By Abu Micheal
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu
In Kogi State, the most profound revolution is not happening on a campaign podium. It is happening silently, in gullies that once swallowed houses, in farmlands that once cracked under the sun, in classrooms where girls once dropped out for want of a pad, and in communities that once feared the rain.
At the centre of it stands a woman who does not shout about her work, because her work shouts for her: Barr. Ladi Ahmed Jatto, OON, State Project Coordinator of ACReSAL.
But no honest account of her work can be told without telling the story of the two governors who made it possible. For Barr. Jatto herself has said it again and again, in interview after interview, in Lokoja and in Abuja: her accomplishments are not hers alone. They are the fruit of political will, of counterpart funding paid when it was due, of continuity in governance, and of governors who did not treat the environment as a slogan but as a priority.
Silently, she is carrying out a revolution, with the environment, the better for it. And behind that silence stands the loud, deliberate support of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, and before him, former Governor Yahaya Bello.
To understand her, you must first understand the assignment she was given.
ACReSAL stands for Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes. It is a World Bank-supported project, Project P175237, with $700 million in initial financing, later increased to $1.2 billion with an additional $500 million approved in November 2026, whose development objective is to increase the adoption of climate-resilient landscape management practices and enhance livelihoods in targeted arid and semi-arid watersheds in Northern Nigeria.
Nationally, it operates across 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, targeting regions where nearly 70 million people face desertification and climate risks. By its Mid-Term Review in April 2026, it had placed 922,717.86 hectares of degraded land under restoration, representing 97% of its end target.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” – Native American Proverb, often attributed to Chief Seattle
“The earth is not a gift from our parents, it is a loan from our children.” – Ancient African Proverb
That is the moral meaning behind the technical name. ACReSAL is not just a project. It is a debt to the next generation. Restoring 11,064 hectares, planting 3,000 hectares of agroforestry, harvesting water, these are not just figures. They are a repayment to children yet unborn.
In Kogi, that huge, technical, donor-driven mandate needed a particular kind of manager: someone who could speak the language of the World Bank and the language of the village woman at the same time, someone who could manage engineers, procurement, counterpart funding, community grievances and politics without losing the soul of the project.
That is why those who know the story say Barr. Jatto was not just appointed. She was fitted. A right peg in a round hole.
“Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation.” – Aristotle
“The measure of a man is what he does with power.” – Plato
Her pedigree explains it. An indigene of Okene Local Government Area, born in Bauchi State, educated at Federal Government College, Azare, and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where she later obtained an MBA in Human Resource Management, she is a lawyer, a Fellow of the Institute of Public Diplomacy and Management, a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and the International Bar Association, and an Ambassador of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs following her participation in the Multi-sector Rapid Assessment Training Programme. She also participated in the Harvard Arc of Change Transformational Leadership Summit in 2023 and in the Federal Government / World Bank / China South-South Knowledge Exchange on watershed management, gully restoration, climate-smart agriculture and geospatial technologies.
Before ACReSAL, she had already proved herself. She served as Special Adviser to the Kogi State Governor on Multilateral and Donor Agencies from July 2019 to June 2022, and as Kogi State Coordinator of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), the predecessor that laid the foundation for ACReSAL. It was under her watch that Kogi NEWMAP won the World Bank Nigeria FY19 Portfolio Performance Award as Best Performing State in the North Central, and that the Ozuri gully, a monster of about 6.5 kilometres with five gully fingers stretching from Ozuri junction to the General Hospital area at Obangede, which had defied solution since 2010 and consumed houses, farmlands and access roads, was finally confronted with compensation to project-affected persons and a full remediation contract. She had also led interventions in Agassa, Adum, Ankpa, Idah, Kabba-Bunu and Ofu, and facilitated a solar-powered garri processing plant at Ahoeze.
That record is why, when President Muhammadu Buhari conferred national honours in 2023, Barr. Jatto was among the few from Kogi to receive the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). It was not a political favour. It was, in the words of those who celebrated her then, a crown for hard work, for the uncommon commitment she had shown to NEWMAP and ACReSAL, and for a reputation that had remained untainted for over three decades.
Under her leadership as Kogi ACReSAL Coordinator, the state has moved from promise to measurable proof, and every proof bears the fingerprints of gubernatorial support.
At the stakeholders’ engagement for the development of 11 Strategic Catchment Management Plans in Lokoja in August 2025, she gave the figures herself, not as boast but as account: Kogi had restored 11,064 hectares of degraded land through gully remediation works, increased water storage capacity by 800 cubic metres through water harvesting initiatives, restored over 3,000 hectares through agroforestry and tree-planting, and enhanced agricultural productivity and livelihoods through dry-season farming support. She added that water harvesting alone had restored 1,540 hectares of land, and that every intervention was driven by extensive stakeholder engagement within targeted micro-watersheds, ensuring that every solution was tailored to both community needs and environmental priorities.
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.” – John Donne
“What we do to the earth, we do to ourselves.” – Ancient Greek thought, echoed by Hippocrates
A gully in Okene is not just Okene’s problem. Erosion in Ankpa is not just Ankpa’s problem. When one community falls, the whole state feels it. When one is healed, all breathe easier.
The most dramatic proof is in the three gullies that once defined fear in three senatorial districts. In April 2024, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo signed contracts totalling N29,929,447,352.15 for civil works at Etahi in Okene, Omigbo in Kabba-Bunu and Olubo-Ojo in Ankpa, with Etahi at N10,664,612,410.46, Omigbo at N9,866,807,044.00 and Olubo-Ojo at N9,397,037,897.69. The project, funded by the Kogi State Government in partnership with the World Bank ACReSAL Project, followed a rigorous competitive process in line with World Bank guidelines, in which 21 firms bid and two emerged successful: Mothercat Limited for Olubo-Ojo and Levant Construction Limited for Etahi and Omigbo. The Governor praised the tireless efforts of Barr. Jatto and her team for a job well done, culminating in the success of the signing. By early 2025, as work neared completion, residents were already testifying that flooding that once swept away a motorcycle rider no longer trapped them, that movement had become easier, and that they no longer worried about getting stuck in water.
None of that would have happened without Governor Ododo.
ACReSAL, as Barr. Jatto has repeatedly explained in published interviews, is funded through a World Bank loan that requires counterpart funding from participating states. Without that counterpart funding, the loan does not flow, the contractors do not mobilise, the gullies do not close. Governor Ododo, she has said, has consistently fulfilled that obligation. He has made it easy for the people of Kogi to take advantage of the project. He has led from the front.
When she received the 2026 Distinguished Public Service Award from the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, The Presidency, she did not claim it as a personal trophy. She said it was a recognition of the Kogi State Government’s sustained commitment to community development and effective public service delivery, and she specifically commended Governor Ododo for sustaining the programmes and policies initiated by his predecessor, describing the Governor’s commitment to counterpart funding as critical to the successful implementation of environmental and agricultural intervention projects across the state. She noted that Kogi State has recorded significant progress due to seamless policy implementation and sustained government support, particularly in the execution of World Bank-assisted projects under ACReSAL, and that although the project existed earlier, it became fully operational in Kogi State from 2016 following the government’s structured approach and commitment to counterpart funding.
That is the language of a woman who knows that a coordinator without a governor is a general without an army.
Governor Ododo himself has described ACReSAL as a green priority for economic prosperity, because its objective, which seeks to reduce high poverty rate, reduce land degradation and improve livelihoods, is in line with the vision of his administration. At the flag-off of the Community Revolving Fund loan disbursement at Government House, Lokoja, he expressed his appreciation to all stakeholders and emphasised his administration’s commitment to agricultural development, noting that within five months, his administration had implemented various initiatives to enhance agricultural productivity, including provision of agricultural machineries for mechanisation, agricultural inputs, training, and capacity building for farmers.
Barr. Jatto, standing beside him at that ceremony, returned the commendation. She commended the Governor for his total commitment to the success of the project in the state, saying the Governor has made it easy for the people of Kogi to take advantage of the project. She called on beneficiaries to make the best of the opportunity presented by the presentation of cheques to them by using the funds for the purpose stipulated.
That mutual respect has become the engine of the project. The Governor provides the political will, the counterpart funding, the enabling environment, and the public backing. The Coordinator provides the technical competence, the World Bank compliance, the community engagement, and the day-to-day drive. The result is what Kogi is seeing today.
And yet, to be fair to history, Barr. Jatto has never allowed the present to erase the past. In every major interview, she has gone out of her way to commend former Governor Yahaya Bello, the immediate past Governor, for laying the foundation upon which the present success is built.
It was under Governor Bello, she has recalled, that Kogi’s World Bank-assisted projects found their footing, that NEWMAP became fully operational, that the state began to take counterpart funding seriously, that the institutional reforms that made ACReSAL possible were put in place. It was under his administration that Kogi NEWMAP won the World Bank Nigeria FY19 Portfolio Performance Award as Best Performing State in the North Central, that the Ozuri gully was confronted, that the state earned its reputation for prudent management of project funds, a reputation that the World Bank itself later commended. Governor Bello, she has said, initiated the programmes and policies that Governor Ododo has sustained, and that continuity, that seamless transition from one administration to the next without abandoning what worked, is the real secret of Kogi’s success.
She has described that continuity as rare in Nigerian politics, where new governors often abandon their predecessors’ projects to start their own. In Kogi, she has said, the opposite happened. The predecessor built. The successor sustained. The coordinator delivered. And the people benefited.
That is why she commends Governor Ododo for not breaking the chain, and commends former Governor Bello for forging the chain in the first place. One gave the project life. The other gave it longevity. Both, in her telling, deserve the gratitude of Kogi.
Governor Ododo, for his part, has not been shy in returning the praise. At the compensation ceremony for over 700 Project-Affected Persons in the Ankpa gully erosion project at Olubo-Ojo community, the Governor, represented by the Commissioner for Environment, Engr. Joseph Oluwasegun, said: “The Governor commended the State Project Coordinator of ACReSAL, Barrister Ladi Jatto OON, and her team for their unwavering efforts in tackling environmental challenges in Kogi State. He said their commitment paves the way for a sustainable future for the region.” At the signing of the N29.9 billion contracts, he also praised the tireless efforts of Barr. Jatto and her team for a job well done.
It is a partnership of mutual commendation, and it is working.
But Jatto’s magic wand is not only in concrete and contracts. It is in people.
“The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“He who governs by virtue is like the North Star, which keeps its place while all other stars turn towards it.” – Confucius
She does not micromanage. She builds a team, gives direction, and lets competence work. That is the modern administrator, the manager of human resources, and the trailblazer in one woman.
Through the Community Revolving Fund (CRF) loan scheme, made possible by the Ododo administration’s counterpart funding and World Bank partnership, she disclosed that N3 billion had been disbursed to 90 communities, benefiting 4,201 individuals engaged in farming and agro-processing. Two greenhouse facilities have been completed, with two more under construction, to boost production and serve as learning hubs for farmers, students and practitioners. The first harvests proved the point: in Ageva, Okene, the ACReSAL greenhouse produced its first and second crops of bell pepper, 200 kilogrammes in total, with weekly harvests expected, while a cucumber facility at the Federal University Lokoja showed what climate-smart agriculture could look like when women farmers and students are put at the centre. Governor Ododo approved greenhouses for the three senatorial districts, with Idah next in line.
In March 2026, when the Governor commissioned a new set of equipment at Muhammadu Buhari Square, the scale became visible to all: one swamp buggy, 23 tractors, one low-bed vehicle, 20 tipping tricycles, 30 galvanised wheel waste bins, 400 plastic waste bins, 200 rakes and 150 shovels for community-based waste management, to restore degraded lands, improve waste management, empower farmers and promote a cleaner environment. The Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, would later say it plainly: “Kogi ACReSAL under Barr. Ladi Jatto has become a game-changing platform for the administration as we are making the best of the opportunities offered to drive sustainable solutions to ecological challenges.”
And yet, the most human side of her revolution is the one she funds from her own heart, through the Global Green Pillars Initiative (GGPI), the NGO she leads.
In October 2026, she flagged off a large-scale tree planting and educational support programme in secondary schools across Kogi Central, distributing 15,000 copies of writing and learning materials, eco-friendly reusable sanitary pads and climate-friendly materials, planting economic trees like mango, cashew and moringa, inaugurating Green Pillars Clubs and decorating Green Pillars Ambassadors, and awarding scholarships to indigent but brilliant students across Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okehi, Okene and Ogori-Magongo. The reusable pads, washable and usable for up to twelve months, were a deliberate war against plastic pollution and against the shame that keeps girls out of school. She described it not as a one-off event but as a sustained effort to catch children young and instil a culture of environmental stewardship.
“The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.” – Rabindranath Tagore
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” – Greek Proverb
That is why she plants. Mango, cashew, moringa, orange. Trees that give shade, nutrition, future income. Trees that bind soil, prevent erosion, check desert encroachment, conserve water, reduce flooding, cool the air, and preserve biodiversity. A green school environment, she has explained, reduces stress, improves concentration and enhances academic performance, while the act of nurturing a tree teaches children patience, responsibility, ownership and service to community.
That is the administrator, the manager of human resources, and the trailblazer in one woman: a lawyer who understands contracts, a human resource manager who understands people, a climate leader who understands that a tree is not just a tree, it is oxygen, it is soil held together, it is water conserved, it is food, it is shade, it is income, it is a lesson in patience and responsibility for a child who will one day lead.
No leader is truly judged by her own words. She is judged by the voices that rise, unprompted, from those who have watched her work. For Barr. Jatto, those voices have come from Government House, from the World Bank in Abuja, from the Presidency, from traditional palaces, from universities, from communities, and from across ethnic lines. They form a chorus that no single press release could manufacture.
From the Presidency and the Federal Government, the highest honour came first. In 2023, former President Muhammadu Buhari conferred on her the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). In 2026, the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), The Presidency, gave her the 2026 Distinguished Public Service Award on Institutional Performance and Service Delivery. In her published response, she did what she always does, she turned the honour outward: “I give God all the glory for this recognition in Institutional Performance and Service Delivery. This award validates the commitment of the Kogi State Government to excellence in governance.” She dedicated it to the people of Kogi State, to women across the country, to the ACReSAL team and to public servants whose dedication has contributed to improved service delivery.
From the World Bank, the commendation came as ratings, not rhetoric. In December 2023, at a well-attended Stakeholders Engagement in Abuja, the World Bank ACReSAL Team announced that Kogi was rated best in Environmental Safeguards and also in Monitoring and Evaluation Oversight, and came second in Transparency and Integrity. The Kogi Office of ACReSAL was rated best in Monitoring and Evaluation Oversight. The report noted: “Today, the World Bank through ACReSAL has shown the whole world how Kogi has been prudent and transparent in applying state resources.” Barr. Jatto was present, leading the Kogi team, and responded: “We thank the World Bank for providing this wonderful platform and we also thank our Governor in Kogi State who has been deliberate in leading from the front and providing all that we need to excel in the area of providing safe environment for our people. These ratings and awards are a great impetus to make us do more.”
Again, in November 2024, during an Implementation Support Mission to Kogi, the World Bank team led by Dr. Joy Iganya Agene, Task Team Leader, and Engr. Chinedu Umolu, Co-Task Team Leader, with Dr. Abdulhamid Umar, National Project Coordinator, commended Barr. Jatto and her team for results and milestones achieved so far and urged them to monitor, report, and maximise project impact. Earlier, the same mission had applauded Kogi State for meeting Project Development Objectives, noting that Kogi State remains one of the states that has been able to attract more investment from the World Bank amongst the 19 Northern States and the FCT in terms of support due to the dedication and support the State Government Team is putting in to show result. And in November 2026, when the World Bank Board approved an additional $500 million for ACReSAL, the World Bank Task Team led by Dr. Joy Iganya Agene, Dr. Manievel Emmanuel Sene and Engr. Chinedu Umolu expressed appreciation to participating state governors, State Project Coordinators and local communities for their support and ownership of the project.
From Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, the commendation has been repeated on the record. At the compensation ceremony for over 700 Project-Affected Persons in the Ankpa gully erosion project at Olubo-Ojo community, the Governor, represented by the Commissioner for Environment, Engr. Joseph Oluwasegun, said: “The Governor commended the State Project Coordinator of ACReSAL, Barrister Ladi Jatto OON, and her team for their unwavering efforts in tackling environmental challenges in Kogi State. He said their commitment paves the way for a sustainable future for the region.” At the signing of the N29.9 billion contracts, he also praised the tireless efforts of Barr. Jatto and her team for a job well done.
From the Kogi State Government, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Femi Fanwo, put it in the language of government policy: “Kogi ACReSAL under Barr. Ladi Jatto has become a game-changing platform for the administration as we are making the best of the opportunities offered to drive sustainable solutions to ecological challenges.” It was not a courtesy phrase. It was the official verdict of an administration that has staked its environmental reputation on her office.
From traditional rulers, the endorsement has been royal. When the CRF loan was flagged off in Lokoja, the Obaro of Kabba and the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland also commended the efforts in supporting the agricultural sector, in a ceremony where Jatto’s work was at the centre. At the Strategic Catchment Management Plans engagement in Lokoja, the Maigari of Lokoja, Alhaji Ibrahim Gambo Kabir Maikarfi IV, urged for sustainable policies from the plans and assured the support of Traditional Rulers in the catchment components to the success of the programme. Palaces do not follow noise. They follow consistency. And they have followed her.
From the academy, at Federal University Lokoja, where ACReSAL planted over 9,000 trees and built a screen house that produced its first cucumber harvest, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olayemi Akinwumi, said publicly: “He also praised Barrister Ladi Jatto and the ACReSAL team for strengthening the partnership that has yielded tangible benefits for the university, including the distribution of improved seedlings and the planting of over 9,000 trees on the campus to combat erosion and promote afforestation.” He added: “This harvest is symbolic and historic. It represents growth, resilience, and opportunity, a practical step in bridging the gap between theory and practice for our students through all-year-round vegetable farming.” The Registrar, Dr. Rebecca Okojie, also thanked the Governor, the ACReSAL Project Coordinator and other stakeholders for their support and collaboration.
From across ethnic lines, perhaps the most powerful commendation came from outside her own ethnic base. The Arise Igala Leadership Organisation, described in published reports as renowned for its credibility, transparency and rigorous selection process, honoured her with a Certificate of Honour, an Award of Leadership for Excellence, and the highly coveted Arise National Igala Leadership Award for Excellence. The published report noted: “That an Ebira woman was warmly celebrated by a respected National Igala-focused platform speaks volumes.” And: “From Kogi State’s three senatorial districts to the broader national stage, the verdict remains consistent: Barr. Ladi Ahmed Jatto is a shining example of purposeful leadership, professional excellence, and selfless service.”
From fellow citizens, Prince Olatunji Olusoji issued a published congratulatory statement in Lokoja on her 2026 BPSR award, describing the award as well-deserved, attributing it to her dedication, professionalism and outstanding service. The report headlined it: “Prince Olatunji Hails Kogi ACReSAL Boss, Barr. Ladi Jatto, on 2026 Distinguished Public Service Award.”
From the grassroots, principals, teachers, traditional leaders and parents at her GGPI outreach in Kogi Central commended her personal commitment. They described her as “a rare blend of environmentalist, philanthropist and education advocate. In their view, her initiatives are making the environment friendly and healthy while securing the future of the girl-child.” They called the initiative “a world-class model that aligns with the objectives of the World Bank-supported ACReSAL Project.”
In every published commendation, Jatto’s response has been the same: deflect the praise to the team, to the Governor, to the World Bank, to the people.
That is the final commendation, and it comes from her own conduct. The Governor commends her. The World Bank rates her best. The Presidency honours her. The Igala platform celebrates her. The university thanks her. The palaces bless her. The grassroots love her. And she still says: it is the team, it is Governor Ododo who led from the front, it is former Governor Bello who laid the foundation, it is Kogi that made it possible.
The honours have followed the work, not the other way round. Kogi had also previously received commendation from the World Bank for prudent management of project funds, a commendation she has always insisted belongs to the team and to the state’s consistent counterpart funding under Governors Yahaya Bello and Ahmed Usman Ododo.
Silently, she is carrying out a revolution, with the environment, the better for it. Gullies are becoming roads again. Degraded lands are becoming farms again. Flooded communities are becoming safe again. Women farmers are becoming entrepreneurs again. Schoolgirls are staying in school again. And a state that was once a byword for erosion is becoming a reference point for restoration.
That is what it means to fulfil the objectives of an appointment. ACReSAL was created to increase climate-resilient landscape management and enhance livelihoods. In Kogi, under Barr. Ladi Ahmed Jatto, OON, supported by the political will and counterpart funding of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, and built on the foundation laid by former Governor Yahaya Bello, it is doing exactly that, hectare by hectare, community by community, child by child.
She did not come to make noise. She came to make a difference.
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” – Albert Einstein
“The earth has music for those who listen.” – William Shakespeare
Barr. Ladi Ahmed Jatto listened to the earth first. That is why the earth, and all these voices, are now speaking for her.
