Foreign body to assist Yobe on desertification

Mrs Joseph, who paid a courtesy call on the Yobe State deputy governor, Engineer Abubakar Aliyu, at the weekend in Damaturu noted that desertification was affecting residents of the northern part of the state. “Life in the communities of Bulatura, Tulutulu, Yusufari and Bukarti are difficult and terrible. There is the need for immediate assistance […]

Mrs Joseph, who paid a courtesy call on the Yobe State deputy governor, Engineer Abubakar Aliyu, at the weekend in Damaturu noted that desertification was affecting residents of the northern part of the state.

“Life in the communities of Bulatura, Tulutulu, Yusufari and Bukarti are difficult and terrible. There is the need for immediate assistance so that those communities would not be buried by the ravaging desert”, she said.

The representative explained that the rate of desert encroachment was glaring and threatening the lives of the people, noting that the organisation which was working in partnership with another one called ‘Blue Sea International’ was to establish the date plantations, build hospitals and transfer same to the communities after running them for six months. She said the trees would prevent desertification.

“The movement of sand dunes has to be caged otherwise, it will clear all the communities who will be forced to move away in search of means of livelihood”, she added.

The deputy governor, in his response, said Yobe State government was ready to partner with organisations and donor agencies that were willing to support the control of desert encroachment. “The situation is not just local, state or national but international in nature and therefore requires collaborative efforts”, he said.

He said 10 local governments were worse hit by desertification with attendant poor agricultural yields and dried up rivers, wells and other water sources for human and animal survival.

“Some communities are abandoning their settlements and moving southwards in search of agricultural land and water,” Ali noted and expressed fears that unless the environmental problem was solved “one day all the people would be forced to leave”.