The 2022 floods are this year’s episode of a recurring challenge in Nigeria that appears to grow in intensity and with devastating effects every season, leading to loss of lives and properties. The devastation left behind after this year’s floods exceeded that of previous years.
The National Emergency Management Authority noted that 3, 219,780 persons were affected by flooding in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory, 1,427,370 persons were displaced, and 612 persons lost their lives.
In 2020, the impact figures were far lower, with 129,000 persons affected by the flooding and 68 reported deaths in different parts of the country.
Dataphyte’s Olanrewaju Oyedeji visited Ekiti and Ondo to assess the impact of the flooding and its aftermath against the different financial interventions to control the impact of flooding in the country.
The Echoes of Death and Loss in Ondo
Funke could not imagine how thunder could have struck twice; her life had been completely changed by the floods in September 2019 that claimed her daughter’s life. And yet here she was again in 2022; the flood had returned to claim all of her remaining properties.
Omotoye Funke
“My daughter, Olanrewaju, was sick before the flood came in 2019, but on that fateful day, we could not take her to the hospital, and she was swayed by the flood. She died in the process of trying to get her medical attention.”
Late Olanrewaju
Without an option of a better abode, Funke stayed back in the same house, and in 2022, the floods returned. This time, she lost all her properties.
Funke is not alone in the circumstance; for Ikuojearayegbe Remilekun, the 2019 floods that ravaged Ebiseni area of Ondo state took her father. She told Dataphyte that her father had slipped during the flood of 2019 and died after he could not receive medical attention. At the flood’s return in 2022, it took her family’s home. They slept in the classroom at a secondary school less affected by the flood for days after they lost their house.
Late Mr. Ikuojearayegbe’s
The current flood devastation has made a bad living situation even worse for the Ikuojearayegbe’s because the flood that took their father in 2019 also took their source of livelihood; they could not afford to give their father a befitting burial. When the 2022 floods hit, it took the little left of their livelihood and, with it, the hopes of burying their father properly.
Remilekun Ikuojearayegbe
Flood Devastation is a Weighty Shadow on Nigeria’s Ecological Funds
Ecological funds, introduced through the Federation Account Act of 1981, are to execute infrastructural projects to mitigate climate change effects and other ecological problems. The fund office has four major departments: ecological project office, soil erosion and flood control department, pollution control department, special duties department and procurement department.
Between 2012 and 2022, the Nigerian government spent over N511 billion under the “ecological fund” scheme.
Based on reviewed data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in eleven years between 2012 and July 2022, the highest allocation to environmental preservation, as the fund is described in the states’ account books, was in 2013, when N68 billion was disbursed.
Despite the over half a trillion naira spent over 10 years, floods have continued to claim lives and livelihoods and what’s worse, the people most impacted do not know that the fund exists, nor have they seen or felt its impact. They cannot correlate the devastations of the flood with the huge amounts that were released to mitigate such devastations.
In most flood-ravaged locations visited by Dataphyte, residents said they had never witnessed any flood control measure in their communities.
Submerged houses in Ondo state as a result of 2022 flooding
“We have had high-profile government officials visit us at Ebiseni here, but nothing has happened afterward” Ayeye Akinbowale, who lost properties worth millions of Naira in the 2022 flooding and his mother to the 2019 flooding in the Ebiseni area of Ondo state, told Dataphyte. Ayeye’s mother had fallen while trying to escape the flood waters that took over the Keleme community in 2019.
For Baba, Another resident of Ebiseni, his children became emergency respondents, coming up with makeshift contraptions to help their father keep breathing when his room became flooded and other rescue efforts failed.
“At some point, baba only survived by lifting his head above the water, which had covered up his whole body. We almost gave up on his survival, the metal structure on which he hung was the last hope. At that point, we did not know what to expect, survival or death” one of the children, Seye, told Dataphyte
As it was in Ondo, so it was in Ekiti State.
For Olusola Kekere Ekun, in the Ureje area of Ekiti state, when the 2022 floods hit, he had not fully recovered from the 2019 episode which took away his properties and source of livelihood. This time around the floods also left him with a broken heart, as his wife left him when he could no longer feed the family.
An emotional Kekere-Ekun describing his pain
Olusola Kekere-Ekun
“My properties were washed away by the flooding in 2019 and the most painful one happened this year. I have nothing to live on again. Here(pointing to the now empty rooms and adjoining apartments ) used to be a house filled with happiness but now….(Olusola burst into tears before continuing his narration) we cannot even place how we survive,” he lamented.
A vehicle damaged by flooding
Abandoned cars, buildings, shops, and other facilities damaged by flooding have become regular sights in these communities.
An abandoned house in Ekiti state
An abandoned vehicle due to flooding
An abandoned shopping mall in Ondo state
Flooding Leaves Pregnant Women at the Mercy of Traditional Birth Attendants, Reduces School Enrollment
The head of the Community Primary school, Kelema, Ondo state, Mrs. Ugbosanmi Oluwafunmilayo, told Dataphyte that students have reduced from about 300 to 140 due to the flooding crisis.
According to her, parents could not risk their wards coming to the school, which had been made unsafe by the flooding. She noted that they sought help but have yet to get the appropriate attention to manage the flooding.
A Collapsed building at the school,
The only health centre in the Kofawe community serving over 15,000 persons, has also suffered flood damage. Pregnant women unable to access the centre due to flooded or washed away roads now rely on traditional birth attendants due to lack of access to the health centre.
Kofawe PHC
Omobimpe is the head of the Kofawe health centre and, in fact, the only medical officer that works at the PHC shared her frustrations with Dataphyte.
“Pregnant women cannot come here due to flooding. I have always tried my best to be around, but sometimes I do cry due to what the flooding does here. Many of the patients are now patronising traditional birth attendants because of the menace of flooding, which puts them at risk because they may be harmed before getting into the building facility,”
Abandoned Ecological Projects Dot State’s Landscape
Over the years, the management of the ecological funds has come under scrutiny with allegations of corruption and poor management of the program.
In Ekiti and Ondo states, Dataphyte visited ecological projects to assess the state of the projects that have failed to mitigate the flooding crisis in Ondo and Ekiti states.
At Onala/Balemo, the Ekiti state government had awarded an N83 million contract for dredging a stream channel in the area. According to details on the Ekiti state open contracting portal, the project was awarded to “The General Manager”, a meaningless contractor name that is impossible to find in the corporate affairs commission’s database.
The project, two years after the award, is abandoned with no project signage to determine to whom the project was awarded or the supervising ministry. This is a glaring example of a failure of transparency that hinders accountability because the people of Onala/Balemo, who are suffering from the impact of the flood have no one to hold accountable.
State of the Onala/Balemo stream channel awarded for dredging
At Crown Biz area of Ado-Ekiti, another stream dredging project worth N50 million is abandoned leaving residents at the mercy of seasonal floods. The project was awarded to ‘Roosco Resources in 2020, a company that is listed as inactive, on the CAC companies’ database.
State of dredging project at Crown Biz area, Ado-Ekiti
State of the Crown biz area stream at Iworoko, Ekiti state.
At Ureje area of Ekiti state, residents noted that promised intervention for dredging the Ureje River has failed to materialize as the project has yet to see the light of day. This failure in service delivery has a direct impact on the residents, in one instance, a parent hid their twin kids in the ceiling of their house after the 2022 flood took over the building.
The Ondo state government attempted to dredge the water path of the Kelema river which overflows its bank regularly and floods the community, the resident who spoke to Dataphyte noted that the project was abandoned.
What States Got as Ecological Funds between 2022 and 2021
Based on available data published by the National Bureau of Statistics, between the full year 2021 and July 2022, a sum of N48.467 billion was disbursed to states as ecological funds.
Ekiti got N1.301 billion while Ondo state got N1.009 billion as ecological funds between 2021 and July 2022.
How Much of the States’ Ecological Fund Goes to Erosion and Flooding Control?
A review of budget performance reports of different states shows there is some expenditure on flooding and erosion control. However, for most of the states reviewed, the capital project amounts are far less than the funds received within the period.
The Government Offers Promises
The Ekiti state government had stated its willingness to tackle flooding issues and noted that the state will start dredging works at the Ureje River, although works were not visible as of when Dataphyte visited.
The Commissioner for Information of Ondo state, Bamidele Olateju, told Dataphyte that the state is committed to ensuring the prevention of flooding and has invested in ensuring so. She noted that the recent flooding crisis around the country did not hit Ondo state as much because of efforts put in place towards tackling the menace.
The Ondo state spokesperson noted that the state will continue to prioritise flooding mitigation and ensure that communities get help and intervention.
Expert Tasks Government on Accountability of Ecological Fund, Political Will
The Executive Director of Waterwide Nigeria, Wilson Atumeyi, noted that there is an issue of corruption in the management of funds meant to tackle flooding. He noted that there is a need to empower Nigerians with information so they can know of the existence of a fund such as an ecological fund meant to help tackle the menace of flooding.
“Many Nigerians are not even aware there is a fund called ecological fund, and there is an issue of the willingness of political office holders to utilise the funds appropriately” he opined.
Wilson wondered why the Nigerian government waits till the danger occurs before tackling flooding when it could prevent the damage caused by flooding in the initial instance. He noted that there is a need to ensure that actions are taken in the management of flooding crises not just when it happens but even before such occurs.
This report was completed as part of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development’s 2022 Climate Change Media Fellowship in West Africa with funding support from the Centre for Investigative Journalism’s Open Climate Reporting Initiative (OCRI).