Borno Flood: N5 billion pledges remain unfulfilled as relief distribution ends – Officials

Over two months after an outpouring of financial pledges to support relief efforts in the wake of the devastating floods that struck Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State in September, officials have told PREMIUM TIMES that some donors have yet to fulfil their commitments.

The floods damaged or destroyed thousands of homes and large swaths of farmland, roads, and other critical infrastructure.

The widespread flooding was triggered by heavy rains, which caused structural damage in the Bama, Damboa, and Gwoza local government areas of the state, leading to the overflow and collapse of the Alau Dam.

Officials said the flash floods covered a significant part of the state with major impacts recorded in Maiduguri, Jere, Konduga, and Mafa local government areas.

In the aftermath of the disaster, government agencies and other bodies, private sector leaders, non-governmental organisations, the Swiss government, and the United Nations pledged and donated billions of naira and foodstuff to support the people and government of the devastated state.

However, according to officials of the Borno State Flood Disaster Relief Distribution Committee, many of the donors have not fulfilled their pledges.

The committee chair, Baba-Bukar Gujbawu, told PREMIUM TIMES on 12 October that out of the over N20 billion – including foreign currency components – pledged, only N12 billion had been received, whilst others were yet to redeem their pledges.

The situation remained unchanged as of 31 October, when the committee’s spokesperson, Dauda Iliya, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that no additional funds had been received.

However, on Tuesday, 19 November, Mr Iliya told this newspaper that the government had received an additional N3 billion, bringing the total to N15 billion.

This still leaves approximately N5 billion in unfulfilled pledges, as the committee is scheduled to wind up the distribution of relief materials today (20 November).

Meanwhile, the officials declined to provide a detailed breakdown of the sources of the funds received and the outstanding amounts.

List of donations

While the Borno State Government continues to withhold the breakdown of the fulfilled financial commitments and the outstanding pledges, it earlier released a list of the pledges it received after the devastating floods.

However, the list lacked clarity about which donations were actual receipts and yet-to-be-fulfilled pledges.

Some sources and donations credited to them include the Swiss Federation (£1.2 million) and the United Nations ($6 million).

They also include the North East Development Commission (N3 billion), billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote (N2 billion), Mr Dangote’s uncle, Aminu Dantata (N1.5 billion), Mohammed Indimi (N1 billion), a group of 27 Borno State local governments (N1.3 billion), Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu (N500 million), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar (N100 million) and businessman Dahiru Mangal (N100 million).

Also on the list of donors are former Borno State Governor Ali-Modu Sheriff (N100 million), Abdussalam Kachallah (N100 million), Aliyu Betara (N100 million), the House of Representatives (N100 million), JAIZ Bank (N100 million), the Borno State House of Assembly (N60 million), the Nigerian Senate (N54.5 million).

Also, former Senate President Ahmed Lawan, Ibrahim Umar, Moh’d Maifata, Ali Dalori, Tahir Monguno, Shehu Lawan, Mohammed Imam, former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and Eighteenth Engineering Company (EEC) pledged N50 million each.

The League of Northern Democrats also pledged N50 million, while Nene Construction Company (N25 million), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Philanthropist Zainab Gimba, Abdulkadir Rahis, and Ibrahim Abuna each pledged N25 million.

The rest of the pledges came from Sumaila Satumari (N20 million), Awari Alkali (N20 million), Gana Kareto (N10 million), the Northern Senators Forum (N10 million), Barau Jibrin (N10 million), Maina Lawan (N10 million), Zakariya Dikwa (N10 million), Bukar Talb (N10 million), Usman Zannah (N10 million), Dauda Kahutu popularly known as Rarara (N10 million), Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE)/Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) (N10 million), Yerima Lawan (N2 million) and Al-Amanah Aid (N1 million).

Non-cash donations and disbursement

Aside from the donations made in cash, food items and other essentials were also donated.

Mr Gujbawu, the chairperson of the relief materials distribution committee, told PREMIUM TIMES last month that most of the non-cash donations have already been distributed to flood victims in designated centres in the affected areas.

The committee spokesperson, Mr Iliya, explained to our reporter that each household would receive a 25 kg bag of rice and either 25 kg flour, 10 kg beans, or a carton of spaghetti/ macaroni, “depending on what is available”.

“So, the macaroni, spaghetti and flour, they’re interchangeable. And each household will have a blanket, mat and mosquito net,” he said.

Entities like the North East Development Commission donated relief materials, including 20,000 bags of 25kg of rice, 20,000 cartons of macaroni, and 10,000 gallons of vegetable oil. Sumal Food Group donated 50,000 loaves of bread and 5,000 cartons of biscuits.

Similarly, the National Agency for Great Green Wall also gave 80 bags of 25kg rice, 30 cartons of 4.5l groundnut oil, 30 cartons of macaroni, 30 cartons of spaghetti, 60 kerosene stoves, 73 big-size pots, 180 mats, 175 plastic chairs, 600 rubber buckets, 578 bowls, 78 mortar and pestle, 32 praying mats, 100-foot mats, 250 rubber and plastic trays, 256 bathroom slippers, 700 rubber cups, 353, stainless plates, 409 rubber plates, 291 ablation kettles, 192 aprons, 96 hand towels and 433 spoons.

The Nasarawa State Government donated two trucks of rice, two trucks of spaghetti, and two trucks of sugar. Buba Marwa gave 10 truckloads of fertiliser, Aminu Jaji gave 600 bags of rice, and Abdulkadir Ali also gave food items.

The Nigerian Society of Engineers, Borno State Chapter, and Usman Monguno donated 10,000 wrappers each. At the same time, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE)/Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) donated 400 kg of used clothes, and the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) donated 10 trucks of fertiliser and food.

Disbursement of relief items

The relief materials distribution committee announced that N100,000 was being distributed to flood victims with minimal damage.

He said the amount to be given to those whose properties were partially or totally destroyed would be decided upon verification of the extent of damage.

Mr Iliya, the relief distribution committee’s spokesperson, told PREMIUM TIMES in October that victims got support depending on the level of destruction or damage their property suffered. “The level of destruction determines the amount they will receive,” he said.

Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum initially gave the committee a deadline that was later extended by a month to ensure a thorough and complete disbursement process.

Mr Iliya said by 20 November (today), the disbursement process would be brought to a close.

Responsibilities of the committee

Mr Gujbawu noted that his committee’s responsibility was to approve the payment to victims. The Borno State Social Investment Agency (BSIA) is charged with paying relief funds to the victims.

He said that after the assessments and verification of the victims, his committee would update the BSIA with the amount of money involved, and the agency would then pay the victims.

To ensure that the right persons received the payments, Mr Gujbawa said district heads in communities went around the houses with his committee for the verification exercise.

Challenges encountered by the committee

Despite the verification process, Mr Illiya, chairman of the committee’s media and publicity committee, lamented the insincerity of some district heads and the falsification of the number of households by some flood victims to receive more than their fair share.

“For a household to get the intervention, they must be verified and would be given a token. So, we’ve seen cases where some people in the community would come with fake tokens to receive some of these food items,” he said.

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He also said that unaffected people were claiming to be victims. To overcome this challenge, the committee engaged members of the communities to authenticate actual victims.

Trail of suffering

The devastating flood in Maiduguri left a trail of suffering and loss of lives in its wake, and its full toll on individual lives and communities has yet to be fully grasped. The scale of the affected area is huge, with nearly 500,000 residents driven away from their homes.

Some areas have been hit worse than others. Residents from Fori, Gwange, Lagos and Custom bridges linking Mairi, Alau, Gwange and Galtimari wards in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and Jere Local Government Area were forced to flee their homes as the waters engulfed their communities.