President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday ordered that the report of a study initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the shrinking of Lake Chad be made available to him without further delay. Buhari gave the directive shortly after the Auditor- General of the Federation, Mr. Samuel Uruka, presented the report of an environmental audit of the Lake Chad to the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said he was disappointed that the Auditor- General did not mention the earlier report in his presentation despite the fact that Obasanjo spent $5m on the study. He said he was interested in the report because the former President had commissioned the study based on an article by a professor in the University of London on the matter, which he (Buhari) read and handed over to Obasanjo. The President said, “I have to digress here based on personal knowledge of this. I saw an article in the journal of National Demographic in 1978 that a professor in the University of London in 1925 has foreseen what we are just seeing. “I handed over the article to Gen. Obasanjo and I understand that Gen. Obasanjo took the initiative sometimes ago. It is on record that he is the only Nigerian that has presided over the country for more than 11 years. “He gave $5m to the study, and the study’s report was that unless some of the rivers from the Central Africa Republic are diverted to empty into Chad Basin, Lake Chad will dry up. “I understand that this report, which was sponsored by Nigeria, has been submitted. I am a bit disappointed that in the speech of the Auditor- General, there was no mention of this report; whether my own report was correct that $5m was given. “One of the recommendations was that at the time the report was submitted, the cost of diverting one of the rivers to empty into Lake Chad would be between $13bn and $15bn.” He added, “I will like the Auditor-General to comment on this, whether they have received this report or it was sent to the Ministry of Water Resources. I think this government will like to see this report and see how we can ask our foreign friends how they can help us. “This is because if that river is diverted to empty into Chad Basin, I think it will affect at least two million Nigerians and another two million from Cameroon, Chad and Niger to resettle, and, perhaps, that will help us to stop Boko Haram around that area.” Uruka however told Buhari that the report was not made available to the group that conducted the latest study, saying it was only made available to the Lake Chad Basin Commission. A representative of LCBC who was at the presentation however told the President that the report had since been in the public domain. The LCBC official said, “The situation is that the study had been completed. The cost estimate for the project is $14.5bn. “We have been consulting the Congo Basin to allay their fears on the environmental impact assessment they want us to add and we need some additional political support to be able to convince them that it is also in their interest to see that this water is diverted to Lake Chad. “We have made efforts with the Champion of Save Lake Chad, former President Obasanjo, to sensitise the international co

http://www.punchng.com/news/buhari-demands-report-of-obasanjos-5m-study/

okayy, its okay

There are born scholars and there are trained scholars.
Buhari is a born scholar!

If this guy had ended up in ivory tower instead of in army barracks he would be a formidable and very accomplished policy driver, not just nationally but internationally as well.

He, with his not so impressive academic credentials, is able to see and initiate actions where those with higher academic laurels from Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Columbia, have failed to move society forward.

Instead of growing society, our academic excels are wasting time growing vocabulary to oppress and impress.

This Buhari has earned my respect anyday, the only Fulaniman I will ever respect, truly!

When vanguard reported this story, it was as if it was a war between Buhari and the auditor- general.

Vicadonis:
http://www.punchng.com/news/buhari-demands-report-of-obasanjos-5m-study/

Pls put the necessary paragraphs to give it a better outlook.

Vanguard is a big disgrace to journalism. See the story that Vanguard muddled up as it is professionally and aptly reported by Punch.

Chai When will Vanguard grow up. No wonder, it is only on the internet that they have multitudes of fans.

Now back to the matter. It is quite interesting that a study was conducted for 5 million dollars on environmental issues related to the Lake Chad basin few years back...

Now, the Auditor General is presenting an Environmental Audit of same Lake Chad basin and he completely left out anything related to the study conducted for 5million dollars!

This is highly unprofessional! A big kudos to PMB for noticing the lacuna.

Invariably, this Environmental Audit being reported by the Auditor General was not properly done. How can $5million of the nation's resources be used in conducting a study and the Auditor General of the Federation is not interested in the study/its outcome. This is bizarre and shows the Auditor General is either not sound or not passionate about his role.

Kudos to the president once again.

But Mr President, using 15billion dollars to divert a River to the Chad Basin seems unreasonable to me. That amount is just too exorbitant. We may give the project a try, if the cost can be significantly reduced by more than 100 percent.

If the cost cannot be reduced for more than 100%, then let the project wait till when we discover crude oil in the Chad basin, we will then use the proceeds to finance the daring project.

Vicadonis:





“This is because if that river is diverted to empty
into Chad Basin, I think it will affect at least two
million Nigerians and another two million from
Cameroon, Chad and Niger to resettle, and,
perhaps, that will help us to stop Boko Haram
around that area.”
Uruka however told Buhari that the report was
not made available to the group that conducted
the latest study, saying it was only made
available to the Lake Chad Basin Commission.

A representative of LCBC who was at the
presentation however told the President that the
report had [size=14pt] since been in the public domain [/size]
The LCBC official said, “The situation is that the
study had been completed. The cost estimate for
the project is $14.5bn.

How will he know it was in the public domain when he isn't ready for governance?

Using trial and error to run a whole Nigeria

May God help us

Another huge monetary scam

OldJohn:



How will he know it was in the public domain when he isn't ready for governance?

Using trial and error to run a whole Nigeria

May God help us

Your comment does not make sense. The reference that the project is in the public domain was given to scorn the Auditor General of the federation who is claiming ignorance of the report.

The AuGF claimed the report is with the Lake Chad Basin Development Authority, PMB then asked them to comment and they replied that it is in the public domain, which implies that it is accessible by the office of the AuGF.

It is very senseless for u to think it is the president that should be chasing the reports of various studies carried out and synchronising them when we have civil servants which are being paid to do just that.

The President is this case has fulfilled his own responsibility perfectly, by having the knowledge of the existence of such a study/report and even the cost. PMB is way more intelligent than a lot of u think.

MayorofLagos:
There are born scholars and there are trained scholars.
Buhari is a born scholar!

If this guy had ended up in ivory tower instead of in army barracks he would be a formidable and very accomplished policy driver, not just nationally but internationally as well.

He, with his not so impressive academic credentials, is able to see and initiate actions where those with higher academic laurels from Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Columbia, have failed to move society forward.

Instead of growing society, our academic excels are wasting time growing vocabulary to oppress and impress. I think dis refers to Barcanista

This Buhari has earned my respect anyday, the only Fulaniman I will ever respect, truly!

You're bro! That man is just specially made by God on Monday morning b4 sending him down to this planet........

PMB my man

MayorofLagos:
There are born scholars and there are trained scholars.
Buhari is a born scholar!

If this guy had ended up in ivory tower instead of in army barracks he would be a formidable and very accomplished policy driver, not just nationally but internationally as well.

He, with his not so impressive academic credentials, is able to see and initiate actions where those with higher academic laurels from Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Columbia, have failed to move society forward.

Instead of growing society, our academic excels are wasting time growing vocabulary to oppress and impress.

This Buhari has earned my respect anyday, the only Fulaniman I will ever respect, truly!

You mean their University of Toronto Credentials ? Buhari has shown in one too many ways he's more than capable

The only ones who wouldn't accept that fact are those who never wanted him there anyway