Tinubu relocates Agency for Great Green Wall to Kano
By Editor
The Federal Government has relocated the Operational Headquarters of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) from Abuja to Kano State towards improving its effectiveness in addressing desertification, land degradation and climate change in northern Nigeria.
The Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, said this in a statement in Abuja.
Lawal described the relocation as a strategic move under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu aimed at bringing government institutions closer to their areas of operation.
According to the minister, the agency’s new operational headquarters will be located at the Afforestation Programme Coordinating Unit (APCU) office in Kano, a Federal Government facility established in 1988.
Lawal said the relocation was expected to improve coordination, monitoring and implementation of projects across the agency’s operational zone.
“The strategic move is aimed at significantly improving the Agency’s effectiveness in implementing the Great Green Wall Programme across Nigeria’s frontline states,” he said.
The minister said that operating from Abuja had posed challenges because the agency’s core activities were concentrated in northern states where the programme was being implemented.
“By moving to a permanent location in Kano, a central hub within the operational zone, the Agency will achieve better monitoring, stronger coordination with state governments, local authorities and communities, and more efficient service delivery,” Lawal stated.
He said that the APCU complex in Kano would provide a permanent base for the agency and would help address challenges associated with operating from a temporary rented office in Abuja.
Lawal added that the decision reflected the Federal Government’s policy of positioning agencies closer to their operational areas to enhance efficiency and bring governance nearer to the people.
He expressed confidence that the relocation would strengthen implementation of the Great Green Wall Programme and improve service delivery to communities across northern Nigeria.
The Great Green Wall Programme is an initiative of the African Union involving more than 11 countries and designed to combat desertification, land degradation and the effects of climate change across the Sahel-Sahara region.
In Nigeria, the programme covers 11 frontline states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.
