What do Lagos residents think of the greening initiative of the state government? HANNAH OJO captures the people’s thoughts in this report.
It is 8.30 am. The traffic snarl that usually accompanies the early morning rush on Agege Motor Road shows no sign of abating. The road, a central connecting route in Mushin Local Government Area, one of the most densely populated urban slum districts in Lagos Mainland, is lined with vehicles of all sizes. The exhausts of many of the rickety vehicles are emitting smoke.
Amid the quagmire is the sight of exotic trees planted on both sides of the road. The array of trees cast a greenish splendour which makes for a picturesque view. For an area notorious for vehicular chaos and general rowdiness, the sight of the trees constitutes a big relief. For some residents, the beautiful sight is an elixir for the insanity their eyes behold.
While many have taken ownership of the trees planted by the Lagos State Parks and Garden Agency, cleaning and weeding them whenever the highway managers fail to show up, a few others see it as a distraction. Others think in spite of their beauty, the trees stand in the way of profit as it competes for space with roadside traders. Adeolu Adekunle, a cobbler, is one of such persons.
With Adekunle’s shop located beside one of the trees, he has taken the opportunity of the vantage position to advertise his goods. Although the fact that the tree was an initiative meant to arrest climate change is lost on him, Adeolu still praises the idea for the fact that it has helped in beautifying the environment and allowing him to breathe fresher air. However, he was quick to add that government should have saved the tree’s ambience for commerce.
Asked if he had not compromised the purpose for which the tree was planted by displaying his wares on them, he said: “This tree is planted in front of my shop, so I have to sweep and even weed the surroundings. If I then use it to display my wares, I think it is a good reward for my labour.”
Bayo Ibrahim, a pool agent on the same road, claimed not to have heard of climate change. He nonetheless registered his appreciation of the project. “These trees make this place colourful and fine,” he said. “But I am not happy that all that is planted are flowery trees. If I can at least get fruits, it would compensate for having to clean up this place from time to time since government cleaners are not usually prompt with their services. The trees are not sitting on our heads but we should be able to feed from them.”
Asked what informed the choice of the species of trees planted, the head of the Tree Planting Unit of the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency, Ms. Toyin Uyo, said it was based on the space available and the soil texture. Fruit bearing trees, she added, are restricted to schools where prizes are also initiated for students to plant trees.
She said: “We cannot plant edible trees on the road because of the challenge of space and soil texture. Also, we need to be careful so we don’t compromise on drains and minimise distractions. We want to limit the fruit bearing trees to schools while the ones on the road serve as carbon sinks; not only for aesthetics.”
Adanma Onwe, a 15-year-old student of Clegg Girls Senior High School, Surulere affirmed the popularity of the tree planting culture among school children.
“We planted new trees in my school two months ago. All the students participate in watering them every morning because we were told the trees are good for our health and the environment. Green plants supply photosynthesis,” she said.
Unlike the Lagos of yore when arrays of beautiful trees were usually sighted in highbrow areas formerly occupied by British colonial masters, trees now adorn the streets and highways of even densely populated areas of the city. The development has led to the beautification of the environment, making Lagos a greener and finer city.
But contrary to what many think, the trees were not planted primarily to beautify the city but to arrest the negative effects of climate change in the state.
A 2013 report by Maplecroft, a British risk consulting firm, ranked Nigeria sixth among countries that are most vulnerable to the effect of climate change. Of special mention is Lagos, one of the African cities affected by rising sea levels, which makes it vulnerable to flooding.
In 2009, the state government under the leadership of Babatunde Fashola, created the Lagos State Parks and Garden Agency (LASPARK). The agency is charged with the task of creating awareness about the importance of planting trees not only as an object of beautification but to act as carbon sinks for green house emission. LASPARK has succeeded to a large extent in converting open spaces and loops that were hideouts for criminals to green parks.
There are about 170 of such parks all over the states, and in the agency’s estimation, more than 4.3 million trees have been planted in the last six years. There is a future projection to plant five million more trees by 2020, The Nation learnt.
The economic impact of the tree planting initiative is not lost on the residents. It has opened doors of employment for gardeners, park attendants and guards. It is also a booming time for horticulturists who sell their seedlings to LASPARK, corporate organisations and other individuals who want to plant trees.
Mrs. Funmi Omotosho, a business woman and horticulturist bares her mind on the tree planting activities in the state: “We live in a city where there are lots of bad emissions in the air. In those days in Lagos when I was growing up, one could really breathe fresh air since there were lots of trees that would emit oxygen. But with industrialization and so many people using generators, there is a lot of fume in the air.”
She admitted that the campaign for tree planting has led to a boom in trade for horticulturists, especially with increased demand for flower beds and gardening in homes.
“So many people are also going into the business, especially graduates and youths. Horticulture is a viable venture but people must be ready to get their nails and hands dirty because you need to love the earth, the trees and other things to be successful at it. You don’t need to have a degree in agriculture to be a horticulturist,” she added.
In 2009, the state government organised an annual international climate change summit where the former governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, made a statement confirming how global warming is already a biting reality on the people. He said: “Gone are the days when we could succinctly draw a line between the rainy season and dry season. Gone are the days when harvest was predictable and bountiful. Gone are the days when select species of certain fish were readily available on the menu table.”
The quote appears to drive the actions on agitated tree planting and other greening campaigns intended to mitigate the effect of a warming climate. However, investigation shows that it is not yet Uhuru for the project as majority of the residents are yet to realise that the trees serve more purposes than aesthetics. Also, the awareness on climate change among the citizenry is pathetically low.
There is also a strong indication that government, including those at the local level, need to work at nurturing and maintaining the planted trees.
Mr Taiwo Adewole, a renowned environmentalist who is also the executive director of WasteAid International, told The Nation that the morale of planting trees has dropped at government level.
He said: “The Initiative was effective from the beginning where it was mandatory for local governments, schools and even individuals to plant trees. The state was able to plant millions of trees then. Today, the morale of tree planting has really dropped. The essence of planting trees is unknown to many who are unaware of the environmental sustainability aspect of tree planting. It is more than mere beautification because trees serve as carbon sequencers for the environment.”
Urging the state government to intensify awareness on the essence of tree planting towards attaining environmental sustainability, Adewole also observed that the enthusiasm of the local government councils in the state has waned. He added that the climate change unit and tree planting clubs in schools set up in some local government areas to promote tree plantings are dead due to lack of vision.
With a teeming population which has also increased the level of emissions released into the atmosphere, it did not come as a surprise that a survey on the effects of vehicle emissions on human health in Nigeria conducted in Oshodi, Mushin and Apapa areas, linked the prevalence of some illnesses such as catarrh, heavy eye (sleeplessness) and headache to heavy emissions from vehicles.
It is developments like this that the planting of trees are supposed to mitigate. In a state where people outnumber space, it is difficult to see how tree planting can thrive.
The challenges, according to Adewole, are enormous.
He said: “There was a suggestion that before any building plan gets approval, the owner has to dedicate at least 30 per cent of such plan to greening initiatives. Can this be really effective in Lagos State?
“There is a need for serious legislation on the felling of trees and what to plant back to replace every single tree felled within the state. There is a need to plant what I call the economic tree. This could attract people to want to plants trees, once they know it will bring a benefit to then economically aside the environmental gain.”
In a city with limited landmass and a huge population, how far can tree planting go? The answer hovers.