NIGERIA: Sokoto Launches 2025 Tree Planting Campaign To Tackle Desertification

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria 

Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State has flagged off the 2025 Tree Planting Campaign, urging residents and local councils to intensify efforts against desertification, which continues to threaten farmlands across the state.

Speaking at the launch on Friday in Sokoto New City, Kasarawa, Aliyu disclosed that the state government, through the Ministry of Environment, had procured thousands of seedlings for distribution across all 23 local government areas. He directed council chairmen to fast-track collection and mobilised communities for planting.

The governor said: “Sokoto, as we all know, is located in the Sahelian region, making it prone to desert encroachment, which is advancing at an alarming rate. We must therefore rise to this challenge.”

He cautioned against indiscriminate tree felling, stressing that replacement planting must accompany necessary cutting. Aliyu further described tree planting as both an environmental necessity and a spiritual act of continuous charity (sadaqatul jariyya) in Islam.

The governor commended the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (GGW) for allocating 450,000 date seedlings to Sokoto as part of its broader effort to combat climate change and desert encroachment across northern Nigeria. Distribution will take place through nursery centres in Gundunga, Goronyo, and Sanyinna, targeting individuals, schools, NGOs, mosques, hospitals, and other institutions.

Commissioner for Environment, Nura Tangaza, said the state aims to plant 500,000 seedlings this year, emphasising that active community participation will determine the campaign’s success.

Also speaking at the event, the Director-General of the GGW, Dr. Saleh Abubakar, represented by the Director of Afforestation, reiterated the agency’s commitment to halting desert encroachment in the 11 northern states covered by the initiative.

The event concluded with the symbolic planting of trees by government officials, council chairmen, and community leaders.