Nigeria not ready for floods despite billions in funding — Ex-NEMA boss

Former acting Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Air Vice Marshal Akugbe Iyamu (retd.), has criticised Nigeria’s flood preparedness despite billions of naira released for ecological interventions.

According to PUNCH, Iyamu said authorities have sufficient data and early warnings but fail to properly deploy available resources to protect vulnerable communities.

“Between 2023 and 2025, 109 billion Naira was released for the Ecological Fund. What have the states used it for?” he asked.

Iyamu argued that Nigeria’s challenge was not inadequate funding but how money earmarked for ecological problems was managed.

“Our problem is not the finances; it is the way the finances are directed,” he said.

He also criticised bureaucracy and inadequate transparency in managing disaster-prevention funds, saying states often treat ecological funds as regular allocations.

Iyamu urged authorities to restore Abuja’s original master plan and use ecological funds for preventive infrastructure, including sandbanks and riverbanks, while strengthening accountability and harmonising emergency-response agencies nationwide.