NGO Tasks Abuja Residents on Tree Planting 

Creative Vision Development Foundation, CVDEF, an NGO supported by Christian Aid Nigeria, has planted trees in some selected communities in Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nigeria, to mitigate climate change.

Karshi, a suburb within the FCT, is the first beneficiary with 80 trees planted, followed by Junior Secondary School, Kurudu, with 25 trees planted.

Mrs Funmilola Oladejo, Executive Director of the NGO, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, during the tree planting  exercise in the Karshi community on Tuesday.

“We have planted 80 trees in Karshi today to mitigate climate change within the community. More trees of different varieties will be planted in the FCT and  some selected schools.

“Planting of economic trees is essential in the environment because it serves as shade, cover, food, climate change mitigation, gives cooler temperature and ensures a healthy environment amongst others.

“We will continue to collaborate with communities at the grassroots and plant more trees in secondary schools within the FCT to mitigate climate change,” Oladejo assured.

She said that the NGO was carrying out a project called  Youth Advocacy for Climate Action (YACA) with support from Christian Aid Nigeria.

The YACA (project) tree planting theme is; “Plant trees. Save the World. Let the earth breathe.”

Jude Gagah, Programme Intern with the NGO, also corroborated that the trees planting was aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change within the area.

“One of the issues affecting humans in the environment is due to human activities such as burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and the indiscriminate disposal of wastes within the community.” Gagah said.

He decried the attitude of most residents who drop their wastes in drainage lines, believing that when the rain falls, it would wash the wastes away, but instead, the wastes block the water channels which causes flooding.

Gagah expressed displeasure over what flooding could cause in society after such acts of indiscriminate waste disposal and called on residents to be more cautious and embrace tree planting to sustain their environment.

Also speaking, Alhaji Ahmed Doka, Hakimi Karshi, who represented the Emir of Karshi, HRH Dr Sani Bako, expressed satisfaction over the tree planting, saying it was a welcome development for the people of the community.

 “We are having soil erosion in our community, so with the planting of trees, it will help us control the erosion,” Bako said.

He urged the people to monitor the trees that they had planted to ensure survival.

During the tree planting activity at Junior Secondary School, Kurudu, the management team of the school, was excited over the exercise.

Teachers and students were actively involved in the tree planting.

Similarly, Emmanuel Oresanya, Programme Intern at CVDEF, lectured the students on the benefits of tree planting.

Responding, Mr Samuel Obu, the coordinator of the school environment club in the school, thanked the NGO for the support towards sustainability of the school environment.

“This intervention will go a long way to sustain our environment. CVDEF is coming at the right time to support us,” Obu said.

NAN reports that after the tree planting exercise, three students each from the environment club were allocated by the club coordinator to nurture and monitor each of the trees planted.

NAN/Shakirat Sadiq