremony of the 8th Session of the African World Forum on Sustainable Development under the theme: “Save the Lake Chad,” assured that members of the commission would not let the water basin go into extinction.

 Painting a dismal picture of what the lake was in the past and its imminent extinction, the President observed that “from 25,000 square kilometers in the 1960s and now to the very dangerous water level of only 2,000 square kilometers, the whole lake may go into extinction within the next 13/15 years if urgent action is not taken to reverse the trend.” President Jonathan acknowledged the huge negative impact of the total extinction of the lake on the over 30 million people throughout the region whose livelihood depends on the water basin, and the socio-economic impact of migration, “since environmental issues don’t respect borders.”

He promised that the leaders of the LCBC would take the recommendations of the experts on how to salvage the lake very seriously, adding that there was no alternative to collective action, even as he expressed appreciation to non-African international organizations and friends that have shown concern and pledged support.

Describing as worrisome the issue of global warming and environmental challenges of which the drying Lake Chad is a part, President Jonathan noted that it had been on the front burner of international discourse for the past 25 years with African countries worst hit because of their low level of technological development, which informed their appeals for external assistance.

The President also cited the negative impact of global warming in Nigeria to include the recent incidents of excessive rainfall leading to flooding, devastation of farmlands and displacement of several communities.

The host President, Idriss Deby, and the Presidents of Senegal, Central African Republic and the Leader of the Arab Republic of Libya, also spoke in support of halting the negative trend of the lake, while messages of solidarity were also received from the United Nations Secretary General and the President of France.