… Nigeria Is Prepared to Take Over Leadership of Regional Organization
On Monday in Glasgow, Scotland, President Muhammadu Buhari stated that Africa’s goal of rehabilitating over 100 million hectares of degraded terrain for productive agriculture is attainable.
He stated his hope at a side event on the Great Green Wall (GGW) co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, the Prince of Wales, and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani at the Climate Change Summit, COP 26.
Speaking on the event’s theme, “Accelerating land restoration in Africa, the case of the Great Green Wall initiative,” the Nigerian leader noted that the gathering was designed to address Africa’s challenges of land degradation, desertification, depletion of forest ecosystems, and biodiversity.
According to him, ‘‘With all hands on deck and concerted efforts at land restoration by African leaders, I am optimistic that Africa’s ambition of restoring over 100million hectares of degraded landscape for productive agriculture is achievable.
‘‘Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to inform you that Nigeria will soon be assuming the leadership of Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall.
‘‘Nigeria pledges her unalloyed commitment to expanding the achievements of the GGW programme in Africa from the enviable status attained under the leadership of His Excellency, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
‘‘Together we commit to the transformative process of restoring the African degraded landscape and ultimately the continent’s environment,’’ he said.
President Buhari recounted that one of the major outcomes of the fourth edition of the One Planet Summit on Biodiversity, organized by the French Government in Paris, France on 11th January 2021, was the pledge of $19.6 billion by the coalition of international communities to upscale the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative in Africa.
