Governor Umaru Bago of Niger state on Friday unveiled a strategic green economy blueprint document for the state to the global community at the ongoing COP28 Climate Summit in the United Arab Emirates.
According to Bago, this was to reposition Niger as the leading state in green economy in Nigeria.
He said the key mandates of the green economy Initiative, as encapsulated in the blueprint document, are interwoven around five interconnected pillars.
The pillars, he said, are environmental conservation and management of carbon sink assets, sustainable resource management, renewable energy for development, inclusivity, and private sector-led job creation, especially green ones.
The governor said to help institutionalize these giant strides, he had a few weeks ago, issued an executive order and approved a green economy policy.
These efforts, he said, are indications of Niger State’s resolve to safeguard the environment, enhance climate resilience, and foster sustainable resource management.
Bago said this would diversify its economy, promote clean energy transition, ensure food security, and create green jobs that would empower its communities.
He said the State is committed to long-term sustainability along the pathway to net zero, planning to plant one billion trees for carbon credits sequestration.
The trees, he said, would be planted on 760,000 hectares of land in the next four to five years by signing an MoU with the Blue Carbon Organization under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum.
He said the state also intends to develop large crop farm estates of 10,000 hectares each.
About 100 of such estates, he said, would be developed across the state, sustainably to manage water resources, produce and process crops, create jobs, and generate wealth for its citizens.
“Niger state aims to cultivate 250,000 hectares of land annually for sugar, sweet sorghum, cassava, and corn to produce one billion liters annually, thereby helping to reduce significantly greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.