•Floods
Flooding has continued to ravage states despite the N39.62 billion ecological funds disbursed to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration from the Federation Account within the last one year.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently revealed that the 36 states received the above sum as ecological fund disbursement from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) from June 2023 to June 2024, reports Daily Trust.
This is aside from the N3 billion which Vice President Kashim Shettima last week said had been approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for each state of the federation to tackle all forms of natural disasters, including flooding.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had, last week, stated that since April this year, flooding had wreaked havoc in 29 states, killing 259 people and affecting over one million citizens.
Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, has been the worst-hit so far, with the collapse of the Alau Dam.
The Ecological Fund, established in 1981, is drawn from the federation account at a rate of two per cent, with the primary objective of assisting all the tiers of government in tackling ecological problems such as flooding, desertification, erosion, oil spills and drought.
The fund’s disbursement process is managed by the Ecological Fund Office in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
But environmentalists and some pressure groups have been questioning the manner in which the funds are being shared.
They said ecological challenges have continued to wreak havoc in many states, and victims are mostly the poor, whose livelihoods have been imperilled by flood and other disasters over the years.
They also raised eyebrows over the recent release of N3 billion each to the states on equal basis, without recourse to the magnitude of problems in some states.
Kano, Lagos get lion’s share
A breakdown of the ecological funds disbursed to the states within the period under review shows that Kano and Lagos states got the highest share.
The former received N2.1 billion (an average of N175 million per month); and the latter, N1.81 billion (an average of N150.83 million per month).
The NBS had noted that the payment reflected the peculiar environmental hazards in the various states as disbursements were made based on the severity of the challenges.
Borno State had received N1.68 billion (an average of N140 million per month) within the period; Kaduna, N1.4 billion (N124.17 million per month on average); Sokoto, N1.49 billion (N124.17 million per month); Edo, N632.8 million (N52.73 million per month); Abia, N633.68 million (N52.81 million per month); Adamawa, N1.24 billion (N103.33 million per month) and Anambra, N1.35 billion (N112.50 million per month).
Others are Kwara, N602.3 million (N50.20 million per month); Bayelsa, N598.79 million (N49.90 million per month) and Ondo, N629.42 million (N52.45 million per month).
A further breakdown by the NBS showed that in the first half of 2024, the 36 states received N24.91 billion from the FAAC as ecological funds, with the North West getting N5.52 billion; North East, N4.16 billion; North Central, N4.12 billion; South West, N4.03 billion; South South, N3.89 billion and South East, N3.20 billion.
A state-by-state breakdown of the allocation shows that in the first half of 2024, Kano got N1.04 billion; Lagos, N880.1 million; Kaduna, N860.8 million; Borno, N816.3 million; Katsina, N807 million; Bauchi, N785 million; Niger, N778.2 million; Oyo, N736.9 million; Benue, N736.88 million; Jigawa, N734.77 million; Kogi, N726.18 million; Sokoto, N724.12 million; Rivers, N708.59 million; Kebbi, N693.79 million; Plateau, N686.11 million; and Imo, N683.13 million.
Others were Delta, N667.13 million; Enugu, N660.77 million, Cross River, N660.71 million and Akwa Ibom, N660.60 million; Adamawa, N654.51 million; Zamfara, N653.84 million; Anambra, N653.29 million; Yobe, N652.45 million; Taraba, N632.91 million; Gombe, N618.88 million; Abia, N615.24 million; Edo, N614.36 million; Ondo, N611.63 million; Ogun, N610.42 million; Nasarawa, N605.92 million; Osun, N599.23 million; Ebonyi, N587.82 million; Ekiti, N587.48 million; Kwara, N584.87 million; and Bayelsa, N581.36 million.
31 states still at risk of flooding
The Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) have recently identified 31 states and the FCT as high-risk areas for significant flood impacts within this year.
The states are Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.
Experts fear mismanagement of allocations
In an interview with our correspondent, the Executive Director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, Umar Yakubu, noted that the ecological funds are disbursed to different states based on their environmental challenges.
He said the federation account committee has been disbursing ecological funds to states for over 20 years, but the accountability framework at the states is so weak that the funds get siphoned.
“So, the problem is not the funding, but the governance system for effective utilisation of funds and low transparency on how the funds are used. At the sub-nationals, there is no mechanism to track funds invested by states and local governments on the environment.
“A lot of donor funds have also been going regularly to states to tackle climate change, but it has all become a corruption scheme.
“Billions have been spent on the environment in the last 20 to 30 years, but the environment is still degraded,” he said.
For a development expert, Salihu Aliyu, “The Ecological Fund seems to be the only financial mechanism disbursed by the Nigerian government to tackle environmental and climate change-related issues across all tiers of government, but it is unfortunately prone to embezzlement, misappropriation and diversion.
“The worst of it all is that political interference influences the allocation of ecological funds, with resources sometimes directed towards politically connected states or projects rather than areas with the greatest need.
“This politicisation of fund allocation undermines the effectiveness and fairness of flood management efforts in Nigeria. Disbursements of the fund lack transparency and information about who got what, project selection and implementation progress.
“These gaps are facilitating corruption and undermining public trust. Addressing these loopholes requires concerted efforts to strengthen governance, enhance transparency and accountability, and involve the public in the monitoring and evaluation of ecological funds in Nigeria,” he said.
A Professor of Environmental Sciences, Nasiru Medugu Idris, who also spoke to Daily Trust, said disbursements of the Ecological Fund were not monitored.
The don, who is the Director, Institute for the Built Environment, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, asked: “Has the intervention fund been utilised judiciously? Why is the fund domiciled in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation instead of the Federal Ministry of Environment?”
According to him, it is better for the Ecological Fund Office to be under the Federal Ministry of Environment or an agency of government under the Federal Ministry of Environment where the minister will strictly supervise disbursements.
“The head of the office ought to be an experienced environmentalist that has detailed information about the ecological problems in the country and ecological maps in collaboration with line MDAs in executing ecological problems”, he said.
Professor Aliyu Salisu Barau, Dean, Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Bayero University, Kano, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said a lot of resources were being misused.
“Considering the amount of money you mentioned, it is not much that is needed. Disaster prevention always has guidelines. Pre-disaster, during and post-disaster situations. There are guidelines that help authorities to act in whichever situation,” he said.
Another environmentalist, Abdullahi Usman, said he was worried about the recent announcement of N3 billion each to all the states of the federation.
“Can we say with all sense of responsibility that the federal government is fair to Borno in this instance?
“I have a strong feeling that political expediency rather than emergency consideration is at play,” he said.
“If the ecological funds are being shared based on some agreed factors, it shouldn’t be the same when you have serious disasters as the one in Maiduguri,” he said.
Desmond Majekodunmi, foremost Nigerian environmentalist and chairman of the Lekki State Urban Forest and Animal Shelter Initiative (LUFASI) while speaking with our correspondent lamented that the ecological funds had not been judiciously utilised to prevent flood.
He said a lot of activities that should have been carried out like the dredging of the rivers, protection of the shorelines and vegetation around the river banks, among others were not carried out.
“The most classic example is this dam in Borno State which should have been very well maintained because we have been told for many years now that heavier rains are coming because of global warming. So that is the more reason to do the right thing with that kind of money.
“It is clear that a lot of these people who have misused this fund, they are not aware of the fundamental laws that govern lives. It is there in the Holy Bible and the Qur’an that what you sow is what you reap. It is there in other scriptures as well.
“So these people that have misused these funds now have opened themselves up for divinely orchestrated retributive justice which is coming not just in Nigeria, it is a global activity that is taking place from nature. Nature is fighting back as the Secretary General of the United Nations said, “Mankind is waging war against nature and this is suicidal because nature always fights back and she is doing so with a lot of fury now.”
In August this year, NEMA had said that 86,000 people were affected in Bauchi, while Zamfara had 75,000, Sokoto 74,000, Jigawa 57,000, Niger 30,000, Kano 19,000, Imo 18,000, Adamawa 18,000, Ondo 17,000, Borno 17,000, Taraba 16,000, Kwara 12,000, Katsina 11,000, Yobe 11,000, Gombe 10,000, Benue 10,000, Lagos 9,000, Enugu 8,000, Kaduna 7,000, Nasarawa 6,000, Bayelsa 5,000, Ekiti 4,000, Kebbi 4,000, Oyo 2,000, Kogi 2,000, Ebonyi 2,000, Akwa Ibom 2,000 and FCT 1,000.
