Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger State in Nigeria has warned that the full wrath of the law would be visited on those that continue with the habit of felling economic trees in the state.
He gave the warning during the flag off ceremony of the 2018 cropping season and distribution of tractors to farmers in Minna on Tuesday.
Bello disclosed that the state government had put in place mechanism to check the ugly tide.
He called on stakeholders, traditional and religious leaders to continue to sensitise the people on the value of economic trees.
He said that the state would soon take the world lead in having the highest number of Shea tree as well as take advantage of the favourable weather for production of other crops such as rice, sesame seed, ginger and cashew nuts.
The governor added that the state government would exploit its agricultural potentials in the areas of grain reserve, ranching, animal husbandry, fisheries, development of economic trees and cash crops.
He said that the state government in 2016 approved the establishment of five hectares each for planting of Shea trees and oil palm plantations.
“This is to demonstrate the commercial viability of these high value tree crops and provide the platform for the establishment of over 5,000 hectares plantation by our farmers and private investors.
“We have also cleared over 5,000 hectares of land in various locations under the accelerated agricultural development scheme to encourage our youth to embrace farming,” he said.
By Rita Iliya
