The rainy season is here again with one of its destructive effects – flooding – and other ecological problems in various parts of the country. Sometimes, the damage is beyond what the states can handle. But even when the Federal Government intervenes through the Ecological Fund, the states and some agencies do not deploy the funds in dealing with the problems. In this report, OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE x-rays the management of the fund which has not lived up to expectation.
The Ecological Fund, created in 1985 by the Federation Account Act of 1981, is under the office of the Secretary to the Federal Government of the Federation.
The objective of the office is to “have a pool of funds that would be solely devoted to the funding of ecological projects to mitigate serious ecological problems”. It includes the “one per cent of the Federation Account known as Derivation and Ecology Fund”.
Among various intervention initiatives in July 2021 was the aprproval of N16.04 billion by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for projects in 12 states and the federal capital territory (FCT) covering soil erosion/flood and pollution control.
Last year, the House of Representatives Committee on Ecology begun investigation of the cash released to states and agencies under the Ecological Fund, after its visit to some states ravaged by floods.
At its inaugural investigative hearing in Abuja, the committee queried the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) for improperly spending the ecological funds it received.
Its Director-General Paul Ikonne, making a presentation to the committee, however, detailed the funds the body received since last year.
Ikonne said: “We made submission already as requested by your committee, Mr. Chairman. From June 2020 till the day of requesting for this submission to be made, which is March 2022, NALDA has received a total of N9,642,557,654.91. Till date, NALDA has received N12,740,506,664.”
Still, the committee Chairman, Ibrahim Isiaka, expressed dissatisfaction with the presentation. He said: “NALDA, we have received your submission and having gone through it, the committee members have so many queries and questions. Before we put you on the spot, you still wait a bit so that we go through the rest.”
The committee also summoned the management of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
These seemed an iceberg as several agencies and state governments have been found wanting in the use of the fund.
Isiaka had said: “Those who refused to cause appearance here, or refused to respond to our letters, anyone willing to test the capacity of this committee will not be disappointed. It is very obvious that people are just paying lip service in this country and being frivolous about the clamour for devolution of powers, such that the urge to always go cap-in-hand to the centre by states persists.”
The lawmakers said they observed that the agencies had deviated from the mandate of the Ecological Fund.
As a result, the House of Representatives had asked the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of Accountant-General of the Federation to halt the allocation of funds from Ecological Fund to some agencies until investigations into past allocations to them were concluded.
The affected agencies apart from NEMA, were the National Agency for the Great Green Wall, the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) and the National Agricultural Land Development Authority.
The House also directed its Committee on Ecological Fund to probe the release and utilisation of the funds in the past three years.
In his submission, Isiaka said the four agencies had derailed.
He further explained that NEMA draws 20 per cent from the fund, while National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) and NEDC, gets 15 per cent and 18 per cent.
He said: “Efforts aimed at making the agencies accountable for their shared funds in the last few years have not yielded any positive result.” However, he assured that the committee would not rest on its oars until the outstandings were collected.
Earlier, human rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN), urged the Federal Government to probe the management of the fund.
He spoke at the convocation at Augustine University, Ilara, Epe, Lagos. During the event’s lecture, Falana expressed concern over the impact of recent flooding across communities, adding that it was wrong for the Federal Government to ask citizens to hold state governments accountable when a national disaster occured.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Government did not ask the citizens to hold the state governments to account for funds meant for building and equipping hospitals.
“Instead of inciting citizens to demand an explanation, which will be ignored by state governments, the Federal Government should submit a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the investigation of the mismanagement of the Ecological Fund, which is a crime against humanity.
“The mismanagement of Ecological Fund is a crime against humanity because it is responsible for the loss of many lives, displacement of millions of people, and destruction of properties worth trillions of Naira.
“Before the proposed probe by the EFCC, the Federal Government should come to the aid of affected state governments. However, the EFCC should probe the involvement of officials of the Federal Government and state governments.
“In particular, the Federal Government has failed to release money from the Ecological Fund to the affected states. On their part, the various state governments have equally failed to provide relief materials for victims,” he said.
Falana also faulted the immediate past Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, for saying the floods were an “act of God”. He urged the government to ensure that measures to mitigate flooding became a priority.
“The Federal Government should release funds to the affected states to provide relief materials and compensation to the victims. In order to protect the environment, the Federal Government should ban further flaring of gas in the Niger Delta region as soon as possible.
“The Federal Government should address the crisis of perennial flooding in rivers Niger and Benue basins as well as the Lagdo dam in Cameroon.
“In view of the reality of climate change, governments at all levels should prioritise safety measures for people living in low lands in the implementation of environment policies. It’s been noted that the most-affected areas in the southern part of Nigeria are Anambra, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Cross River states,’’ he added.
In April, last year, gully erosion destroyed over 70 per cent of Anambra land, its immediate past Commissioner for the Environment, Felix Odumegwu, an engineer, said the state government expressed concern that gully erosion had eaten up over 70 per cent of the landmass while also threatening lives and properties of people in affected areas.
He stated this at the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Erosion Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP)-Implementation Completion and Result Report Mission (ICRM).
Odumegwu, who described the situation as precarious, further said the former Commissioner of works, Marcel Ifejiofor, an engineer, put erosion sites in the state at over 1,000.
Odumegwu said: “Anambra State is faced with an existential threat from the scourge of erosion; we are the state with the second highest population density in Nigeria and, alongside that, we have the most active number of erosion sites.
“It has been reported that 70 per cent of the land in Anambra State is at risk of gully erosion. This is the precarious state we are in, with less than three per cent of our erosion menace under control; we not only ask for more, but wish to charge NEWMAP and her funding partners to declare a state of emergency on Anambra’s erosion menace. We want to devote more time to pre-erosion management by nipping in the bud erosion before it occurs.”
The President-General, Ebem Ohafia Development Union in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State, Emeka Mba, in an interview, said several homes in the community were under threat of gully erosion.
“In Ebem, the menace is affecting our community; that’s the danger we are facing. Apart from that, we also have some short-distance erosion here and there, so our problem is that the erosion is trying to encircle our community,’’ he said. He also said there are deep gully erosions that have cut off some parts of the Ebem Ohafia community; that is Eziukwu and Mbaga and another one around the police station, where there are government facilities.
On the factors responsible, he said they were several. According to him, Abia State is usually faced with heavy rain during the rainy season, including the poor drainage system in the community. He lamented that a lot of houses had been swept away.
“Unfortunately, the affected families have been forced to abandon their homes. At present, we have the palace of our traditional ruler, Ukoha Ukoha, under serious threat. That’s one of the many houses that are seriously under threat. At the end of this year’s rainy season, more houses would have gone down,” he stated.
On the number of families affected, he said he couldn’t quantify it, but only was aware that a lot of people had been forced to leave their ancestral homes for make-shift apartments where they were even paying rent. They are in their hundreds if you start counting the many years the erosion has been there.
He also stated that in every rainy season, the community encountered deaths as a result of the flood with bodies recovered from gullies after many days. “There used to be a community search when someone is swept away,’’ he lamented.
Director-General, Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF), Dr. Joseph Daniel Onoja, told The Nation that, the funds had not been used to address ecological issues in the nation. According to him, if it has been used well, there would have been more investment in environmental conservation its primary area.
He said: “Unfortunately, some governors erroneously use it as part of their security vote. The fund is usually used for different purposes apart from the ecological situation in states as we have them. It has not been deployed in addressing real ecological issues.
“I must say that it’s unfortunate that we have not really used it the way it should have been used, if we had been more circumspect we would have seen more investment in areas of environmental conservation and much more in states such as Anambra where you have gully erosion or in Lagos, where you have coastal erosion.’’
According to him, other states are struggling with serious deforestation and land degradation, yet money meant to tackle the environmental challenges facing the states is being wasted.
Onoja said the Ecological Fund had trillions of Naira, but that it was not used for the purpose it was created. Rather, it was treated like Governors’ Security Vote that is not captured or accounted for. “Conflicts between herdsmen and farmers would have long been taken care of if our leaders were circumspect in using the fund,’’ he added.
He stated that the nation had many challenges as far as the environment was concerned.
According to him, many states were struggling with serious deforestation and land degradation, yet the money meant for tackling challenges in the states was not used for the purpose.
Onoja said: “Ecological issues that should have been taken care of by all levels of government and what we don’t understand is that ecological issues have social and economic impact. Have we wondered why there are conflicts between farmers and herders?”
Onoja canvassed the need for policy makers and political leaders to come up with measures on how the country’s resources could be better managed and avoid conflicts that usually occur over competing interests.
He stressed that the country has lots of environmental challenges and that the Ecological Fund administration needed to be rejigged.
