The Federal Government has relocated the Operational Headquarters of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) from Abuja to the Afforestation Programme Coordinating Unit (APCU) Office in Kano to enhance operational efficiency.
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, stated this in a statement, noting that the strategic move is aimed at significantly improving the Agency’s effectiveness in implementing the Great Green Wall Programme across Nigeria’s frontline states.
“The NAGGW Programme is an African Union initiative involving over 11 member states, designed to combat desertification, land degradation, and the adverse effects of climate change in the Sahel-Sahara region.
“In Nigeria, the programme targets 11 frontline states, namely: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara states”.
The agency’s mandate is to establish a 15 km by 1,500 km Green Wall belt to enhance environmental sustainability, mitigate climate change, improve food security, and alleviate rural poverty.
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Since the inception of the programme in 2013 and its upgrade to a full Agency in 2015, significant achievements have been recorded; amongst them are the establishment of over 100 shelterbelts.
Construction of about 159 solar and wind-powered boreholes to improve water security, engagement of 600 youths as forest guards and creation of 240 hectares of community orchards and woodlots to boost household income and reduce poverty.
The Minister stressed that the relocation would address longstanding challenges associated with operating from a temporary rented office in Abuja, far from the project sites in the far North. By moving to a permanent location in Kano, a central hub within the operational zone, the Agency will achieve better monitoring, stronger coordination with state governments, local authorities, and communities, and more efficient service delivery.
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