Arms Are Not Enough: Solutions for the Sahel Must Consider Climate

Feb 16, 2023 | Sinéad Barry and Janani Vivekananda
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A focus on counter-terrorism by Nigeria and international actors operating in the Lake Chad basin is by no means misplaced. On February 25, Nigeria will begin voting for its new president in one of the most tightly fought elections in decades.Obi is polling at 37 percent as of early February, and looks set to win. He promises to put an end to the “incessant banditry, insurgency, kidnapping, and cross-border terrorism” currently plaguing Nigeria. It is a strategy based around military expansion and the pivot of armed forces towards external threats, particularly border securitization with the other Lake Chad basin states: Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. 

Yet Obi and others who see counter-terrorism and climate as separate concerns may be making an error. The security risks in the Sahel are not in opposition to climactic concerns. Indeed, understanding them may help unlock the possibility of more lasting solutions.