Despite receiving a $10 million grant to address gully erosion in Mokwa Local Government Area (LGA) and spending N2.2 billion on flood and erosion in 2024, the Niger State government recorded a massive flooding in the area in 2025, an event that has been described as the worst in the state’s history.

The Guardian reports that no fewer than 200 fatalities have been recorded in Mokwa since last Thursday’s flood, with residents in the area fearing the toll may more than double, with over 500 currently missing.

As the survivors of the disaster recount their losses and live with the trauma of seeing their loved ones washed away by the flood, as well as losing their properties, The Guardian, while reviewing Niger State’s 2024 budget, discovered that the state government had allocated ?970,750,000 for erosion and flood control efforts in 2024.

Could the flood have been prevented?

Every year, governments at all levels in Nigeria allocate millions of naira to prevent floods in their regions. Sometimes, they borrow loans from international organisations to address the predicament.

In some instances, meagre percentages of these allocations are expended on flood control projects. Sometimes, the allocations remain untouched, and residents of flood-prone areas are forced to bear the brunt.

In 2023, for instance, the Alau Dam in Maiduguri collapsed and caused severe floods in Borno State. This was despite N762 million allocations for the dam’s rehabilitation exercises for over 12 years.

The Guardian reports that despite the Niger State government allocating ?970,750,000 for erosion and flood control efforts in 2024, it, however, spent more than it had allocated at the end of the year.

A look at the state’s budget performance document for that period revealed it spent N2,200,000,000 on erosion and flood control in 2024.

In 2025, it allocated N33,728,130,562.50 for erosion and flood control.

In 2019, residents of the region expressed deep concern over recurring floods, lamenting the loss of loved ones and property. They also struggled with severe gully erosion triggered by the persistent flooding.

In 2024, the Niger State Government secured a $10 million grant from the World Bank to tackle gully erosion in Mokwa Local Government Area.

Niger State Government pleads for intervention funds on X

Despite spending N2.2 billion on erosion and flood control in 2024 and allocating N33,728,130,562.50 for the same purpose in 2025, the Niger State Government is pleading for humanitarian intervention funds for victims of the flood.

In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Bologi Ibrahim, he noted that Bago sought humanitarian intervention funds from the victims of the flood.

“The farmer Governor appreciated the swift response of all relevant agencies that contributed to the search and rescue operations and called on the Federal Government to provide a temporary camp for the victims, as where they are occupying now is not habitable,” the statement read in part.

“He further enjoined humanitarian interventions from Cooperative organisations and individuals to provide succour for the victims but advised that all financial assistance should be sent to a government approved account thus; Account Name: Niger State Emergency Distress, Account Number: 2046096920, Bank Name: First Bank of Nigeria.”

A non-governmental organisation, Environment Watch, blamed the flood on the Federal Government for failing to implement the Ministry of Works’ 2025 budget.

The group noted that the catastrophe would have been averted if the budget implementation had not been delayed until five months into the fiscal year. (The Guardian)

• A woman stands next to debris from damaged buildings in Mokwa on June 1, 2025, after the town was hit by torrential rains overnight Wednesday into Thursday, with the flooding displacing more than 3,000 people. Search teams fanned out several kilometres from the epicentre of deadly flash flooding in Nigeria Saturday, the Red Cross said, as the death toll from heavy rains in the north-central market town of Mokwa topped 150. The sharp rise in the toll came as bodies were recovered nearly 10 kilometres (six miles) away from the town, where more than 250 buildings were levelled and two bridges were swept away, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, told AFP.