One Million New Trees for Lagos

Lagos State government is set to plant one million trees in four years

The Lagos State government in its drive to improve the aesthetic beauty of the state and protect the environment from further degradation is set to plant one million trees in the state in the next four years. Babatunde Raji Fashola, governor of the state on September 3, led top government officials to plant trees in major parts of the state to kick-start the state tree planting campaign.

Fashola, who defied the rain of that day to lead the tree planting exercise which took place simultaneously in all the 20 local government areas in the state as well as the 37 development areas, said tree planting would be given a serious attention by the state government for two reasons. The first was the need to protect the environment "as the entire planet faces serious ecological threat and the second is the need to add to the beauty of the environment."

He said the city of Lagos had suffered various environmental degradations in recent years, but expressed satisfaction that the state was gradually being transformed from that of neglect and degradation to an aesthetically appealing and friendly society with its beautification programme. "I remember with nostalgia those days when the streets of Lagos, especially Lagos Island, Ikoyi, Apapa, Ikeja and Lagos Mainland were adorned with beautiful trees, which did not only add aesthetic values to the city, but also protected the environment from degradation," he said.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko