Nigeria needs N6b to fight flood, others says minister
From Jide Olatunji (Abuja)
NIGERIA needs over N6 billion to combat flood and other forms of environmental degradation in the country.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja, the Minister of Environment, Colonel Mohammed Bala Mande (rtd), said though a 1992 United Nations (UN) study indicated that Nigeria would need a total of N6 billion to overcome its environment-related problems, "currently if you devote the whole of Nigeria's National Budget of 2004 to combat the problem, it would not do."
In his own contribution, the Director of Erosion and Flood Control in the ministry, Bawro Yahaya, reiterated the UN claim, explaining that land degradation included desertification, erosion, flood, deforestation and coastal management.
In a recent report of his tour of Jigawa and Yobe states, the minister stated that the problems of drought and desertification, coupled with the perennial incidence of floods in the northern states and other parts of the country, have been the major sources of concern to the Federal Government.
He disclosed that in Yunusari Local Council of Yobe State, the southward movement of sand dunes was threatening the socio-economic survival of a large number of communities especially the communities within the Oases.
He said sand dunes were monumental and by far higher and more expansive than could be imagined, adding that they were as high as 23 metres and stretched north-west to Niger Republic.
"To an observer, these sand dunes appear like ranges of mountains moving towards settlements and completely covering the settlements every year. With a short rainy season only lasting for about two to three months, the rains have a stabilising effect on the movement of the sand dunes," Mande explained.
"However, in the dry season the sand dunes move very fast. This is the period when the devastation often takes place. With this, the socio-economic lives of about 250,000 people are threatened by the movement of the sand dunes.
"These are common features in all the drought and desert-prone areas in the frontline states. It has to be borne in mind that not only settlements are threatened or overrun by sand dunes, but also water sources as lakes, rivers and wells, including farms and livestock," he added.
He said that after extensive research and experimentation, there was still no known cost-effective means of utilising typha grass.
His words: "It is not eaten by livestock, it's too brittle for fencing and roof thatching or paper manufacture. It is too expensive to turn into charcoal," adding that its only significance was its destructive tendencies.
The minister disclosed that government was collaborating with several donor agencies like the UN, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the European Union and others, on the problems.
