Vice President Kashim Shettima has announced Nigeria’s plan to plant 25 billion trees as part of its Green Legacy Programme to tackle deforestation and environmental degradation.

The announcement was made on Monday during a meeting between Vice President Shettima and a consortium made up of the Dalberg Group and Campo Group, the same partners who supported Ethiopia’s successful planting of 46 billion trees. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations Food Systems Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Shettima said Nigeria is encouraged by Ethiopia’s success in planting 46 billion trees, even though Ethiopia’s land is hilly and hard to work on.

“We have very tall and ambitious projects here, and where there is a will, there is always a way. But experience is not something you buy in the market square. You have to have it, and you have to earn it by supporting the Ethiopian government to succeed,” Shettima said.

He added, “We are optimistic about the 20 billion trees. If Ethiopia, a hilly country made up of highlands and mountains, can succeed in planting 46 billion trees, then I believe our 25 billion is even a modest figure. So, I want us to start planting up to 10 billion trees.”

In pursuance of its Green Legacy Programme, the Federal Government of Nigeria has initiated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a consortium comprising the Dalberg Group and Campo Group, according to the statement released by the state house.

This is just as the Organisation of Southern Cooperation has chosen Nigeria as the site to build its first-ever South-South Technology Transfer Centre for Africa, just as it is also proposed for Nigeria to host its African South-South Summit.

Meanwhile, the Organisation of Southern Cooperation has sought the support of the Nigerian government to establish the South-South Technology Transfer Centres, designed to facilitate exchanges of technologies among its member states.

This, the organisation said, is very deserving of Nigeria, given the renewed leadership and educational strides of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.