What Nigeria can learn from Vice President’s visit to Ethiopia

When Vice President Kashim Shettima visited Ethiopia in June 2025 and took part in the Green Legacy Project, he didn’t just plant a tree—he symbolically planted hope for Africa’s future. Ethiopia’s tree-planting campaign, which aims to reclaim degraded lands and combat climate change through the planting of over 20 billion trees, offers a compelling model […]

When Vice President Kashim Shettima visited Ethiopia in June 2025 and took part in the Green Legacy Project, he didn’t just plant a tree—he symbolically planted hope for Africa’s future. Ethiopia’s tree-planting campaign, which aims to reclaim degraded lands and combat climate change through the planting of over 20 billion trees, offers a compelling model for Nigeria. It’s a model built not only on numbers but on vision, community participation, science, and strong political backing.

Back home, Nigeria has made several efforts through the National Annual Tree Planting Campaign held every August 3, spearheaded by the federal government and observed across states over the years. However, compared to Ethiopia’s Green Legacy, Nigeria’s campaign remains under-leveraged. The time is ripe to transform our August 3 observance from a token ceremonial affair into a cornerstone of a massive, community-driven, ecologically tailored national reforestation programme. It is time we move from ceremony to mass mobilisation by making August 3 a National Green Day

In Ethiopia, “Green Legacy Day” is a festival of civic environmentalism. Millions participate—from schoolchildren to elders, from city-dwellers to rural farmers. The success of the project lies in the people’s ownership of the process.

Nigeria must adopt this ethos. August 3 should no longer be limited to symbolic tree planting by government officials and dignitaries. Instead, it should be rebranded as “Nigeria Green Day”—a national environmental holiday. Schools should plant trees. Markets, mosques and churches should host greening events. Traditional rulers should mobilise their domains. Local governments should compete to plant and nurture the most trees. In doing so, August 3 would no longer be a photo opportunity but a participatory national movement. We should set ambitious targets and monitor them with technology.

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Ethiopia aimed to plant 20 billion trees in five years—and reached that goal with coordinated monitoring using satellite imagery and local data collection. Nigeria must also be bold. Let August 3 become the launch pad for an annual national target—say, 10 million trees planted and geo-tagged nationwide. A public dashboard should track each state’s contribution. This would boost accountability and allow civil society to verify claims and survival rates.

Versatile institutions can be engaged to use GIS, drones, and mobile technology to monitor planting and growth relevant to ecological zones through local species selection, turning the tree campaign into a learning, data-driven national project.

Ethiopia’s Green Legacy used agro-ecological zoning to ensure native and climate-resilient trees were chosen for each area. Nigeria’s campaign must take a similar approach. August 3 planting should be coordinated with the National Forest Inventory and ecological mapping. For example: In the Sahelian North: drought-resistant species like Acacia senegal, Ziziphus, Neem and Prosopis juliflora. In the Middle Belt: species like Tamarindus indica, and Teak. In the Rainforest South: Iroko, Mahogany, Oil Palm, and fruit trees like mango and breadfruit.

This will not only improve tree survival but help restore degraded ecosystems in a way that supports biodiversity and livelihoods. Tree planting can become an economic empowerment and employment hub as trees provided not only ecological benefits but fruits, fuelwood, fodder, and income.

Nigeria’s campaign should be tied to livelihoods. The government can support youth cooperatives, women’s groups, and farmers’ associations to produce seedlings and run local nurseries. Each August can then be both a planting day and a distribution day, where millions of climate-smart seedlings are distributed to farmers free or at subsidized rates.

We should have institutional leadership and political will similar to Ethiopia’s Green Legacy as driven by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed with institutional backing at federal and regional levels, with measurable goals and consistent follow-up.

The Vice President’s involvement in Ethiopia sends a strong signal. Nigeria must now institutionalise the “Green Nigeria Initiative,” with the Vice President chairing a national steering committee. The August 3 campaign should be officially incorporated into state-level budgets and state executive council agendas.

Governors should be mandated to submit annual tree planting and survival reports, and local government authorities (LGAs) should host monthly follow-ups to ensure growth. This coordination across federal-state-local tiers is essential to turn August 3 from ritual to results.

August 3 should be tied to school environmental curriculum and youth participation just like in Ethiopia where youths are not just participants, they are central. The government involves them in nurseries, planting, and public campaigns.

Nigeria can replicate this by launching school-based Green Clubs to host pre-August 3 events: essay competitions, school farm tree projects, nursery development, and community engagement. NYSC members should also be assigned environmental mandates, including seedling distribution and public education.

Each year, on August 3, these young Nigerians would serve as the frontline ambassadors of the country’s reforestation efforts – turning the campaign into a generational movement.

Let August 3 be broadcast nationally—on NTA, radio stations, and social media. Let the President, Vice President, governors, and traditional leaders give annual Green Nigeria addresses at every level at every level from the local to international press to celebrated milestones, shared stories, and celebrate outstanding performers with national awards and incentives.

By giving visibility and prestige to the tree planting campaign, the government sends a powerful message: “this is our priority, and it belongs to all of us”.

The vice president visit should not be a footnote—it must be a spark. Nigeria has the land, the people, the knowledge, and the urgency to build something bigger.

Let us begin with what we already have: our August 3 Tree Planting Day. Let us grow it—literally and symbolically—into a true Green Legacy for Nigeria. Through coordinated action, political will, and community engagement, August 3rd can become a landmark of our national environmental renewal.

The trees we plant today will offer shade, food, income, and oxygen to generations unborn. It’s time to stop making speeches under trees planted by our ancestors. It’s time to plant ours—for the climate, for the economy, and for posterity.

 

Ahmad lives at FMA2 off Yaya (Petel) Abubakar Road, Fadamar Mada, Bauchi