Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, says the federal government wants to plant 20 billion trees during the next rainy season.
He said this on Saturday while visiting Ethiopia. During the trip, he toured several farms and factories, including dairy, avocado, poultry, and pea farms.
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His visit happened during Ethiopia’s tree planting campaign called the Green Legacy Initiative.
“We want to plant 20 billion trees next rainy season,” Shettima said. “It will take a lot of planning and hard work, just like Ethiopia did by getting its people involved.”
Shettima praised Ethiopia’s efforts and said other African countries should learn from them. “I am very happy to see that Africa is moving forward,” he said.
“Ethiopia is leading the way. They are helping Africa to rise again, and we are very proud of them,” he added.
He also said that Ethiopia’s large population helped in making the project successful. “What Ethiopia has done will inspire many countries in East and Southern Africa,” he said.
Shettima also talked about how Ethiopia improved its farming. “Before, they used to import $1 billion worth of wheat every year. Now, they grow enough to sell to other countries like Djibouti and Kenya,” he said.
He added: “If Nigeria and Ethiopia succeed, Africa will succeed. Together, we have over 350 million people — that’s more than the population of the United States. We must work together for the good of our continent.”
Kingsley Uzoma, an aide to President Tinubu, said: “President Tinubu respects the people of Ethiopia. We came here to learn from what they’re doing and report back to him. I believe he will bring something similar to Nigeria, but even bigger and better.”