The 13-man steering committee for the smooth implementation of the Gombe Goes Green project headed by the Deputy Governor, D. Manassa Daniel Jatau, has been inaugurated by the state governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya with a charge to achieve the planting of four million trees within the next four years.
While performing the inauguration ceremony at the Council Chamber, Government House, Inuwa Yahaya tasked members of the committee to design and implement strategies that will ensure the sustainability of the 3G programme for the socio-economic development of the state.
The governor added that: “Members of the committee are to facilitate the planting of one million trees each year for a period of four years, ensure the production of quality seedlings for the project as well as to encourage community participation and partnership in the project implementation.
“The committee is also to sensitise the public on the consequences of tree felling and take any action necessary for the overall good of the project,” he added.
Inuwa Yahaya also said that the 3G project becomes necessary in view of the environmental challenges facing Gombe State as a whole. The project, he added has a multiplier effect, as it will generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs for the youth, women and other vulnerable members of the society as well as beautify the environment.
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He explained that: “With the inauguration of this steering committee to ensure the successful implementation of the Gombe Goes Green project, I am confident that environmental challenges confronting our dear state such as desertification, gully erosion and land degradation will be addressed.”
The governor further said that his administration, in determination to address environmental challenges, has already paid a counterpart fund of N500million to the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), which is a World Bank assisted project aimed at addressing the gully erosion crisis and land degradation in multi-dimensional scale.
He then called on the people of the state to take ownership of the project by supporting the committee’s mandate of ensuring that trees planted are nurtured to maturity.
Chairman of the committee, Dr Manasseh Daniel said that the benefits derivable from the Gombe Goes Green project cannot be quantified and assured the governor that the committee will work assiduously to deliver on its mandate.
The Dr Manassah Jatau-led committee has the Commissioner of Environment and Forestry, Dr Hussaina Goje as Vice Chairman while Dr Muazu Shehu is to serve as Secretary/Project Coordinator.
Other Members are General Manager, State Urban Development Board; Gombe State Coordinator of NEWMAP, Director Forestry and Wildlife; Representative of Office of the Accountant-General; Professor Fatima Sawa; Senior District Head of Gombe, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abubakar ( Yariman Gombe); Alhaji Umaru Gurama, Masoyi Babuje; Hazeal Chechera; Bartha Audu Danja and Kareen F. Tukur as contained in a statement by Ismaila Uba Misilli, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the Governor.
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