It is no news that the northern parts of the country are challenged by desertification and drought, which have affected the environment and livelihood in the area as a result of poor or no harvest of farm produce.
The desertification however is exacerbated by the effects of climate change which is affecting the world currently.
To caution the challenge of desertification and drought, experts had emphasised the need for tree planting in areas affected.
To this, Jamaatul Izalatul Bidia Wa Ikamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS) Katagum Local Government Area of Bauchi moves to sensitise residents of Azare to scale up tree planting campaign to mitigate desertification and drought in the state, which it believed to also have religious inclination.
Chairman of the Council of JIBWIS, Katagum LGA, Magaji Bappa Suleiman, said the objective of the exercise is to educate the Muslim faithful to know that planting of trees is a religious responsibility for them to grow a tree and preserve it for the environment.
Suleiman said many people, especially those that are not literate, believe that the issue of global warming is an exclusive conventional issue raised among some experts not knowing that it was scientific research that revealed the statistics about global warming.
"Before the advent of modern sciences, Islam had made provisions on how to preserve the environment in many verses of the Holy Quran and Prophetic tradition (Hadith)," he said.
Suleiman said it has been the tradition in Azare in the past to witness tree planting campaigns by leaders at all levels and residents planting trees on an annual basis but such practices had stopped for many years in Katagum LGA.
"Apart from the stoppage of the tree planting exercise, there was no awareness campaign to the people on preservation of the environment and this pave ways to the people to continue felling of trees due to ignorance and others factors as a result of economic hardship felling the trees as source for means of survival," he said.
While noting that all the people involved in felling of trees don't know the environmental implications and other social danger their activities is posing to the environment, he said these among others are the reasons why JIBWIS decided to take the awareness campaign against felling of trees, which contributed to inconsistent rainfall, unfavorable weather conditions and global warming.
"Our major concern recently is the desertification because Azare is facing desert encroachment, which is negatively affecting farming activities that farmers hardly harvest the quantity of the previous seasons. JIBWIS brainstormed and came up with the ideas to educate and enlighten the populace on the Islamic perspective of environmental preservation because Islam has made provisions for all aspects of human endeavors.
"We have earmarked over 1,300 economic trees including Mangos, Guava, Water Berry, Moringa, Neem, Mahogany tree, Kyllinga Erecta trees and Cashew to be distributed to residents to plant in their homes.
"The sensitisation is divided into two including theory and practical, the theoretical aspect is the lectures delivered by Islamic scholars and agronomists while the practical is the distribution of tree seedlings to the people to plant the trees in their houses and places. We appeal to the people to make use of the important messages about planting of trees and we give them free tree seedlings to plant and grow to mature level. I believe Inshallah if we continue with this direction we will achieve the desired objectives," he said.
He further said JIBWIS would collaborate with Azare-based civil society organization, Katagum Forum, that has already gotten the consent of Federal Ministry of Works to plant trees side-by-side along the federal highways in Katagum LGA.
Speaking during the exercise, Governor Bala Mohammad who was represented by the Caretaker Chairman of Katagum LGA, Musa Azare, donated 4000 tree seedlings to support the initiatives.
He said the sensitisation is timely and apt, particularly at the Northern Bauchi, following some unethical human activities and natural disasters.
"The unethical attitude of people, especially felling of trees and other practices, have contributed towards the pollution of the environment. There is a need for a continuous awareness campaign over these challenges because whoever grew up among our age mates could recall that Azare is surrounded by lots of forestry and trees but unfortunately the reverse is the case.
"Whenever rainfall associated with strong wind started, residents of Azare became worried due to the devastating noise of their roofing because all the trees that surrounded the town were cut down. This is a great harm to humans and the environment. Experts have delivered wake-up calls and enlightenment from Islamic and scientific perspectives for us to make judicious use of the lessons to collectively tackle the problems for our wellbeing and the future generations," he said.
He however assured JIBWIS and other stakeholders of the local council of the necessary support to restore sanity towards preserving the environment in Katagum and the state in general.
A professor at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, Saminu Ibrahim Abdurrahman, during his presentation on the theme: "Significance of Plants to Human and his Environment," cautioned people to be careful on how they treat the environment so that they derive the benefits from it and not fall into problems when the environment gets deteriorated and the consequences that come with it.
He said the plants perform the function of replenishing the oxygen in the atmosphere for the benefits of human beings and animals as well as reducing the impact of climate change.
"You can see clearly, the plant in addition to performing the functions of replenishes the oxygen, it also takes away the carbon dioxide that could have caused problems in the environment and caused climate change and other unfortunate situations," he said.
Abdurrahman added that many plants produce food for the people and animals and many food items are produced by plants for human development, in addition to provisions of clothing for human beings and a good example is cotton, which is used to process clothing materials.
"Another important function of plants is provisions of conducive weather conditions that provide good serenity that enhance a healthy environment that would further intensify both physical and mental well-being for the socioeconomic development of society," he said.
Given Islamic perspective on preserving the environment, a renowned Islamic scholar and Chief Imam of Al-Ahfaad Jummuat Mosque in Gombe State, Dr Umar Garba Dokaji, said Islam prioritises personal cleanliness and environmental sanitation as well as environment preservation.
The cleric said planting a tree in Islam is continuous charity (Sadaqatul Jariyah) because of the numerous benefits to humanity, animals, and other creatures, adding that apart from preservation of the environment for the well-being of the universe, these trees equally serve as shelter for birds, food, clothing and medicine for both human and other creatures.
The imam explained that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) has said, "Anyone who plants an economic tree and a bird feeds from it without his knowledge, or human and animals eat from the tree, Allah would recompense him with a reward of charity (Sadaqa)."
The Imam explained that preserving the environment is a religious obligation that every Muslims should observe and upheld through planting of trees and preserving them because, "Allah has made provisions for bountiful rewards to individuals who planted trees for the benefits of humanity."
He further said the Quran revealed that God Almighty revived cities with trees and any town or cities without plantation of trees is a dead city.
The scholar disclosed that all plants and trees worship Allah Almighty in their own ways and God has created them for a purpose, therefore Muslims should imbibe the culture of preserving them to attract rewards from Allah and to also benefit from a healthy serenity of the environment.
The imam further disclosed that Islam has prohibited illegal felling of trees except if a tree is causing public harm or as a result of pressing public interest and calling on parents and guardians to inculcate the culture of preserving the environment through planting of trees and discouraged felling of trees in society.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
He also recommended to residents that each family should go back home and plant a tree according to the number of the family size, adding, "If you have 10 children you should plant 10 trees and assign one each of the children to take care of growing it to mature level. Our school, especially from junior secondary school JSS - 3, should also be given a tree each and assigned the responsibility of trees including water."
In his remarks, former Acting Comptroller General of Prison, Alhaji Aminu Sule (OON), who chaired the sensitisation exercise charged critical stakeholders, especially the Katagum Local Government Council, the emirate council and other key actors to collaborate with JIBWIS to squarely confront the desert encroachment facing the Katagum LGA, especially from its northern area.
Sule expressed concern over the desert encroachment in Katagum, and advised the local and emirate council to provide alternative land to residents of the outskirts of northern Azare where the former forest and lots of trees were cut down to replant the trees because the destruction is beyond imagination.
"This sensitisation should start and end here; we must put machinery in practice to plant numerous trees, monitor their development and ensure that collectively preserve our environment," he said.
Responding, the Emir of Katagum, Alhaji Umar Farouk II, thanked JIBWIS for their foresight to champion a life-saving awareness campaign on preserving the environment through the distribution of the tree seedlings to residents of Azare.
Represented by the Sarkin Yakin Katagum, Alhaji Abubakar Muhammad, the monarch explained that the sensitization, especially the calibre of scholars that educated the people on the preservation of the environment, is a good footing to change the narratives in Katagum and the state in general.
Meanwhile, highlights of the event were distribution of over 1, 500 economic tree seedlings to residents to plant in their respective homes.
