The Director-General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Dr. Muktari Aminu-Kano, has warned that urgent measures must be taken to curb deforestation and forest degradation so as to avert the nation being turned into a desert.
He said Nigeria was losing about a half kilometre of its land mass annually to desert encroachment and that time was of essence before the entire country becomes a desert.
Aminu-Kano, made the disclosure in Lagos on Sunday at the 2018 edition of the Green Ball series.
The theme for this year was: “Green Recovery Nigeria: Restoring Mangroves and Reclaiming the Desert.”
According to him, mangroves were equally being lost in the Niger Delta.
The NCF boss disclosed further that the nation had already lost up to 95 per cent of its forest cover stressing the need for urgent action in curbing deforestation and forest degradation in order to stop the “ugly consequences of climate change for the nation.”
Furthermore, he raised the alarm on what he termed “the firewood crisis,’’ insisting that the problem must be addressed to discourage use of fire wood use as cooking gas, calling for a “sustained awareness campaign among all tiers of governments to change the practice of tree felling to tree planting.”
Aminu-Kano posited that government must promote clean sources of cooking energy to protect the nation’s forests from being used as firewood, stressing the need to strengthen the Green Recovery Nigeria scheme, aimed at retaining a significant proportion of Nigeria’s landmass under forest.
His words: “Green Recovery Nigeria is our push to bring the agenda that Nigeria is pathetically loosing 95 per cent of its forest cover and we have only five per cent left.
“350,000 hectares of land are being lost annually to desertification and the land lost is about 0.6, which is about half a kilometre every year.
“If you think you live in Lagos and it cannot reach you, it will only take some time. Imagine the annual movement of 0.6 kilometres.’’
Chairman of the NCF Board of Trustees, Philip Asiodu, in his remarks, noted that Nigeria entered an agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organisation in 1988 to restore 25 per cent of its forest cover but lamented that while other African countries commenced implementation of the agreement, Nigeria had done nothing and had lost almost all its forest cover.
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He pointed that with increasing population, the effects of climate change were being felt through gully erosions in the South East and desertification in the Sahel.
Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode, speaking through the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Abiodun Bamgbose, commended the NCF for its efforts at addressing environmental issues.
She disclosed that the State Government plants a lot of trees every year and called on all multinationals to rise and support the fight as government alone cannot do it.
Widow of late former Head of State, Gen. Murtala Muhammed, Mrs Ajoke Muhammed and wife of the Ogun State Governor, Dr. Olufunso Amosun received awards for their contributions towards saving and sustaining the environment.
