By Folarin Kehinde
The Federal Government has relocated the operational headquarters of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall from Abuja to Kano State to strengthen environmental project implementation across northern Nigeria.
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday by the ministry’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Ibrahim Haruna.
Lawal said the relocation aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and is aimed at improving operational efficiency in delivering the Great Green Wall Programme across frontline states.
The initiative, an African Union-backed project involving over 11 countries, is designed to combat desertification, land degradation and climate change across the Sahel-Sahara region.
According to the minister, the programme targets the development of a 15-kilometre-wide and 1,500-kilometre-long green belt to enhance environmental sustainability, food security and rural livelihoods.
He said the programme currently covers 11 frontline states, including Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.
Lawal noted that the agency has recorded significant progress since its inception in 2013 and its upgrade to a full-fledged agency in 2015, including the establishment of over 100 shelterbelts, 159 solar and wind-powered boreholes, engagement of 600 youth forest guards, and development of 240 hectares of orchards and woodlots.
He explained that relocating the headquarters would address operational challenges associated with running the agency from a rented facility in Abuja, which is far from project sites.
“By moving to a permanent location in Kano, a central hub within the operational zone, the agency will achieve better monitoring, stronger coordination with state governments and communities, and improved service delivery,” he said.
Lawal added that the Afforestation Programme Coordinating Unit complex in Kano, built in 1988, would now serve as the agency’s permanent headquarters.
He said the decision reflects the Federal Government’s policy of situating agencies closer to their areas of operation to enhance efficiency and bring governance nearer to the people.
