The Borno State Government has shared some news: out of the N13.1 billion promised for flood victims in Maiduguri, they have received N4.4 billion so far.
This is about 33.59% of the total money pledged.
Prof. Usman Tar, the Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, gave this update during a meeting at the Borno State Government Flood Disaster Situation Room in Maiduguri. This was reported by NAN.
Prof. Tar said that the money they received has been given to a new committee. This committee includes people from federal and state agencies, security forces, and other important groups.
He said: “It’s a big committee with members from Federal and State agencies, experts, traditional and religious leaders, and people from the military, police, NSCDC, DSS, EFCC, and ICPC, among others.”
Help for Families Affected by Flood
Prof. Tar also mentioned that Governor Babagana Zulum has started a project to give money to the first group of families, so they can start rebuilding their homes.
This is part of the government’s plan to help flood victims. Besides giving money, the government has given many families food that will last for two weeks. More help is on the way.
About Closing Camps
People are worried about camps closing, but Prof. Tar explained that no one was forced to leave. Many people chose to go home because the water has gone down in most of the city. The government plans to combine some camps so that schools currently used as shelters can reopen.
He said: “About 40 percent of the camps are in schools. We want to move those in the schools to other camps so that students can go back to school.”
Prof. Tar also talked about flood victims staying in places like streets, filling stations, and business areas. He said the government is registering these people and giving them help. They are asked to move to specific camps for better aid.
He called for patience and asked everyone to keep cooperating with the government and partners to help the flood victims.
Important Information
Many people have given big donations to help with the flood disaster in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Newslodge reported that Borno State got about N816.34 million from the Ecological Fund between January and June 2024.
The Ecological Fund in Nigeria is a special fund created by the federal government to deal with environmental problems and natural disasters in the country.
It was set up to handle issues like soil erosion, flood control, desertification, and other environmental problems.
However, Newslodge found out that only N20 million was spent on flood control in the first half of 2024, which is just 2.45% of the total fund.
This money was spent in the second quarter of the year, as nothing was spent for flood control in the first quarter of 2024.
Borno’s budget for erosion and flood control hasn’t been used much. The revised budget for 2024 set aside N1.653 billion for flood control, but only 1.2% of this has been used. This raises questions about how ready and committed the state is to address this ongoing problem.