15th July, 2014
The Lagos State Government on Monday said that it planted no fewer than five million trees and created about 75,168 jobs in the last seven years.
Governor Babatunde Fashola said this while inaugurating the state’s 2014 Tree-Planting Campaign in Ajah, Lagos.
He said that tree-planting was part of the state’s strategies to prevent flooding and mitigate the negative impacts of global warming.
“It is an incontestable fact that the global environment has been ravaged by eco-degradation leading to climate change.
“This results from the cumulative effects of years of environmental negligence. Trees are known to make a huge impact in the fight against environmental problems including global warming.
“We have thought it expedient to put in our best efforts to rehabilitate the environment through our tree-planting programmes.
“When we launched the programme in 2008 ,our target was to plant one million trees in 10 years. But we have now planted over five million trees in seven years, which is a feat of 60 years achieved in just seven years,” he said.
Fashola said that the planting of trees and other government’s greening initiatives had enhanced the aesthetics of the environment and created economic benefits for residents.
The governor said that the initiatives had created no fewer than 75,168 jobs, adding that the greening of open spaces at Ijora Causeway, Outer Marina, Oba Akran Road and others had transformed the environment.
Fashola said that he was glad that residents were already making tree-planting a lifestyle and that had appreciated the value of government’s greening initiative.
He urged them to continue to plant trees and protect the ones already planted for the sake of their wellbeing and the environment.
Tunji Bello, state Commissioner for the Environment, said that the 2014 tree-planting themed: “Life is Better with Trees”, took place in six ceremonial sites across the state.
He listed the areas as Ajah, Beckley Ojokoro, Apple Junction in Amuwo Odofin, King`s College on Victoria Island, Gbagada General Hospital and Ikeja High Court.
Bello said that the essence of the exercise was to inculcate the tree-planting culture in the state with a view to improving and protecting the environment.