Stop using tragedies to fund misplaced priorities

Sequel to the devastating effect of last month’s flooding in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, the federal government approved N3 billion for each state of the federation to mitigate all forms of natural disasters. Vice President Kashim Shettima announced the development when he received the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas who paid […]

Sequel to the devastating effect of last month’s flooding in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, the federal government approved N3 billion for each state of the federation to mitigate all forms of natural disasters. Vice President Kashim Shettima announced the development when he received the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas who paid him a commiseration visit in Abuja following the devastating floods.

Within the context of the interventions given to states in the past one year, the latest N3 billion intervention to each of the 36 states in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), suggests how the President Bola Tinubu administration has continued to take undue advantage of tragedies to dish out resources to state governors who, regrettably again, often deploy such intervention funds to misplaced priorities. The federation account appears to have become a cash cow from which Mr. President dishes out billions of naira or its worth in food commodities to state governors each time there was a nationwide outcry or public protest, or a national calamity befell the country or a section of it. This has been the trajectory upon which most previous tranches of palliatives were released to state governments.

It is still not clear what parameter(s) the federal government deployed to arrive at giving states N3 billion each, considering that while some of the states are still struggling to come out of the pains of flooding, with thousands of people displaced, there are other states that did not suffer any flooding!

It would be recalled that during the build up to the #EndBadGovernance# protest of August 4-10, 2024, the federal government announced that it had allocated 740 trucks of rice to the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, for distribution to the most vulnerable in the society. However, this was followed with a blame game and confusion over palliatives that were allegedly distributed by the federal government. While the Lagos State government said it was not expecting any consignment after the one it received earlier in March 2024, some states including Taraba, Delta, Niger, Plateau, Zamfara and Abia said they received no food palliative. However, Kano, Oyo, Akwa–Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa states said they received the palliatives. Cross River reported that it was a far cry from what it expected. All this goes to illustrate how haphazard the federal and state governments have both handled palliatives in the name of interventions.

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While the blame was on, the Minister of State for Steel Development, Uba Maigari, disclosed during a town hall meeting in Jalingo, Taraba State capital that citizens should “Hold their governors to account as the Tinubu administration had provided remedial measures to stem hunger in the country, including the distribution of rice and fertilisers in large quantities”.

In January 2024, the federal government announced the disbursement of N50,000 to nano businesses in all the 774 local government areas in the country as part of efforts towards assuaging the impact of the removal of oil subsidy to small businesses. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ms Doris Uzoka-Anite, who disclosed this, also noted that the programme consisted of the Presidential Conditional Grant Programme and the Presidential Palliative Loan Programme targeted at manufacturers, SMEs, MSMEs and other businesses.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, on September 5, 2024, flagged off the sale of 30,000 metric tons of milled rice to Nigerians, saying that the rice, which was to be sold at a flat rate of N40,000, was part of the government’s intervention in ameliorating the food crisis faced by Nigerians. The Director, Food and Strategic Reserves, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Haruna Sule Abutu, said that the programme will have multiple sales points in the FCT, and will spread to states. We are in October and there is no sufficient evidence to show that Nigerians have been able to access the N40,000 bag of rice promised by the government.

Meanwhile, the remark by Vice President Shettima while responding to Speaker Abbas during the latter’s commiserating visit that the N3 billion financial support was to give state governments a sense of belonging only, appear to lend credence to the insinuation that the routine of bonanza by President Tinubu to state governors may not be without political motives. Only a few days ago, President Tinubu ordered the release of 1,200 bags and 600 bags of fertilisers to each senator and member of the House of Representatives respectively for distribution to farmers in their constituencies.

While there is nothing wrong in providing relief to victims of disasters in the form of palliatives to cushion the effect of devastations that may have been suffered by citizens, it would have been much more appropriate to systematically channel the funds and other resources towards empowering the people through empowerment schemes, than handing over such to state governors who are often seen to politicise the allocation and distribution exercises.

This probably explains why there have often been allegations that the palliatives of the federal government have not reached the average citizens for which they are meant.

Daily Trust calls on the federal government to see the immediate solutions to disasters, when they occur, beyond giving intervention funds to state governors. We advise the federal government to take practical actions towards tackling issues that lead to such emergency situations like flooding, instead of waiting for such to occur.

Similarly, state governors take responsibility in ensuring that palliatives reach the target groups amongst the vulnerable class of Nigerians.