Kano govt backs FG against takeover of Afforestation complex by ‘private interests’

The Kano State Government has backed the Federal Government’s efforts to prevent the takeover of a portion of the Afforestation Programme Coordinating Unit, APCU, complex in the state by private interests.

DAILY NIGERIAN reports that the Federal Ministry of Environment had raised the alarm over an alleged attempt by some interests to take possession of a portion of the APCU complex located in Janbulo, Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State.

The complex houses federal environmental agencies, including 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 for Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Dr Dahir M. Hashim, said the state government stood firmly with the Federal Ministry of Environment, NAGGW, NESREA and APCU in protecting the facility.

Mr Hashim said the ministry was deeply concerned by reports that portions of the property had allegedly been alienated to private interests following recommendations attributed to the now-dissolved Presidential Implementation Committee on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties.

He said the Kano Government understood that the Federal Ministry of Environment had disputed the proposed alienation, following which the recommendation was reportedly withdrawn.

The commissioner, however, said information available to the state government indicated that individuals claiming interests in portions of the property had reportedly obtained an order seeking the removal of the APCU, NAGGW and NESREA from the premises.

Mr Hashim said while the Kano State Government respected the authority of the courts and would not interfere with judicial proceedings, any attempt to convert the environmental facility into private residential or commercial plots would be contrary to 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,” he said.

The commissioner said the significance of the complex extended beyond its buildings, noting that its mature plantations represented one of the remaining concentrations of established vegetation within the expanding Kano metropolis.

According to him, the trees provide carbon sequestration, reduce urban heat, improve air quality, support biodiversity and protect surrounding communities 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,” he said.

Mr Hashim said the recent relocation of NAGGW to the complex had restored the facility to full strategic use, providing administrative offices, technical facilities, an environmental laboratory, residential accommodation and an operational base closer to communities and project sites affected by land degradation.

He added that the facility was 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,” the commissioner said.

Kano demands review of alleged alienation

The commissioner 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,” he said.

Mr Hashim reaffirmed the Kano State Government’s readiness to support the federal environmental agencies in protecting the facility.

“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 also commended President Tinubu for relocating the operational headquarters of NAGGW from Abuja to the APCU complex in Kano.

He said the decision recognised 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.

Complex has decades-long afforestation history

Mr Hashim said the APCU complex was not an abandoned government property but a permanent federal environmental facility established in 1988, with its history tracing back 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,” he said.

The commissioner reiterated the ministry’s concern over reports that portions of the historic property had allegedly been alienated to private interests following recommendations attributed to the now-dissolved Presidential Implementation Committee on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties.

He said the state government understood that the Federal Ministry of Environment had disputed the proposed alienation and that the recommendation was subsequently withdrawn.

Mr Hashim maintained that the facility remained strategically important to the fight against desertification and environmental degradation, stressing that preserving it was in the broader public interest.