All Hands On Deck!

Curtains have dropped on the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission that held in Abuja, Nigeria yesterday May 25, 2021. Obviously like any other conclave, especially of that magnitude, the challenge now remains how well participants and other stakeholders will implement what has jointly been decided to bail the Lake Chad Basin as a whole and Chad in particular out of swelling security threats. 
As participants of the summit return or settle back in their respective countries, walking the Abuja talk absolutely needs to preoccupy them. For, the context under which the get-together held and the challenges on the ground warrant foresightedness, celerity and concerted efforts. 
The passing on of Chad’s former President, Idriss Deby Itno on April 20, 2021, that prompted the just-held Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission requires solidarity. In fact, team spirit not only to safe a neighbour’s house on fire but as well to ensure that the region’s security is not threatened beyond breaking point. No one is certainly unaware of the great role Chad and her fallen Head of State played within the framework of the Multinational Joint Task Force to reduce Boko Haram to its now hit-and-run tactics. Further weakening the brutish sect or possibly eliminating its operations wholly is no doubt the wish of any peace-loving African or friends of the continent.
Inasmuch as Field Marshal Idriss Deby Itno might not have been indispensable given that he federated logistics and human resources with partner countries to face the enemy, allowing Chad now to struggle on its own to safeguard its territorial integrity would mean weakening its military presence on the joint front; since charity, they say, begins from home. This can be devastating on both ends. Hopefully, Lake Chad Basin Heads of State averted such a scenario.
Convening Heads of State and Government to reflect on Chad after the demise of Deby and above all, seeking ways of forestalling disorder in the neighbouring and strategic country, was thus a stitch in time.  Coming after the clear stance of the African Union which dumped the idea of sanctions and opted to accompany the transitional government to ensure a peaceful return to civilian rule tells of uniformity by Africans in handl...