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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Govt fights desertification with N270m in 12 states
ASUM of N270 million has been released by the Federal Government for the management of desertification in the 12 affected states in the northern part of the country.
The fund is to be disbursed to the affected states to raise tree seedlings. It is also meant for the sinking of bore holes.
The disclosure was made by the Minister of Environment, Alhaji Bala Mande recently, while inspecting the 145 hectares of land allocated for the establishment of the National Shelter Bell and Afforestation (NSBA) project at Bayamari in Yobe State.
He warned of the alarming rate, which the desert was advancing towards the south, claiming that in the next 10 to 15 years, the desert would have affected the middle belt states of Plateau, Benue, Kwara, Taraba and Niger.
This was the reason he said the National Council on Desertification, Afforestation and Coastal Land Management has been inaugurated by the President.
Already, he said, out of the 19 northern states, 12 have been affected by desertification where tens of thousands of hectares of viable land have been destroyed by the advancing sand dunes.
He noted that with the inauguration of the council, an integrated afforestation programme was to be implemented under the NSBA.
He explained that the programme would involve all the 12 state governments and their local councils.
The minister told The Guardian that all the facilities and funds required for the execution of the NSBA project would be provided based on the requirements of each of the affected states.
The facilities to be provided for the project, he added, included materials for the sinking of bore holes, for fencing the shelter belt and other things required for the nurturing of the tree seedlings to be transported by each of the states.
He said the shelter belt would take a total of 1,500 square kilometres of land, starting from Ya'u in Borno State to Kebbi across the frontier states of the North.
The 12 states that would be involved in the execution of the project are Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Jigawa, Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara, Bauchi, Adamawa, Niger, Gombe and Kebbi states, each of the states, Mande stated would be allocated N12.5 million for the shelter bell project.
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