The multinational attempt to list Lake Chad and its wetlands as a world heritage site has suffered a setback as the Chadian government has requested for the suspension of the process to pave way for oil exploration in the region.
According to a recent report by Mélanie Gouby ..
of The Guardian, Chad’s Tourism And Culture minister in a leaked letter to the United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) asked the body to “postpone the process of registering Lake Chad on the world heritage list”.
The Guardian added that the letter said the government “has signed production sharing agreements with certain oil companies whose allocated blocks affect the area of the nominated property”.
The postponement of the process is to allow the country to redefine and redesign the ..
map to avoid any interference in the future.
Countries bordering the freshwater Lake located in the Sahelian zone of West-Central Africa at the conjunction of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger Republic nominated Lake Chad to be a natural and cultural world heritage site.
“It comes as a blow to the other countries’ delegations, who had not been informed of Chad’s oil ambitions in the Lake Chad basin,” the Guardian said.
Berlin-based think tank Adelphi in a report revealed that severe drought in the 1970s and 80s shrank the lake from 25,000sq/km ..
to 2,000sq/km in the 1990.
However, the lake has increased to 14,00sq/km in the past two decades and remains relatively stable. A similar finding was highlighted during the application process.
The Guardian reported that the process had led to the confirmation that the size of ..
the lake had been increasing in recent years, dispelling the myth of a disappearing lake.
“We worked two years to put together the application and we had never heard about this before,” Alice Biada of Cameroon’s Arts And Culture Ministry told The Guardian.
A spokesperson for UNESCO World Heritage Site Centre told The Guardian,
“It is important to recall that the goal of the inscription of a site on the world heritage list is to ensure the conservation of its outstanding universal value for future generations.
“If Chad decides to go ahead with oil exploitation, the process would have to be cancelled altogether.”
Implications Of Pantami Saga For Deradicalisation And National Security
[THREAD]
Brewing political crisis and debates on Nigeria’s communications minister, @DrIsaPantami, if not managed properly, could have unintended consequences of derailing deradicalisation across the country’s northern region and the Sahel.
A series of publications targeted at an Islamic cleric and Nigerian government minister has led to scrutiny of his previous extremist rhetoric; but these tensed debates, if not managed properly can risk undermining efforts to promote deradicalisation and counter extremism.
Nigerian Minister Pantami Recants Old Views, Says He Is Against Extremism
After clips of his inflammatory preaching surfaced, Nigeria’s communication & digital economy Minister, @DrIsaPantami has divorced himself from his old views, saying he is a different person now.
[THREAD]
Dr Isa Ali Pantami, Nigeria’s Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, has reacted to the allegations associating him with extremist views and terrorist groups saying that his old fatwas (Islamic rulings) should be read within historical context.
Speaking during his Ramadan tafsir session at the Annur Mosque in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Saturday, April 17, Pantami, who is under public scrutiny for his past stance on extremism, said his old views & religious stances were shaped by lack of facts & he no longer holds them.
‘Leave As Soon As Possible’: US, UK Raise Concerns About Post-Election Unrest In Chad
The election was held amid controversy with opposition leaders urging people not to vote, and attacks from Libya-based rebels.
[THREAD]
The United States and United Kingdom governments have warned their citizens against travelling to or remaining in the Republic of Chad after a fresh wave of armed violence followed the conduct of presidential elections.
A convoy belonging to the armed rebel group, ...
Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), had crossed into the Central African country from Libya on Sunday, April 11, and engaged government security forces. The following Saturday, the rebels proceeded southwest apparently in the direction of the capital, N’Djamena.
Damasak: When Going Home Becomes Unsafe For Returnee-IDPs
[THREAD]
The government of Borno, Northeast Nigeria, started an IDP resettlement programme in 2020; Damasak is one the target communities. However, a few months after hundreds of households relocated to Damasak, the border community is once again unsafe.
This week, two disconcerting videos trended on social media — one from a faction of the armed insurgent group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and the other from fleeing residents of Damasak, a town in Northeast Nigeria.
Damasak: The Nigerian Town Caught In ISWAP’s Crosshairs
The Nigerian military deployed reinforcements after the terror group went on rampage in Damasak that dislodged thousands of locals.
[THREAD]
A series of attacks launched by ISWAP, the Islamic State affiliate in West Africa, in Damasak, a town close to the shores of Lake Chad, has led to the dislodgement of some residents and disruption of badly needed humanitarian assistance.
Damasak, the main town of Mobbar Local Government Area, is located near the border with the Niger Republic.
It is protected by the Army Super Camp 14 situated in the new base about two to three kilometres from the town, along the Abadam-Guzamala road.
IDP Diaries: “Rann Bombing Did Not Kill Me But This Hunger Might”
Muhammad narrowly escaped death during the Rann bombing in 2017. He sustained injuries & lost loved ones. In this diary, he talks about his move from camp to camp & how IDP aid has reduced since then.
[THREAD]
There is hunger. It is not new. Things are difficult. The women now go and pick guinea corn that has sprouted from the ones destroyed by elephants. It took years before I was registered in this camp and in that time, my family and I had to farm; but elephants destroyed our crops.
Some people had to go to Cameroon to farm and we had friends who could not eat for two or three days.
Things were not always this bad. Before the bombing in 2017, organisations like the Red Cross used to give us a lot of materials. My name is Muhammad Al-Jarawa. We were ...