Stakeholders move to mitigate climate change by using tree planting to restore environment

The Shehu Maikoli Foundation, Eco-Africa Climate Change Foundation and the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Sokoto State chapter have revealed their preparedness to tackle the climate change crisis by advocacy, adaptation, mitigation, tree planting and ecological, to restore the environment.

The stakeholders on Monday in Sokoto state capital embarked on an awareness campaign on climate change issues.

The Go-Green project is an initiative campaign of the Shehu Maikoli Foundation, Sokoto; Eco-Africa Climate Change Foundation, Abuja; and the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Sokoto State Council.

The initiative is to lead the struggle for the establishment of positive habits toward the environment which are known as green habits for sustainable ecosystems. Students from various tertiary institutions in the state are now Go-Green ambassadors and would contribute to protecting their environments.

The chair, Board of Trustees Go-Green Project and founder of Shehu Maikoli Foundation, Alhaji Altine Kajiji, reiterated the need to support students at all levels to be aware of and contribute to addressing climate change issues in the state and beyond.

“These students are our future leaders, and they will pilot multi-sectoral affairs of our society.

“Apart from the massive support this project has secured, the Go-Green Project with its scope in Sokoto State has garnered more support from many non-governmental organizations such as Al-Ansar foundation Abuja, the Maria Tambuwal Development Initiative (MTDI).

“As a result, we will extend the Go-Green Project to Yobe, Borno, Zamfara, Katsina, and Jigawa states in the second phase to be launched in the first quarter of 2023.

“The resources invested into the Go-Green project through carefully designed programs such as the massive tree plantations and assorted seedlings distributed to various communities across the state and the just concluded climate change debate competition.

“I am certain it will positively impact the targeted communities and will reduce that overdependence on our ecological resources for energy.

“I also want to inform you that serving humanity and grooming our younger generations to succeed in various aspects of life is our major goal in founding the Shehu Maikoli Foundation and Go-Green Project,” he added.

The chair Go-Green Debate and Essay Competitions Committee (DECC), Dr Abdullahi Bako Rabah, said at the launching of the Young Foresters Club as part of the activities of the Go-Green Project, a Debate Competition Committee was inaugurated to organise a competition among tertiary institutions in the state to bring to light contemporary issues on climate change among our teeming youths studying various programmes in these institutions.

Rabah stated that the debate was not only about coming and winning but, more importantly, inculcating the concept of climate change in the minds of our youths.

He added that the project subsequently established Climate Change Mitigation Societies in all the participating institutions, with all 30 debaters across all 10 schools, automatically ambassadors of Go-Green.

Rabah disclosed that the Go-Green project embarked on many advocacy activities to enlighten the public on the menace of climate change and carried out distribution of varieties of seedlings in selected local governments in the state and to many youth organisations in the state.

“Tree planting is one of the project’s major activities because climate scientists working for the IPCC believe human-induced global deforestation is responsible for 18-25 percent of global climate change.

“The United Nations, World Bank and other leading non-governmental organisations are encouraging tree planting to mitigate the effects of climate change.

“The benefits of tree planting are subject to debate, the costs are low compared to many other mitigation options.

“The IPCC has concluded that ‘the mitigation costs through forestry can be quite modest (US$0.1–US$20 / metric ton carbon dioxide) in some tropical developing countries.

“The costs of biological mitigation, therefore, are low compared to those of many other alternative measures,” he said.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) Shehu Shagari University of Education, Sokoto, Prof. Muhammad Mode, called for support to non-governmental organisations such as Go-Green. Adding that activities such as debates, essay competitions, drama, and town hall meetings should continue to be organised to understand the issues.

He noted the effects of climate change on the Nigerian population to include floods, public health, storm surges, ocean surges, and loss of forest resources, livestock mortality and food security.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor stressed the need for an audit of the environment to quantify the effect of the changes and comprehensive environmental data to show changes over time.

He also urged enforcement of strict measures by the government on people who illegally cut off trees and enlightenment campaigns for the citizens to become more eco-friendly, among others.