By Ovat Abeng
In its contributory effort to address the challenges of Climate Change in Nigeria, the Red Cross Society of Nigeria (RCSN), has announced it plan to plant five billion trees across 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory FCT-Abuja.
The announcement was made by the Anambra State branch Secretary of the Society, Engr. Kingsley Okoye, during the official flagging off of 10,000 tree planting exercise/special governance workshop organised by the Society in collaboration with Healthy living Initiative with Nonye Soludo, held at the RCSN headquarters Amawbia-Awka, on Thursday.
Okoye noted that the nationwide exercise will be completed before the end of 2030.
He said the ten thousand trees planting exercise was part of governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s vision of building a clean, green, livable and prosperous state in Nigeria.
Read Also: “Walk the talk,” CNS urges naval warfare course graduates
The RCSN scribe said that the idea behind the exercise is to mobilize every household in the state to take responsibility to make their home green by planting at least two trees.
Engr Okoye, who explained that the environment is the number one existential threat, lamented that the human populace is being unkind to nature, stressing that if nature is not befriended, it will continue to take its toll on her inhabitants.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, who represented the state governor’s wife, Mrs Nonye Soludo at the event,, enumerated the challenges of being careless with the environment to include flooding and erosion, asked households in the state to contain water within their compounds
He stated that the present administration is already working out measures to keep Anambra clean and that within his first term in office, more sustainability plan to ban open and public deposit of waste products will be rolled out, noting that Soludo administration is also poised to re-enacting the palm revolution and re-engineer coconut economy in the state and added that if it is consistently done over a ten-year period, Anambra will be the greenest state in Nigeria.
In his remark, the president of Red Cross Society of Nigeria, Prince Oluyemisi Adetayo Adeaga said the society will continue to support the Government of Nigeria to address all hazard situation in the country.
Adeaga, who was represented by the Society’s National Legal Adviser, Barrister Mauzu Dikwa, used the event to also announced that the organisation have supported over 2000 house hold during flood response in 2021 and.2022 in Anambra state.
The President also appeal to Government and well-to- do individuals in Nigeria to continue to support the Red Cross Society for the sake of humanity.
In his brief speech, the senior Officer- climate change Nigeria, Mr Sunday Awulu said climate change are caused by some activities like cutting down trees for fire wood which has caused damaged to the natural soil.
Awulu while urging for mitigation and.adpotarion to reduce the effect of climate change in the country, noted that tree planting campaign is important to restore Africa conducive environment and boost back Agricultural sector for food sufficient.