Great Green Wall Agency stakes N380m taxpayers fund to gain 20,000 carbon credit

Nigeria would save 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide C02 at the end of the 2022 fiscal year for a safer environment through the provision of an efficient cooking stove in the border town of the 11 frontline states ravaged by desertification.

The National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) said this to the Tribune Online, as it’s response to inquiry on the benefits of expenditure of N183m in 2022 on purchase and distribution of cooking stove to rural women who largely depend on firewoods.

The eleven Frontline states are Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe and Jigawa; it also included states like Kano Katsina and Kebbi; the others are Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.

Data obtained from the Agency, by the Nigerian Tribune showed that, activities of the agency to battle emission in those areas would make the country save “20, 000 tonnes of Co2 per year.”

The federal government had through the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW), an agency in the Ministry of Environment, under the supervision of Sharon Ikeazor earmarked expenditure of N182,988,974, for the border communities and another N200m for what it termed “starter packs” to women in the areas.

The budgets which listed the intervention as a new project, reads: “ERGP30179817 provision of efficient cooking stove for the rural indigents of border communities of the North East N182,988,974

Tribune Online learnt that, 100 households are targeted for this programme and about 16, 800 women and youths would be beneficiaries of the initiative to combat the effect of climate change as Nigeria worked towards the 2060 target of zero carbon emission that pollutes air.

Nigeria’s commitment to global environmental sustainability and achievement of the Country’s Nationally Determined Contribution’s (NDC), has been pegged at 20% emissions reduction, this was an unconditional commitment by Nigeria, to the world while it strived to meet the globally set standard of 47% emission reduction conditionally adopted as target by 2030.

At the recently held Fifth Resumed United Nations Environment Assembly, (UNEA- 5.2), Minister of Environment, Sharon Ikeazor reiterated the Nation’s position in carbon emission and stated that Nigeria has developed an Energy Transition Plan (ETP) as a pathway to achieve net zero by 2060.

The three day UNEA 5.2 which was held at Kenya focused on “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals” as its theme, aimed at the address of critical environmental challenges facing the world to which Nigeria belonged.

At the national level, the NAGGW would pay special attention to Nasarawa Constituency in Kano state, represented by Hon. Ahmed Nasir Ali, in the House of representatives.

According to the agency, the constituents would be established, on marketable gardens and provided with skills on climate-smart agriculture.

This effort would cost Nigerian taxpayers the sum of N200m to execute for the beneficiaries.

The budget 2022 budget provision by the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) reads in part:”ERGP202200644 provision of the marketable garden and starter packs to women in active agriculture in Nasarawa constituency Kano state N200,000,000.

The project would be one of the many expenditure activities of taxpayers funded, by the agency to fight climate change in the 11 frontline states.