Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has reiterated his administration’s commitment to reclaim the environment through policies and programmes that will slow down the adverse effects of land degradation, climate change and global warming on the State.
The Governor stated this when he granted audience to a delegation from the National Emergency Management Agency, led by the Director General, Air Vice Marshal Muhammadu Mohammed (rtd) represented by the Team B leader, Bashir Idris Garga.
The Governor who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi said the present administration of Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya is passionate on addressing issues affecting the environment moreso that the State is grappling with incessant flood and land degradation due to its geographical location.
“You may recall that on coming into office, one of the first things the Governor started was trying to reclaim the environment because by his own assessment the current challenges facing the environment are human induced and that was why the Governor came up with the Gombe Goes Green 3G project which seeks to plant four million trees in the first four years of his administration”.
He said already the target of the first one year of the 3G project has been surpassed.
According to him, “one of the importance of the Gombe Goes Green Project is that when the trees are fully matured, they can protect the environment from wind and water erosion while improving air quality and providing shade for both human and animals”.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya identified poor agricultural practices and mining activities as some of the factors militating against the environment, saying his administration will continue to engage local and international organisations on how best to prevent further damage to the environment.
He said the Gombe State Government has noted with keen interest the support of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA to the state through the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA for the continuous assistance to victims of natural disasters in the State.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya said the State is usually overwhelmed by incidences of flood disaster which has almost affected every local government area of the State especially in this year’s rainy season, describing the Management of flood as cumbersome and challenging.
While assuring the National Emergency Management Agency of his administration’s commitment to continually partner with it, the Gombe State Governor tasked NEMA to evolve from being a reactionary agency to a proactive one.
Earlier speaking, the representative of the Director General of NEMA, Bashir Idris Garga said the team was in Gombe State to interface with the Government on preventive measures to avert incidences of flood in particular and natural disasters in general.
“Being an agrarian state, Gombe needs to be protected from any form of disaster because if left without any precaution it may just have an adverse effect on the livelihood of the people”, he said.
Garga called on the Gombe State Government to embark on clearing of drainages and desilting of water channels to avoid flooding within the State.
He said NEMA will continue to support the State Government’s effort at assisting victims of flood disaster to enable them stand on their feet again.
Like,share and come back for more news update.
Sahel Online News 