The Federal Government is set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dalberg and Campo/Campos groups in furtherance of its Green Legacy Programme.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima revealed this during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations Food Systems Summit in Addis Ababa on Monday.
Shettima, while hosting representatives of the consortium that supported Ethiopia’s 46 billion tree-planting campaign, reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to the green revolution.
“We have very tall and ambitious project here and where there is a will there is always a way. But experience is not something you buy in the market square, you have to have it and you have earned it by supporting the Ethiopian Government to succeed. We are optimistic of the 20 billion trees. If Ethiopia, a hilly country, made up of high lands and mountains can succeed in planting 46 billion trees, then I believe our 25 billion is even a modest figure. So, I want us to start planting up to 10 billion trees,” the vice-president said.
He described President Bola Tinubu as a transformational leader focused on redefining leadership in Africa, and praised his courage and willingness to take bold decisions aimed at revitalising the Nigerian economy.
In a separate meeting, Shettima hosted Manssour Mussallam, Secretary-General of the Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC), and urged the body to devise innovative solutions for addressing development challenges across member states.
He highlighted the demographic weight of the Global South, noting that it accounts for over 70 per cent of the world’s population.
“Part of the reasons why I was eager to meet with you has to do with the core mandate of the organisation of Southern cooperation — building balanced and inclusive education systems. In this age of economic nationalism, the South needs to look inward to come up with ingenious solutions towards addressing developmental challenges amongst its member states. If you add China and India as part of the global South, we constitute the chunk of the global solution. For me and my boss, we are very passionate about education,” he said.
Shettima stressed that Africa must not miss the current technological revolution, as it had with the agricultural and industrial revolutions, and urged the continent to seize opportunities in artificial intelligence and biotechnology.
Earlier, Mussallam requested Nigeria’s support for the establishment of South-South Technology Transfer Centres, which are intended to promote technological exchange among member nations.
He thanked the Nigerian Government for becoming a founding member of the OSC and one of the first to ratify its charter.
“Your Excellency, as you are aware, the Organisation of Southern Cooperation is relatively new into government organisations. We were born in January 2020 with the conviction that it was necessary for us to finally have an organisation that is our own, with an executive capacity that enables South-South cooperation,” Mussallam said.
He added that under the guidance of its General Assembly, the OSC had developed a two-year programme built on six pillars, including building knowledge-powered societies, launching the Southern Commission for Artificial Intelligence, and creating a Research and Innovation Fund.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria’s leadership and vision made it an ideal host for the African centre of the planned technology exchange initiative.
(NAN)