African Maritime Resource, Fishing And Aqua-Development Aids In The Lake Chad Basin

Abstract

The African maritime area has been continously under the threat of internal and foreign explorers. The situation is undermined by the fact that the African maritime area is overtaken by multiple problems like terrorism in the Gulf of Guinea and Lake Chad, militia activities in Niger Delta and Cabinda and armed confrontation in the Nile. Unfortunately, it is the fishing industry that employs most of the traditional subsistent farmers that carry the bulk of the burden. This fishing industry has been overtaken by the challenge of over-fishing and illegal fishing. The study reveals that there was a lot of development aids that were sent to the Lake Chad to develop the fish and maritime resources. It also reveals that when the Battle of Kinasara between Nigeria and Chad was resolved, the activities of criminals and religious fundamentalists like the Maitatsine and Boko Haram that found the Lake Chad environment as a safe haven for their terror activities, soon began to turn the borders of the Commission States into their operational headquarters thereby triggering a new form of security diplomacy to check the Boko Haram terrorism. It recommends the use of international legal instruments in controlling the multiple threats to the African fishing and maritime resources.