THE Federal Government has revealed that it is set to engage about 1,200 youths to plant two million trees in at least 24 local government areas across the country yearly under its tree planting programme.
Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Kunle Salako, who disclosed this, said the national programme tagged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Green Heroes project will commence in July to take advantage of the rainy season.
He revealed this when he took the “Greener Nigeria Campaign” spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Environment to Aiyetoro in Ogun State where he planted his 50th tree of 2024.
Fielding questions on the potential for job creation that the tree planting programme offers, Salako said: “At every local government, we are going to be covering about 10 hectares of land as community forests. When we plant those trees, they are going to be populated by fruit trees and they are going to be owned by the communities.
“For a year, the Federal Government is going to support the nurturing of those trees. We will engage youths; we are going to be paying them some stipends to make sure they take care of the trees and at the end of the year, we will hand over the trees to the community to continue to maintain them.”
Salako also revealed that the tree-planting visit to the Permacultural Garden at Ajoda High School, Aiyetoro forms part of his determination to meet the New Year resolution to plant 100 trees in 2024 as his contribution to the “Greener Nigeria campaign.”
The garden was created by the Asalamualekum Foundation (AAF), a non-governmental organisation established in 2011 by the minister in memory of his late father, Alhaji Yunus Omotosho Salako, to whom he dedicated the 50th tree he planted.
Salako added that the exercise was an effort aimed at greening the school with over 100 trees, adding that he intends to plant the remaining 50 trees in the North-East, North-West and South-East regions before the year runs out having planted trees in the South-South, North-Central, and now South-West.
Speaking at the event, the Vice Principal of Ajoda High School, Ayetoro, Mr Claudius Akinyemi, thanked the minister for considering the school for the scheme and assured that the students would be encouraged to toe the path of tree planting once they returned from the Eid-el-Kabir break.
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