GGW: FG appeals to state govts, traditional rulers, academia, NGOs, others for implementation

THE Federal Government over the weekend, appealed to state governments, traditional rulers, community leaders, members of the academia, civil society organisations, as well as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other stakeholders in mobilising their members to support the implementation of Great Green Wall (GGW) programme in their respective domains.

It, therefore, announced that the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) has introduced school outreach programmes to support and encourage such initiatives, as well as the establishment of the GGW clubs in selected secondary schools within the front line states, with the aim of training students on how to raise seedlings, plant and nurture them to maturity.

The Director General, NAGGW, Mr Goni Ahmed, who made this appeal, said building effective synergy with all stakeholders was critical to the attainment of the GGW set goals.

Mr Ahmed, whose message was delivered by the Head, Land Resource Management of the agency, Mr Abdullaziz Kolo, during the flag off of the College Green project of Yusufu Bala Usman College of Legal and General Studies, Daura in  Katsina State, urged all the stakeholders to ultimately eliminate poverty by creating wealth within their catchment areas.

The DG stressed the need to protect the environment and build support for the programme, adding that flagging the Institute College Green project was timely and it is an initiative that should be commended, encouraged and emulated by other institutions of higher learning.

In a statement issued and signed by the Head, Press and Public Relations Unit, Mrs Larai Daze, a copy of which was made available to Ecoscope in Abuja, the DG said it was a step in the right direction in the effort to address the problem of land degradation and desertification in drylands area of Nigeria.

He added that the GGW programme was an expression of commitment and a strategy adopted by African leaders and supported by the international community and development partners to fast track the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to roll back poverty and address the specific risks and vulnerabilities in the drylands, adding that though the challenges ahead in the drylands were tremendous.

Mr Ahmed stressed that the GGW programme also served as a launching cushion for achieving Zero Net Land Degradation Target agreed by world leaders at the Rio+20 Conference in Brazil, and that Nigeria was committed to achieving the target and also implement the resolutions adopted by country Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which Nigeria consented in 1997.