Saving Native Flora: How CITAD is mobilizing Kano schools against tree extinctions
The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has trained secondary school teachers in Kano State to pioneer indigenous tree-planting campaigns across their schools.
The one-day capacity-building workshop, held at CITAD’s headquarters in Kano under the theme “Greening Our Future: Indigenous Tree Planting for Climate Resilience and Biodiversity,” brought together educators, environmental scientists, and institutional stakeholders to enhance environmental literacy and embed sustainable conservation practices in schools.
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Delivering the keynote address, CITAD Executive Director Dr. Y. Z. Yau identified desertification as one of Nigeria’s most critical environmental threats, attributing its rapid spread to widespread, unchecked deforestation without matching replanting efforts.
Dr. Yau warned that vital indigenous species—such as ɗinya (black plum) and danya—face imminent extinction in northern Nigeria unless urgent conservation measures are enacted.
To address this, Dr. Yau disclosed that CITAD has reached an agreement with Kano State education authorities to supply a variety of native tree seedlings to eight selected secondary schools, allowing each school to choose species suited to its specific environmental and security needs.
”Some schools intentionally opted against fruit-bearing trees to prevent unauthorized entry and trespassing by individuals seeking to harvest fruits,” Dr. Yau explained.
He urged participating teachers to form school-based environmental clubs to teach students seedling care, instill practical conservation skills, and build a network of young environmental advocates capable of collaborating across communities.
Recommended Caption: Native tree saplings selected for distribution to secondary schools in Kano State.
In his remarks, Professor Ibrahim Lawan Abdullahi of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Bayero University, Kano (BUK), commended CITAD’s intervention, describing it as a timely effort to protect northern Nigeria’s disappearing flora.
Professor Abdullahi expressed confidence that equipping teachers with practical conservation knowledge would create a strong trickle-down effect, boosting environmental awareness among students and the broader public while curbing illegal logging.
The workshop also featured an operational roadmap presented by Program Coordinator Sani Khamis, alongside an interactive presentation by Ummy H. U. Adams on using public exhibitions and community engagement tools to drive grassroots environmental advocacy.
