Someone once asked Chinua Achebe a question he did not want to answer: the person wanted to know, of all the books Achebe had written, which was his favourite. Even though Achebe said it was near the same thing as asking a man which of his children was his favourite, he, however, admitted that he would most likely be caught re-reading Arrow of God. I have reread Arrow of God, and in one of my recent re-readings, I noted, that if Achebe’s fiction is to be believed, it is an Igbo practice that holds the promise of environmental sustainability. What is it? Every time a child is born, the father plants a tree in the child’s name.
Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, in a recent interview with Leadership Newspaper, revealed that Nigeria’s tree cover has been depleted to 3.7 per cent with the minimum standard being around 25 per cent. The minister was concerned that, because of the activities of illegal logging, poaching and banditry, we may lose our remaining tree cover in its entirety, if we do not scale up planting of trees. One can see that this is not unrelated to the changes in the heat we have experienced this year; starting earlier than anticipated and lasting longer than appreciated. We have turned our environment into an object of injustice. Now, the threat we face is real and, if we do not plant more trees, the price we will pay is in blood.
This problem is most keenly felt in Northern Nigeria, with its accompanying problem of desertification, especially with the encroachment of the Sahara. It is true that between 2013 and 2024 the Environment Ministry, through the National Agency for the Great Green Wall, has so far planted 1819.96Km (5,459.88 Hectares) of shelterbelt across the eleven frontline states, but we can see that it is not enough.
Balarabe Abbas Lawal has said that he means to restore Nigeria’s tree cover before departing office. He has sought the help of the Nigerian army, among other critical stakeholders including youths, women and retirees, to help the Ministry of Environment fulfil this objective. If he succeeds, the matter of sustainability will remain after he is gone. We all must approach our environment with the kindness that it deserves, particularly with the management of waste and use of plastic because deep down, we all know that Elon Musk is not quick enough, resourceful enough or whatever enough to relocate us all to Mars.
But even if Mars is habitable, Nigeria’s over 200 million black people will not find room on Elon’s ships. So, we have no choice but to resume the aborted dialogue on environmental sustainability with words translating into action. Federal and sub-national governments must mainstream environmental considerations across all sectors by rethinking and restructuring federal and state budgets to make them green. Every policy we make and implement must centre on environmental considerations.
Earlier this month I was on a panel, Confronting the Environmental Challenges in Northern Nigeria, at the annual Kaduna Book and Arts Festival. Seeing as we all take in oxygen, I argued that it is not unreasonable to expect that every Nigerian should have a tree in their name like in Achebe’s Arrow of God. Perhaps we should go a step further and make this a national policy.
Please, plant a tree today.
Abubakar Evuti wrote from Abuja
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