How N82.2bn Intervention Funds Were Under-utilized In 2016

By Tayo  Olanipekun, Lagos

The Connected Development (CODE) has released its “citizen monitors” report for 2016, detailing how its engagements with governments and agencies in Nigeria prompted the utilization of intervention funds in their custody.

The report from the non-governmental organisation, a product of its Followthemoney program, revealed that between 2014 and 2016, part of a total sum of N82, 229, 500, 000 from international agencies and the Federal Government were involved. The monies, meant for the benefits of rural community dwellers, had either been released or proposed to governments of nine states in the country as intervention funds for primary health care, climate change adaptation and lead poisoning clean up.

It, however, showed that most of the communities the funds were meant for were either unaware of the availability of such funds or had no means of raising questions about them, months after their receipts. The report noted that about 80 per cent of such funds usually does not get to the communities they are meant for and authorities in most of the states have not been responding to the needs of residents of the communities under their oversight, despite the amenities in question being lacking. Followthemoney showed in the report that many of the projects only received commitments after it began engaging the authorities concerned.

The 16-page document stated that Jigawa and Kebbi states were beneficiaries from the N80bn Great Green Wall (GGW) intervention fund inaugurated by the then President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014.The GGW project has a component of providing green areas and water for 200 beneficiary communities in the 11 front-line states involved.

However, Bachaka, in Kebbi State where the project was launched and Jeke in Jigawa State both have their forest components of the project in place but water supply was lacking. In fact, 6,000 residents of Jeke started experiencing water shortage one year after the project was launched. Also, dry crop farmers of Bachaka who depended on water provision to grow their crops did not have access to it as the water supply broke down four months after the launch.

Jeke’s Men Leader, Yahaya Husseini, said the community actually allowed the GGW on its soil so as to get over the water crisis. As he said, the only source of water for them at the time had been the one provided through the Millennium Development Goals, which only pumped water for two hours daily in the afternoon, despite the population size. A Bachaka resident simply identified as Abubakar also summed up the problem when he lamented that their “plants in the nurseries and other dry crops are getting dried up.”

In Yobe, Kogi, Enugu and Osun states, Primary Health Care (PHC) was the issue in focus under the World Bank’s Saving One Million Lives (SOML) project with the Ministry of Health. A monthly total of 20,989 target population were also involved in the various rural communities in these states, and each was expected to have received the disbursement of the N474m World Bank Fund.

But Followthemoney, during the engagements with the states, was told that Osun and Yobe states had not received any World Bank fund. Osun even declared that it did not know that its health facility at Sekona, Ede East LGA, serves 11 villages in the local government and subsequently announced the plan to upgrade it to a General hospital.

It was also during the engagement that Kogi expressed its commitment to prioritize the Primary Health Care in the utilization of the World Bank fund as requested by the Okengwe community of Okigwe LGA. But the Chief Medical personnel at the Okengwe PHC had lamented that he had more than three times written to the local government about the state of the health centre and nothing was done. “I cannot leave this place as I am the only hope of the people,” he was quoted as saying, imploring Followthemoney to help prompt government into action.

As for Enugu State, with its Akama Primary Health Care Centre in Enugwu of Enugu North LGA said to be “basically empty and lacking water, toilet, electricity and emergency transport (and operating) with limited basic drugs,” it did not honour the organisation’s requests through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The state also boycotted the Town Hall Meeting called by CODE, the report said.

Similarly, in Akwa Ibom, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) had N10.5m budgeted for the rehabilitation of the Primary Health Centre at Afia Nsit Urua Nko in Nsit Ibom Local Government. The Officer in Charge of the health centre said he was not even aware such provision was made for the place, wondering why there was no implementation of such in the tenth month of the fiscal year.

When engaged by CODE, the NPHCDA said the project was in its contracting phase and would let the organization know when the project starts.  “The agency has refused to provide us with their costed work plan, claiming that the contract is yet to be awarded. Albeit, the contracting process should have been concluded by now,” noted the report.

Kano State, with the largest human population, also had the sum of N137m approved for the renovation of Primary Health Centres in Filin Mushe, Gwale and Makoda local government areas of the state in 2016. According to the report, Kantudu in Makoda Local Government, is home to one of the 30 health centres in the local government and as of September 2, the fund had not reached the community for the provision of drugs and equipment.

However, the government swung into action following the advocacy through the electronic media and the social media via its #equipkantudu and then promised to equip the health centre. The government even obliged to give the details of its 2017 budget with a call on Followthemoney to help in tracking the expenses.

In Niger State, following the unfortunate death of 28 children in 2015 from lead poisoning in Shikira, a total of N256m was eventually included in the 2016 budget of the Ministry of Health. It is noteworthy that the Federal Government had earlier set up a committee to take care of the situation, but nothing was done, despite the reports of the Global Rights on the incident and its imminent escalation, the report noted.

With the campaign ongoing, the fund for the cleanup was released in June 2016 while the treatment of the affected children commenced in August of the same year, the report revealed.

CODE, therefore, urged government to ensure there is timely sharing of information to the citizens about how public funds are being used so as to make accountability on the part of the government easier.