The Gombe State Government has paid N1 billion as marching grant to the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project.
The ACReSAL Project Coordinator in the state, Mr Sani Jauro stated this at the 2024 Tree Planting campaign, on Wednesday in Gombe.
The event was attended by the wives of the northern governors, who also planted trees at the Government Girls Mega College, Doma in Gombe.
Jauro said the state government has been proactive in the implementation of the six-year project, adding that it has clinched the index of the best implementing state in the country.
He said that governor Inuwa Yahaya has exhibited political will to restore degraded lands, protect the environment and combat climate change through massive tree planting campaign.
The Coordinator said the programme recorded impressive successes through execution of viable projects aimed at addressing environmental challenges since inception in the last 18 months.
“In Gombe, we have been counting a lot of successes courtesy of the support of governor Yahaya, who has really shown commitment.
“We have in the one year under review been tagged as the best state in terms of performance in the implementation of ACReSAL, and this is because of the governor’s effort and support.
“We have received from him, nearly N1 billion in the name of counterpart funding to the project.
“That is why the World Bank included his name as part of the governors that are supporting the project,” he said.
Jauro commended the wives of the northern governors for their support to the project through tree planting and awareness creation on tree planting to mitigate climate change.
In her remarks, Hajiya Asma’u Yahaya, wife of the Gombe state governor, said the time to act to reverse the impact of climate change is now.
Yahaya, who is the Chairperson of the Northern Governors’ Wives Forum, described tree planting as a potent measure to protect the environment, combat climate change and contribute to food security through produce such as fruits and plant-related foods.
“Trees help control erosion by reducing urban run-off, storing water and breaking the force of rain as it falls which reduce the risk of over saturation and flooding.
“More importantly, trees help combat climate change, purifies the air and enhance biodiversity as they become a food source and natural habitats for wild life.
“In Gombe State, the administration of governor Yahaya has in the last four years, planted over three million trees across the state under the Gombe Goes Green (3G) project,” she said.
She urged her colleagues to take tree planting campaign to their states to contribute towards the restoration of one million hectares of degraded lands in the region under the ACReSAL project.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ACReSAL is a World Bank assisted project designed to address challenges of land degradation and climate change in northern Nigeria on a multi-dimensional scale.
(NAN)