Jama’atu Nasir Islam, JNI, has flagged off the planting of thousands of trees to mitigate desert encroachment in the Toro local government area of Bauchi State.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the topography of most local governments in the southern part of Bauchi State, a zone known for conducive weather over the years, is becoming sandy and dusty.
Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed while performing the formal flag off of the exercise said the aim of the exercise is to beautify the environment and provide shelter for the people, adding that it will replace most of the trees cut down by people in the area for domestic use.
He said his administration would rehabilitate the plant nursery unit of Toro council. The governor explained that it is a move to provide the people of the area, with easy access to seedlings and to also encourage massive afforestation exercises to fight the numerous environmental challenges in the state.
Bala Abdulkadir who was represented by the director general of the Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA) Dr Ibrahim Kabir also said that his administration, through BASEPA, will train 200 members of the JNI on raising seedlings to increase the group’s appetite for tree planting exercise.
He also commended the leadership of the Nigeria Aid Group of Jama’atu Nasril Islam for initiating the exercise saying that, henceforth, the group or any other organisation in Toro LGA will no longer request or source for seedlings from anywhere as soon as the rehabilitation of the local government plant nursery unit was completed.
In his own remarks, the BASEPA DG, Ibrahim Kabir said that all the environmental problems such as flooding, desertification, soil erosion, climate change and global warming will be solved by planting trees at strategic locations.
He then called on other groups to emulate JNI, saying that BASEPA will provide all the needed support and in whatever capacity to achieve the target of protecting the environment.
Ibrahim Kabir however lamented how some people connived to destroy forests across the state in order to make charcoal or firewood.
He also used the occasion to call on the people of the area to support the government in fighting the activities of loggers in the state.
The DG disclosed that recently, the governor signed a law on the establishment of an Environmental Trust Fund that will be used in financing activities that are directly aimed at solving environmental challenges.
He then announced the donation of the sum of N100,000 to JNI to encourage them to continue with the important activity in the local government area.
The director-general also called on the people of Toro local government area to support Governor Bala Mohammed’s second bid in order for him to continue the provision of dividends of democracy in the state.
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