The Kano State Government has said that it ralliee behind some concerned federal government in its efforts to block the take over of a portion of Afforestation Programme Coordinating Unit, APCU, complex in the state.
The Federal Ministry of Environment hadl raised a alarm over an alleged plot by some interests to take possession of the portion of the APCU, located at Janbulo, Gwale Local Government area of the state.
The complex houses federal environmental agencies such as the APCU, the National Agency for the Great Green Wall, NAGGW, and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA.
Speaking at a press conference in Kano on Friday, the Commissioner, Ministry of Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Dr Dahir M. Hashim said the state stands firmly with the Federal Ministry of Environment, NAGGW, NESREA and APCU in protecting the national asset.
According to him, the Ministry is deeply concerned by reports that portions of the property were purportedly alienated to private interests following recommendations attributed to the now-dissolved Presidential Implementation Committee on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties.
Mr Hashim stated that the ministry understands that the Federal Ministry of Environment disputed the proposed alienation and that the recommendation was subsequently withdrawn.
He however disclosed that information at the ministry’s disposal revealed that the people claiming interests in portions of the property had reportedly obtained an order seeking the removal of the APCU, NAGGW and NESREA from the premises.
The Commissioner States that while the Kano State Government respects the authority of the courts and would not interfere with the judicial process, any attempt to convert the environmental facility into private residential or commercial plots is against the overriding public interest.
” It is particularly unpatriotic to pursue the fragmentation of a facility that the Federal Government has deliberately selected as the operational base for coordinating the fight against desertification across eleven frontline states.
“The importance of the complex goes beyond its buildings. Its mature plantations constitute one of the remaining concentrations of established vegetation within the expanding Kano metropolis. The trees provide carbon sequestration, reduce urban heat, improve air quality, support biodiversity and protect the surrounding environment from wind and soil erosion.
“Destroying or fragmenting this green area would eliminate a valuable urban carbon sink that has taken decades to establish and cannot be replaced by compensatory planting elsewhere.
“The recent relocation of NAGGW has restored the complex to full strategic use. It now provides administrative offices, technical facilities, an environmental laboratory, residential accommodation and an operational base closer to the communities and project sites most affected by land degradation. It is also positioned to support national and internationally funded land-restoration programmes.
“Removing these institutions would undermine the very objective for which the President relocated the Agency to Kano,” he said.
The Commissioner, therefore called on President Bola Tinubu and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to urgently review the purported alienation of the APCU property, defend the federal government’s title and take all lawful measures necessary to preserve the entire complex for its original environmental and public purposes.
“We equally urge the Federal Ministry of Environment to maintain its opposition to the alienation, pursue every available legal remedy against the reported eviction order and undertake an immediate survey, demarcation and documentation of the property.
“The Kano State Government stands firmly with the Federal Ministry of Environment, NAGGW, NESREA and APCU in protecting this national environmental asset. We are ready to provide all necessary institutional and administrative support to preserve the complex and ensure that it continues to serve Kano State, northern Nigeria and the country as a whole.
“Our position is clear: public environmental assets must remain in public service,” he stressed.
The Commissioner thanked Mr Tinubu for relocating the operational headquarters of the NAGGW from Abuja to the APCU in Kano.
Mr Hashim explained that the decision recognizes Kano’s strategic position at the heart of Nigeria’s frontline states affected by desertification.
“It also reflects the growing national recognition of the environmental reforms being implemented under the leadership of His Excellency, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, including large-scale land restoration, shelterbelt rehabilitation, community forestry, institutional reform and the expansion of climate-resilient programmes across the state,” he said.
He reminded that the APCU complex is not an abandoned government property, saying; “It is a permanent federal environmental facility established in 1988, with a history that extends to the Arid Zone Afforestation Programme of the late 1970s.
” For decades, the complex served as a regional centre for afforestation coordination and the vocational training of forest guards, silvicultural assistants, supervisors and other field personnel responsible for protecting northern Nigeria from desert encroachment.
“The Ministry is therefore deeply concerned by reports that portions of this historic property were purportedly alienated to private interests following recommendations attributed to the now-dissolved Presidential Implementation Committee on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties.
“We understand that the Federal Ministry of Environment disputed the proposed alienation and that the recommendation was subsequently withdrawn,” he said.
