HOW STATES WASTED N3.7 BILLION SEEDLINGDS The government of President Yar’adua on assumption of office inaugurated the Presidential Initiative on Afforestation with the mandate of raising over 36 million tree seedlings of various species in all states of the federation. The initiative which cost the federal government N3.7 billion was meant to cushion the impact of desertification in northern Nigeria, assist in the control of erosion in eastern Nigeria and also help the country overcome effect of climate change. The Ecological Fund Office which supervised the raising of the seedlings was able to hand over 31 million seedlings to 31 states including the FCT for onward distribution to schools, communities, religious organisations and NGOs for planting courtesy of the decision reached at the National Council of Environment where all states were urged to take control of the seedlings. Jigawa, Borno, Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger however opted to plant cactus opuntia at the cost of N588 million rather than the neem, teak and other trees planted in 31 states. Daily Trust investigation has revealed that since the handover of the seedlings to the 31 states by the Ecological Fund Office in 2012, most states that benefited from the initiative have left them at the nursery where they were raised. In Bayelsa a source at the Ministry of Environment said they were unable to distribute the trees due to logistic challenges and as a result the seedlings have become trees in five nurseries in the state. Benue State got 1.3 million seedlings from the Ecological Fund Office but Mr Tyolumun Gever, acting Director of Forestry in the state said the trees are doing well and that only 10,000 have been distributed to some organisations for planting. “The ministry distributed 10,000 seedlings early this year to a non-governmental organisation as part of measures to encourage tree planting for a green environment,” he said. He then appealed to bodies such as non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisation, educational institutions, Rotary Club, individuals among others to visit the ministry to collect more seedlings for planting. He said many of the seedlings yet to be distributed but have turned into trees were left in the nursery for interested groups including divisional forestry officials to collect. In Taraba, lack of funds is said to be hampering efforts to distribute the one million trees, Director of Forestry and Wildlife, Samuel Teltuly, has said. He said that about 1 million seedlings given to the state were raised in five different locations in the state, namely, Jalingo, Wukari, Ardo-Kola, Zing and Gembu. Samuel said that about 30 percent of the seedlings died while being raised in the nursery due to lack of watering and proper care. He said that the seedlings that survived were later transferred from the nurseries and planted in government forest reserves and plantations located in Zing, Bakin-Dutse, Maisamari, Yelwa, Leme, Nguroje and Sonkpa. According to him, some of the seedlings were distributed to schools, communities, National Youth Service (NYSC) corps members and religious institutions for planting. He said that some of the seedlings planted in government reserves and plantations as well as those planted by corps members as part of their community development projects survived while some died. Samuel observed that most of the seedlings planted in schools were destroyed by stray animals while he could not ascertain what happened to those at the communities due to lack of funds to carry out effective monitoring. “No money was given to us to monitor the planting; we were unable to reach the communities and some of the schools due to lack of funds,” he said. He commended the federal government for the initiative and advised that such initiative should be given directly to departments of forestry where there are professionals to handle them instead of contracting to private firms that are not versed in raising seedlings and planting.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 20:35:18 +0000
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