Yobe Flags Off 3m Tree Planting Campaign

Yobe State governor, Dr Mai Mala Buni, has launched the 2026 annual tree-planting campaign to tackle the menace of desertification, cyclic drought and annual devastating floods.

The exercise took place at the Mai Mala Buni Housing Estate on Potiskum Road, Damaturu.

The theme for this year’s campaign is “One Person, One Tree for a Greater and Sustainable Yobe”

Represented by his deputy, Alhaji Idi Barde Gubana, the governor said the ceremony highlighted the critical role of trees in environmental protection.

He noted that the campaign was a direct response to the severe land degradation, persistent drought and devastating annual flood that destroy farmlands and communities across the state.

The governor said the state government had raised three million seedlings of indigenous species suitable to the local climate.

Buni expressed concern that the trees, inherited from past generations, were being destroyed through unsustainable exploitation, noting that this year’s initiative places special emphasis on replanting local species to preserve them for future generations.

Buni explained that to strengthen the state’s resilience against climate change, his administration has established a State Climate Council to provide strategic advisory services, through which six weather monitoring stations have been installed across the Damaturu, Gashua, Machina, Yusufari, Jakusko, and Fika local government areas.

He said the government has also facilitated the procurement and distribution of fuel-efficient stoves to selected households to curb over-dependence on firewood, noting that Yobe State has become second after Borno to demonstrate the national agency for the Great Green Wall.

The Governor appealed to residents to take full ownership of the two thousand seedlings allocated to each local government area, emphasising that protecting the seedlings is vital to justifying the substantial resources invested by the government.

He further pledged to give the sum of one hundred thousand naira to the best individual to plant and sustain a tree, five hundred thousand naira to the best community and one million naira to the best emirate that nurtures and sustains the seedlings planted.

In a remark, the commissioner of the Ministry of Environment, Alhaji Yakubu Sidi Karasuwa, stated that large areas of land are affected by various forms of degradation resulting from unsustainable human activities and the global phenomenon of climate change.

He said the state government has initiated environmental policies and programmes geared towards reversing negative ecological trends in the state, annual tree planting and free distribution of millions of seedlings to the public, procurement and distribution of fuel-efficient stoves and gas cylinders to households, and establishment of an early warning system in six locations across the state.

Karasuwa added that the state government has also maintained regular and timely payment of counterpart funds, continued annual financing of the state’s delegation to the conference on climate change and establishment of the Climate Change Council.

Earlier, the chairman of the Damaturu Local Government Area, Bukar Adamu, emphasised that the tree-planting campaign is a critical intervention that goes beyond ceremonial planting; it is about restoring degraded lands, protecting agricultural resources, and securing the peaceful coexistence of the people.

He called on traditional institutions, religious leaders, community groups and youth to take ownership of the initiative, which is essential for the protection and maintenance of the trees.

Bukar Adamu, however, urged the residents of the Mai Mala Buni housing estate on Potiskum Road to nurture the trees so they can grow, as they stand to benefit.

In a vote of thanks, the Emir of Damaturu, Alhaji Shehu Hashimi, the second Ibn Umar Al-Amin El-Kanemi, has emphasised the importance of tree planting.

He called on the public to support the government initiative by ensuring that every individual plants a tree and sustains it for the public’s benefit.