By Djinodji SOLMENGAR Rodrigue
Countries across the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin are working to strengthen their collective response to insecurity, trafficking, climate change and humanitarian crises.
Diplomatic representatives meeting in Maiduguri have developed two frameworks, the Sahel Development Compact and the Maiduguri Road Map, to turn regional commitments into concrete action.
Seven areas of cooperation
The frameworks cover seven areas, including political and diplomatic engagement, security and intelligence cooperation, economic development, food and water security, humanitarian action, implementation and advocacy.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, said diplomats must focus on shared challenges and move beyond commitments.
Our job as diplomats is to engage, to double our capacity to work on common challenges such as terrorism.
He also highlighted the importance of the Lake Chad Basin and the need to move from pledges towards mobilising the resources required for regional development.
Focus on implementation
Chad’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Brah Mahamat, called for stronger regional efforts against terrorism.
We have to join our efforts, our forces to beat terrorism out of our countries, and the Nigerian Republic has to take the lead.
The diplomats said the main test now is implementation. They want the compact and road map to translate into concrete interventions across the region.
The frameworks seek to provide countries facing shared security, humanitarian and development challenges with a common platform for action.
Their success will depend on sustained cooperation and the implementation of agreed measures.
