FG pledges to commit greater percentage of Ecological Funds to fighting desertification, erosion control
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Jul 20, 2010, 18:27

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has given assurances that a greater percentage of the national ecological fund will be devoted to combating desertification, coastal erosion and land erosion.

Responding to an appeal from a Zamfara State delegation led by Governor Aliyu M. Shinkafi for more assistance from the Federal Government to ameliorate the negative impact of desertification on its largely agrarian population in the State House on Tuesday July 20, President Jonathan said that his Administration fully recognizes the threat posed by desert encroachment.

The President said that he has therefore directed Vice President Namadi Sambo to work with the Ministers of Environment and Agriculture to urgently evolve and implement fresh measures to deal with the menace.

“I am quite aware of the problem of desertification. Wealth is created by developing and harnessing our natural resources. If the natural environment becomes degraded or damaged, then it becomes very difficult for ordinary people to create wealth”, he observed in reference to the difficulties farmers in Zamfara State were having with desert encroachment.

President Jonathan assured the delegation that his administration will do everything possible to reverse the menace of desertification, saying that since the problem was shared by other countries with the Sahara Desert on their borders, Nigeria will work with those countries on re-afforestation and other containment strategies.

The President noted, however, that for the measures to succeed, they must be fully supported by the inhabitants of affected states.

President Jonathan thanked the delegation for its pledge of continued support to his administration, saying that he and Vice President Sambo were encouraged by such support and will continue to do their very best to live up to the expectations of all Nigerians.

In an address presented to the President by Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, members of the delegation said that they were at the Presidential Villa primarily to thank President Jonathan for his last visit to Zamfara State to commission a factory and other projects.

They seized the opportunity, however, to ask for the commitment of more Federal funds to containing desertification, which, they said, was wreaking havoc on agricultural production in Zamfara State.

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