Sokoto unveils 2025 tree planting campaign to combat desertification

Governor Ahmed Aliyu has unveiled the 2025 Tree Planting Campaign in Sokoto New City, Kasarawa, calling on residents and local councils to take collective action against the fast-spreading desertification threatening farmlands in the state.

Speaking at the event on Friday, Aliyu announced that the state government, through the Ministry of Environment, had procured thousands of environmental and economic seedlings for distribution across the 23 local government areas. He directed council chairmen to speed up collection and mobilise communities for planting.

“Sokoto, as we all know, is located in the Sahelian region, making it prone to desert encroachment, which is advancing at an alarming rate. We must therefore rise to this challenge,” the governor declared.

He warned against indiscriminate felling of trees, stressing that replacements must be planted whenever cutting becomes necessary.

As Muslims, we know the position of our religion on the benefits of tree planting and the eternal reward attached to it. In fact, planting trees can be regarded as sadaqatul jariyya (a continuous charity) whose reward continues even after death,” Aliyu added.

The governor commended the National Agency for the Great Green Wall for allocating 450,000 date seedlings to Sokoto as part of a nationwide push to combat climate change and desert encroachment.

He said the seedlings will be distributed through nursery centers in Gundunga, Goronyo town, and Sanyinna, with beneficiaries including individuals, NGOs, schools, mosques, hospitals, and public institutions.

Commissioner for Environment, Nura Tangaza, said the state is targeting the planting of 500,000 seedlings this year, stressing that community participation will determine the success of the campaign.

Also speaking, the Director General of the GGW, Dr. Saleh Abubakar, represented by the Director of Afforestation, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to halting desert encroachment across 11 northern states under the initiative.

The event climaxed with the symbolic planting of tree seedlings by dignitaries, including council chairmen, community leaders, and government officials.