Budget Shows Borno Allocated Zero To Flood Control In 2023

Budget documents reveal that Borno state have been lax with flood control, allocating nothing to it in year 2023.

A further check on its budget index shows that only a paltry N20 million was allocated to checking flood and erosion in the state.

This is even as the state capital, Maiduguri, and surrounding communities have been plagued by flooding.

Neusroom gather that the disaster hit the state on Tuesday, displacing hundreds of residents from their homes.

Those on the ground describe horrific scenarios, people being trapped in the flood and homes being consumed by water.

A check on the emergency agencies meant to bring relief to victims of the flood shows that, even their facilities have been hit hard by the natural disaster.

The word out of Maiduguri is that no place is safe.

In its reaction, however, the government hold that reports emanating from the state are all trumped-up and not accurate.

Nonetheless, the state budget indicts the government of negligence regarding the matter.

While the sum of N1.6 billion was earmarked in the 2024 budget for erosion and flood control, only N20m was spent for this purpose in the firsth half (H1) of the year.

This means that only 1.25% of the total allocated funds were spent of flood control in the state.

The data becomes even more worrisome given that Borno state was granted N868 million as ecological funds between September 2023-February 2024.

In the previous year (2023), N1billion was allocated for flood and erosion control, yet, shockingly, not a single Naira was spent for this purpose.

No fewer than 205 persons have died due to flooding across the 29 states of the country.

A further 225,169 individuals have been displaced from their homes.

Observers wonder if the government is truly interested in protecting the lives and properties of its citizens given the clear case of mismanagement of funds in this critical area.