By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Mohammed Hassan Abdullahi has ascribed the giant strides made by ministry his ministry during the present administration to the support of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking at the 69th Session of the State House Briefing organised by the Presidential Media Team on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Abdullahi insists that no administration before the out-going one has done more in environment and climate change than the Buhari administration.
The Minister who used the briefing to provide key updates on the strides being made by the President Muhammadu Buhari led Administration in the core area of climate change and in the environment sector while further highlighting plans being emplaced by the Ministry of Environment to manage Nigeria’s environmental challenges, said the ministry has achieved alot within seven years.
According him, the ministry has achieved its Policy thrust which includes Reclamation and Rehabilitation of Degraded lands, just as it has done well in Sustainable Waste Management and Pollution Control.
He posited that under the Policies and National Action Plans Developed by the ministry, it has succeeded in some of the approved plans among them are National Policy on Environment (2016) Revised; National Policy on Climate Change Revised (2020) and National Policy on Erosion and Flood Control (2014).
Abdullahi revealed that some of the
Achievements include Reclamation and Rehabilitation of Degraded lands, Developed a National Drought and Desertification Policy and National Drought Preparedness Plan (2007); Participating in the global effort on Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) by 2030 with the completion of target setting of 15.3% per annum, participation in the AFRI100 Initiative (African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative) which aims at planting 100 million trees in Africa.
Said he: “The initiatives has restored over 6, 191, 363 hectares of Degraded forest land in the following states Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Jigawa, Katsina, Bauchi, Gombe, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi and Kano among others.
“Also signed the Effectiveness Agreement with the EIB for 175 million Euros for land recovery , erosion control and watershed management in 23 states namely: Cross River, Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Borno and Sokoto”.
