The youth arm of Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party (PP) and the youth wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) launched a joint tree-planting campaign in Nigeria to strengthen pan-African solidarity, grassroots environmental conservation, and climate advocacy ahead of COP32.

The initiative took place in Abuja under the Joint Tree Plantation Programme, organised as part of the second round of the “Plant African Fraternity” initiative.

The event, themed “Youth United for a Greener FCT: Renewing Hope Through Tree Planting,” aimed to deepen pan-African youth solidarity and promote environmental sustainability.

The programme brought together young political leaders from Ethiopia and Nigeria, who used the exercise to demonstrate the role of youth in tackling climate change and protecting the environment.

The ambassador of Ethiopia to Nigeria, Legesse Haile, represented by Teklu Abrha, Minister Counsellor for Political Affairs at the embassy, commended the initiative as reflecting Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative and its strategic partnership with Nigeria.

Mr Abrha said Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative, inaugurated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2019, had surpassed its original target of planting 20 billion trees within four years.

He said more than 48 billion trees had been planted under the initiative so far, with Ethiopia now targeting 50 billion trees by 2030.

“We have been planting from 7.5 billion to eight billion trees every year, and this year, we managed to plant eight billion,” Mr Abrha said.

He explained that the programme helped increase Ethiopia’s forest coverage to more than 23 per cent from a much lower level, while also supporting agroforestry and boosting agricultural exports such as coffee and mangoes.

Mr Abrha said the collaboration between Nigeria and Ethiopia was an exemplary form of South-South cooperation and demonstrated African countries’ capacity to develop solutions to challenges facing the continent.

He noted that Nigeria and Ethiopia together accounted for more than 350 million people, stressing that cooperation between the two countries could have significant implications for Africa’s environmental and socio-economic development.

Also speaking, Gezategn Andarge, head of the Organisation Sector of the Prosperity Party Youth Wing, said the Ethiopian delegation came to Nigeria not only to plant trees but also to “plant a relationship” between young people of both countries.

Mr Andarge said the initiative aimed to plant cooperation and hope while reaffirming the belief that Africa’s future should be built by Africans through cooperation, shared responsibility and collective action.

He urged young Africans to take greater responsibility for environmental leadership through community clean-ups, green entrepreneurship and the establishment of cross-border environmental networks.

The APC National Youth Leader, Dayo Israel, described the programme as an important step toward strengthening Nigeria-Ethiopia youth relations by transforming dialogue between the two countries into concrete partnerships.

Mr Israel thanked President Bola Tinubu and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for their respective environmental commitments and support for initiatives aimed at promoting greener communities.

He also acknowledged the contributions of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike and Dr Dolapo Fasawe, Mandate Secretary of the Health Services and Environment Secretariat (HSES), in coordinating the programme at short notice.

Ms Fasawe reiterated the FCT Administration’s commitment to expanding green spaces and combating climate change under Wike’s leadership, in line with the Abuja Master Plan, which reserves about 33 per cent of the territory’s land for green areas.

She assured that the administration would monitor the seedlings planted during the exercise to ensure their survival, noting that the activity was part of regular tree-planting and maintenance programmes across the FCT.

Meanwhile, Joseph Dhis, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, FCTA, said the exercise formed part of the department’s year-round commitment to planting, watering, pruning and replacing trees across the territory.

The event also featured tree planting led by a seven-member Ethiopian youth delegation and APC youth members at Yakubu Gowon University, formerly the University of Abuja, as well as engagements with the Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies.

(NAN)