Floods: NGOs Tackle State Govts On Ecological Funds, Urge State Of Emergency

International non-governmental organisations (INGOs) which include ActionAid Nigeria, CARE International and Plan International Nigeria have challenged state government in Nigeria to give an account of how they spent amounts in excess of one trillion naira, allocated to them from the Ecological Fund to tackle floods and other ecological problems.

In three years, N1 trillion, representing 2.2 per cent of the total budget for 2018, 2019 and 2023 was budgeted for ecological and disaster management in country.

However, amid the flood this year, states, including Kogi, Bayelsa, Benue, Delta and Rivers states have seek succour from the federal government to ameliorate the sufferings of the displaced persons in the states.

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, the country director, ActionAid Nigeria, Ene Obi, has lamented increase flood which according to her is ravaging many parts of the country, particularly in Kogi State where one hundred and sixty communities are submerged underwater because Niger and Benue rivers broke their banks from shedding of excess water from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.

With thirty-one states and the FCT affected by the flood, she said it is time for Government at all levels (federal, state and LGA) to explore sustainable ways to curb the perennial flooding that some states are increasingly experiencing during the rainy season.

She said, “Kogi’s worst hit district, Ibaji is 100 per cent under water, with three deaths recorded and about 50,000 people now in displacement.

Consequently, she said communities in Anambra, Delta, Bayelsa and other states are now terribly affected, leading to a rise in the number of displaced persons.

In a statement released on 11th October 2022, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, said flooding in the country has now affected the lives of 1.4 million people and displaced 790,254. Over 600 deaths have also been recorded across the country.