Gov. Charles Soludo of Anambra State says the planting of trees is a way of driving environmental sustainability and wealth creation.
Soludo said this on Saturday, July 20, during the inauguration of 2024 distribution of economic trees seedlings to people in Onitsha, the commercial city of Anambra.
He said that tree planting played a pivotal role in sustainable development, preservation of ecosystem and environmental conservation.
Soludo said that neglect of tree planting and environmental conservation had given room for erosion menace in the state.
He said this had made the state to become the gully erosion capital of the world.
The governor said that people must utilise every inch of the land to drive technology innovation and commerce because that is the foundation for the future which the state laid.
“We are launching an ongoing programme designed to plant at least 10 million seedlings in Anambra.
“These trees will in the medium term constitute Anambra’s own crude oil. This activity lies the industrialisation, entertainment and leisure.
“Anambra is in many ways the second Lagos, we have the second largest land mass after Lagos, but the difference between Anambra and Lagos is that, while Lagos is reclaiming its land from the ocean, Anambra is encumbered with the erosion,” he said.
Soludo said the state was making progress in all areas, adding that traders had started coming back because there was no room for touting activities across the state.
He said the state was doing well in infrastructure as almost 500 kilometres of roads were earmarked for construction.
Soludo said that, by 2026, about 300 roads would have been completed in Anambra.
By Monday Ajogun
