In a strategic move aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s campaign against desertification, land degradation and climate change, the Federal Government has relocated the operational headquarters of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) from Abuja to Kano.
The Minister of Environment, Mr. Balarabe Abbas Lawal, announced the decision on Wednesday, describing it as a major step toward enhancing the agency’s effectiveness in delivering critical environmental interventions across northern Nigeria.
According to the minister, the relocation aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and is designed to position the agency closer to its operational areas, thereby improving project monitoring, stakeholder engagement and service delivery.
The Great Green Wall Programme, an initiative of the African Union involving more than 11 countries, seeks to combat the growing threat of desertification and 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.
Lawal explained that the agency is mandated to establish a 15-kilometre-wide and 1,500-kilometre-long green belt across the affected region to restore degraded land, enhance environmental sustainability, improve food security and reduce rural poverty.
He noted that since the programme was launched in 2013 and upgraded to a full-fledged agency in 2015, it has recorded notable achievements in environmental restoration and community development.
Among the milestones highlighted by the minister are the establishment of more than 100 shelterbelts, the construction of 159 solar and wind-powered boreholes to improve water access, the recruitment of 600 youths as forest guards, and the development of 240 hectares of community orchards and woodlots aimed at boosting local incomes and livelihoods.
The minister said the relocation would address operational challenges associated with running the agency from a temporary rented office in Abuja, hundreds of kilometres away from most project locations.
“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,” he said.
The new headquarters will be situated within the Afforestation Programme Coordinating Unit (APCU) complex in Kano, a federal facility established in 1988. The facility has remained largely underutilised since the completion of the World Bank-supported Arid Zone Afforestation Programme in 1996.
Lawal said the decision reflects the Federal Government’s broader policy of positioning agencies closer to their areas of responsibility to improve operational efficiency and deepen the impact of government programmes on local communities.
He expressed confidence that the relocation would accelerate implementation of the Great Green Wall initiative and strengthen efforts to protect vulnerable communities from the devastating effects of climate change, desert encroachment and environmental degradation.
The move is expected to provide renewed momentum for one of Africa’s most ambitious environmental restoration projects, which aims to transform degraded landscapes while creating economic opportunities for millions of people living in the region.
