The Federal Government of Nigeria says it is committed to restoring more degraded lands for environmental sustainability in the country.
Malam Balarabe Lawal, Minister of Environment, gave this assurance at the Stakeholders’ Engagement of the Federal and States Steering/Technical Committees by Agro-Climate Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) on Thursday, December 21, 2023, in Abuja.
The programme was organised by ACReSAL, Federal Ministries of Environment, Agriculture and Food Security and Water Resources and Sanitation in conjunction with the World Bank.
The minister, who is also the chairman of the Steering Committee, expressed satisfaction that the collaboration would restore degraded lands in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Lawal said that there were seven million lands that were degraded; hence the need for collaboration between relevant stakeholders to enable ACReSAL to make progress in the restoration of degraded lands.
“We need to emphasise on the collaboration between the federal and state government and I hope this collaboration will be extended to the local government,’’ he said.
He expressed worries over the dryness of Lake Chad and charged ACReSAL on its recovery as Lake Chad was just a micro level of what used to be there.
On his part, Mr Taimur Samad, World Bank Operations Manager, said that the ACReSAL project was an ambitious and transformational engagement to restore degraded lands.
“Globally the World Bank has continued to deepen its commitment to climate change, resilience, adaptation and mitigation,’’ he said.
Samad urged the 19 states and the FCT to ensure renewed commitments to the implementation of the projects.
More so, Mr Abdulhamid Umar, National Project Coordinator for ACReSAL said that the project was driven by three ministries namely the ministries of Environment, Water Resources and Sanitation and Agriculture and Food Security.
According to him, ACReSAL project is being implemented in 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Mr Lawrence Adigwe, the Director overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, said that ACReSAL had been a success story on land restoration in the 19 northern states and the FCT.
He assured the ministry’s commitment towards ACReSAL’s project and urged the 19 northern states and the FCT to be more efficient in securing the environment.
Highlights of the event were awards presentation to some of the states for performance in the area of implementation progress, best disbursement, land reclamation and support to beneficiaries amongst others.
By Abigael Joshua
