By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Delta State Government has partnered the Fight Against Desert Encroachment (FADE) to check the impact of climate change on the state.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who spoke at the commencement of the tree planting exercise to mark this year’s World Desertification and Drought Day in Asaba, said his administration would continue to initiate policies and programmes to ensure a sustainable environment by encouraging tree planting in the state.
The Nation reports that Okowa, who spoke through his Chief of Staff (COS), Festus Agas, planted a tree at the garden, saying it would act as a tonic to Delta people to buy into the need for a greener environment.
Director-General of Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency, Mrs. Amaechi Mrakpor, had said it was the desire of the agency for residents to live according to nature’s prescription.
She commended Jibunoh for his passion for the preservation of the environment, noting that the octogenarian was unrelenting in his push to prevent desert encroachment despite his age.
“We need a whole lot of re-orientation to sustain this garden and I believe that is what Jibunoh is doing with us. At 84, this has remained Jibunoh’s passion, it is about his life,” she said.
On his part, the founder of FADE, Newton Jibunoh, said his passion to preserve the environment through nurturing of trees almost broke his home, adding that grazing lands in the North have been lost to desertification, while African countries have lost 30 per cent of their landmass to the Sahara desert.
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