Nigeria’s former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has, for the first time since he left office in 2015, given reasons his administration focused on developing irrigation in the north of the country.
Addressing the high-level Sahel Governance Forum (SGF), which was held in The Gambia, Dr. Jonathan stated that he intended to use irrigation to stimulate agriculture and develop a three-cycle farming season annually.
According to him, the idea would ensure that farmers cultivate three times a year adding that it would have enhanced food security and also engaged more people in agricultural activities.
He noted that revitalising agriculture through his irrigation plans would have positive effects on security in the country, and the Sahel region at large, as youths would be meaningfully and gainfully engaged.
He warned that for peace to return to the Sahel region, the leadership must first work to create wealth and prosperity.
“The key to peace and stability in the Sahel lies in enabling farmers to grow crops at least two to three times a year. If we want peace, we must first build wealth and prosperity.
“That was why, when I was president, we started rehabilitating all our irrigation projects in northern Nigeria. The outgoing president of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, was my minister of agriculture.
“We must rehabilitate all the irrigation projects in the Sahelian region and even start new ones, because farmers must cultivate at least three times in a year, if you must create wealth in these areas. When people are poor, especially young people, they can do anything to survive,” he said.
While encouraging young people to be strategic and not pursue quick wealth, the former President, however, charged leaders to plan for the youth of the continent and harness their energy for good.
“Africa must care for the young people because they are the future of the continent”, he said.
Dr. Jonathan also called on African leaders to adopt a more inclusive approach to leadership as a way of ending problems in the region.
He said that consequential collaboration was a way of addressing the Sahel’s governance challenges adding also that inclusive leadership must focus on the people’s welfare.
Dr. Jonathan noted that the best way to ensure the proper management of states in the Sahel region was to find meaningful ways of creating wealth in the region.
He argued that such would rebuild the people’s trust in their leaders.
The two-day inaugural Sahel Governance Forum hosted by The Gambia in collaboration with the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF), the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), the Office of the Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel (OSCDS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
It was held under the theme: ‘The Future of Governance (Rebuilding Social Cohesion and Public Trust’.
At the event, Jonathan described the Sahel as a land richly blessed with human and natural resources, with a unique cultural heritage, noting that the potential can be better harnessed to bring an end to poverty in the region.
According to Jonathan, global attention has continued to be on the Sahel because of the crises of terrorism, banditry, and instability.
He drew historical parallels between the Sahel and Somalia, two regions he described as marked by drylands and fragile ecosystems, and warned that environmental degradation, as seen in the collapse of empires from Rome to France and Germany, can spell long-term disaster if unaddressed.
The forum marks a pivotal moment in efforts to rebuild democratic governance, social cohesion, and public trust across the fragile Sahel which is seen as one of the continent’s most volatile regions.
Gambian President, Adama Barrow, who declared the programme open, called for regional solidarity to address the Sahel’s governance challenges and build a future grounded in justice, trust and opportunity for all.
In his keynote address, President Barrow acknowledged both the region’s challenges and its opportunities.
“The Sahel is a region of immense promise. But over the years, this potential has been overshadowed by insecurity, political instability, and slow development,” he said while urging leaders and participants to move beyond lamenting failures and focus on bold, home-grown solutions anchored in inclusivity and long-term peace.
The forum brought together an impressive gathering of former presidents and vice presidents, regional and international diplomats, senior government officials, civil society leaders, academics, private sector representatives, and youth advocates from across Africa and beyond
