MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has announced plans to distribute 23,700 cooking gas cylinders free of charge to teachers and environmental vanguards across the state’s 27 local government areas.
Okay News reports that the initiative is designed to reduce dependence on firewood and support the state’s efforts to tackle deforestation and environmental degradation.
Zulum made the announcement on Thursday during the 2026 National Tree Planting Campaign and the distribution of clean cooking stoves and gas cylinders in Maiduguri. He said beneficiaries would also receive refill vouchers to recharge their cylinders through approved vendors.
The first phase will cover 5,000 teachers and environmental vanguards in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and Jere Local Government Area. The remaining beneficiaries across 25 local government areas will receive the cylinders in later phases.
The governor said the programme would help reduce the use of firewood, improve household health, lower carbon emissions and protect Borno’s forests. He added that environmental restoration remained an important part of his administration’s post-conflict recovery agenda.
At the event, Environment Minister Balarabe Abbas Lawal praised the initiative, saying the clean cooking programme provided a practical alternative to firewood use alongside the tree-planting campaign.
Lawal also flagged off the planting of four million seedlings supplied by various sectors. He said more than 20 million trees had already been planted in Borno and urged governments, schools, religious organisations, businesses and citizens to treat tree planting as a shared responsibility.
