Chika Otuchikere The Niger State Government has said it is enforcing a law that will compel every household to plant four trees as part of measures to tackle climate change. The directive is to recover trees that have been felled for firewood and other purposes over the years, which is contributing to climate change. The Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Yakubu Kolo, made this known during an interview with Arewa PUNCH where he disclosed steps the government has taken to avert the devastation caused by flooding and indiscriminate felling of trees.
He explained that Niger being a state surrounded by water, has every likelihood to witness flooding. However, he assured that with the ongoing awareness campaign, the state will not stop its sensitisation programme as well as providing resettlement homes for displaced residents after any flooding disaster. Kolo stressed, “Our forests that are degraded are replanted to reduce the impact on the soil, which in turn will reduce the impact of flooding in our environment.
We also have a law to ensure that every household within Niger State must plant at least four trees.’’ “That law has existed even before we came, but it is the enforcement that we are trying to ensure that everybody complies. This sensitisation programme we have been running on some radio stations, and it will continue to run like that.
“That is why we continue to sensitise ourselves to ensure that this environment we live in, we need it more tha.