Our story

Ahmadou Ahidjo

(Cameroon) 24 August 1924 – 30 November 1989

Ahmadou Ahidjo was a son of a Fulbe ethnic group ruler and a self-educated. He worked within the French colonial administration as a telegrapher, then a radio operator.

He was elected at the Territorial Assembly of Cameroon in 1947, and became Adviser at the Assembly of the French Union from 1953 to 1958 and Chairman of the foregoing in 1957. He ran the position of Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Interior following the setting up of the self-government in Cameroon and Minister of Interior in May 1957. He became the Head of Government in February 1958. He was elected President of the Republic in May 1960. He managed to instil trust which was confirmed by the reunification with part of British Cameroon (which stepped down the integration in Nigeria after the referendum). Cameroon became a Federal Republic in October 1961. On 22 May 1964 in Fort Lamy (current N’Djamena), Ahidjo signed the Convention establishing the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) with his counterparts of the three other riparian States.

He was re-elected in 1965 and 1970. In May 1972, a referendum approved a constitution which made Cameroon a Unitary State. Unexpectedly, at 58 years old, Ahidjo resigned on 4 November 1982, officially for health reasons, and left power to his constitutional successor Paul Biya. He died in exile on 30 November 1989 in Dakar, Senegal.

Hamani Diori

(Niger) 6 June 1916 – 23 April 1989

Hamani Diori was a son of a caregiver in the French colonial administration, from the Djerma ethnic group. After graduating from the William Ponty Teaching College in Dakar, Senegal, he worked as professor with regional schools in his country between 1936-1938. He was the first Head of State of Niger and one of the founders of the former Cultural and Technical Cooperation Agency, current OIF (International Organisation of Francophonie).

In 1946, he was one of the founders of the Niger Progressive Party (PPN), a local chapter of the African Democratic Movement (ADM). In 1958, he became President of the transitional government, then Prime Minister in 1959. On 11 November 1960, the Niger National Assembly swore-in Hamani Diori as Head of State following the independence of the country on 3 August 1960. On 22 May 1964 in Fort Lamy (current N’Djamena), he signed the Convention establishing the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) with his counterparts of the three other riparian States. He was re-elected in 1965 and 1970 without opposition. Diori left Niger for Morocco in 1987 where he passed away on 23 April 1989 in Rabat.

Ngarta Tombalbaye

(Chad) 15 June 1918 – 13 April 1973

François Tombalbaye, later Ngarta Tombalbaye, from the Sara ethnic group was trained as a primary school teacher. He was a member of the Chadian Progressive Party (PPT), a local chapter of RDA. He was elected Territorial Adviser of the Moyen-Chari in 1952, then Vice-Chairman of the Higher Council of AEF in 1957 (under the statute of the Defferre Framework Law in 1956).

Prior to independence, Tombalbaye strengthened his positions within the PPT. He replaced Gabriel Lisette, Member of Parliament from the West Indies as the chair of the Council of Ministers in March 1959. In June 1959, sworn-in by the National Assembly, he ran a government of union. He was the first Chadian Head of State at Independence on 11 August 1960. He was re-elected in 1962. On 22 May 1964 in Fort-Lamy (current N’Djamena), he signed the Convention establishing the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) with his peers of the three other riparian States. On 13 April 1975, he was overthrown and died following a military coup.

Mr. Mustafa Sam (1983 -1988)

He was the 5^th Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).

Mr. Abubakar Bobboi Jauro (1988 -2000)

He was the 6^th Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC). He initiated the LCBC 2025 Vision which is a Strategic Planning Instrument for the rational management of the Water Resources of the Lake Chad Basin. Mr. Abubakar Bobboi Jauro implemented the decision issued from 6^th Summit of Heads of state and Government on the International Boundary demarcation in Lake Chad (1988-1990)

Dr Abdullahi Umar Gandudje (2009 – 2011)

He was the 8^th Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC). Dr Abdullahi was born in Ganduje in Dawin Tofa commune in Kano State on 25^th December 1949. He is a Specialist in public Administration. He was the architect of the effective implementation of the Institutional Reform of the LCBC and the launching of the feasibility study of the Inter-basin water transfer project. As a politician, he returned to Kano State where he has been elected as Deputy-Governor of Kano state for the second time.