Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has assumed the presidency of the Pan African Agency for the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) for the next two years.
This was disclosed by Nigeria’s Minister of State for the Environment, Barr. Sharon Ikeazor at the end of the 4th Ordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government (CHSG) of PAGGW held in Abuja.
“At the end of the 4th Ordinary Session of the CHSG, Nigeria took over the Presidency of the PAGGW. So, for the next two years, Nigeria and President Buhari will be the president of the Great Green Wall Initiative in Africa.
“This means that within the period, Nigeria will work assiduously towards addressing the problems of land degradation, food security, desertification, Climate Change, depletion of the forest ecosystems and biodiversity in Africa, among others,” she said.
Ikeazor expressed optimism that with the unparalleled commitment of Mr President on addressing issues of Climate Change and desertification, coupled with the immense respect he commands within the international community, a lot would be achieved during his tenure.
She recalled the commitment of President Buhari when last month in Glasgow, Scotland at the Climate Change Summit (COP 26) Side Event on the Great Green Wall (GGW), where he expressed optimism about Africa’s ambition to reclaim over 100 million hectares of the degraded landscape for agriculture.
It is instructive to note that in his acceptance speech of the PAGGW leadership, President Buhari stated that: “We shall strengthen our efforts in the mobilisation of resources for the accelerated accomplishment of the Decennial Priority Investment Plan (DPIP) 2021-2030 and its concrete implementation action”.
He said the redemption of financial pledges made during the ‘One Planet Summit’ on January 11, 2021, in Paris, France would be uttermost priority.
In a statement by the ministry’s director of press, Saghir el Mohammed, PMB expressed optimistic assurances that the restoration of Africa degraded ecosystems and ensuring the resilience of our people against Climate Change effects shall be strengthened.
