By Maryam Shuaibu
The Federal Government (FG) has relocated the operational headquarters of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) from Abuja to Kano as part of efforts to improve coordination and implementation of projects aimed at combating desertification and climate change.
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, said the agency will now operate from the Afforestation Programme Coordinating Unit (APCU) office in Kano, a move he described as necessary to enhance operational efficiency.
According to the minister, the relocation is expected to bring the agency closer to the communities and states at the centre of the Great Green Wall Programme.
Bringing operations closer to project areas
The Great Green Wall is an African Union initiative involving more than 11 countries and is designed to tackle desertification, land degradation and the effects of climate change across the Sahel-Sahara region.
In Nigeria, the programme covers 11 frontline states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.
The agency is tasked with establishing a 15-kilometre-wide and 1,500-kilometre-long green belt aimed at restoring degraded land, improving food security, strengthening climate resilience and reducing rural poverty.
Mr Lawal said relocating the headquarters to Kano would improve oversight of projects and strengthen collaboration with state governments, local authorities and host communities.
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Achievements of the programme
Since its launch in 2013 and subsequent upgrade to a full agency in 2015, the programme has implemented several environmental restoration projects across northern Nigeria.
According to the Ministry of Environment, more than 100 shelterbelts have been established under the initiative.
The agency has also constructed about 159 solar and wind-powered boreholes to improve water access in vulnerable communities.
In addition, about 600 youths have been engaged as forest guards, while 240 hectares of community orchards and woodlots have been developed to support livelihoods and reduce poverty.
The minister said the move would address challenges associated with managing operations from a temporary office in Abuja, which is far from many of the programme’s project locations.
He noted that positioning the agency in Kano, one of the frontline states, would allow for better project monitoring, faster decision-making and more effective service delivery.
The relocation comes as Nigeria and other countries in the Sahel region continue to confront worsening desertification, land degradation and climate-related threats affecting agriculture, livelihoods and environmental sustainability.