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DISASTER
MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA: AN APPRAISAL OF NEMA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
Security is
a fundamental prerequisite for a stable social order and for sustainable human
development. Security is a priority in all human societies and is the
responsibility of governments to ensure peace and security within the society.
Tragedies on the other hand, occur naturally or are man made and have the
ability to disrupt peace and security within a society. Tragedies have been
with man for as long as civilization on earth. Its occurrence has been
attributed to numerous factors. Tragedies are usually associated with
destructive occurrences that leave man with a great sense of loss and despair.
Any such incidence that leaves man helpless could be referred to as an
emergency.1 Civil strife, sabotage, outbreak of epidemics and aggression are
some of the crises that constitute national emergencies.
An emergency
can sometimes turn out to be a disaster or crisis requiring urgent action to
mitigate the effect of such an occurrence. Disaster, hazard, crisis,
catastrophe and upheaval are commonly used to describe such an occurrence.2
Disaster means, “greater or sudden misfortune”.3 It is an event or hazard;
natural or man-made, sudden and or progressive, which impacts with such
severity that leaves a community helpless and miserable.4
Examples of
man-made disasters includes the chemical explosion at Union Carbide Corporation
Bhopal India in December 1984 that left 4,000 people dead with many still
suffering from the attendant health related problems.5 Similarly, the Hiroshima
and Nagasaki bombings of the Second World War in Japan, speaks volumes. An
instance of natural disasters is the Hurricane Katrina that hit Florida, the
United States of American (USA) on 25 August 2005.6 Several other examples of
disasters are abound with monumental loss of lives and properties.
Unfortunately,
disasters tend to occur more frequently world wide due to increase
vulnerability of societies to hazards with the attendant losses when compared
to few decades ago. This assertion is supported by the United Nation disaster
estimates, which noted that between 1994 and 2003 at
least 2.5
billion people were killed by the effects of disasters worldwide, while about
478,000 people were killed by the effects of natural disasters such as
hurricane, earthquakes and floods.7
Africa has
equally had a series of painful experiences of disaster in the past. In August
1986, the volcanic eruption in the highland of Western Cameroon led to the
death of about 1,700 people while 330 sheep, 300 herds of cattle and thousands
of other livestock were also lost.8 Drought as a hazard is no stranger to South
Africa, nor is the threat of wild fires, flash floods or other disasters.
Examples of these is Laingburg flash floods in 1995 where 173 lives were lost.9
Nigeria has had its own share of national disasters which has impacted
negatively on the socio-economic well-being of the nation. These include the
Ogunpa flood of 1977 in Dugbe Ibadan city. Over 400 houses and hundreds of
lives were lost in the flood incidents between 1960 and 1963 alone.10
There are
also many man-induced disasters in Nigeria. These include the C-130 plane crash
in 1992, the EAS crash
of 2002
Belleview and Sosoliso air crashes of 2005 where more than 200 people lost
their lives with many more maimed.11 There was also the Jos Terminus Main
Market inferno of 12 February 2002 which destroyed over 56 million Naira worth
of goods.12 Another man made disaster was the Ikeja Military Cantonment
Ammunition Transit Depot (ATD) explosion on 27 January 2002 resulting in
massive damage to the cantonment with about 1,100 people reportedly killed.13
Another
worrisome dimension to man made disasters in Nigeria is that of internal
crises. Some of these crises manifest in the form of ethno-religious crises or
the quest for resource control. These are threats that have occurred recently
and are becoming frequent. Results of these crises are massive loss of human
lives and properties in large proportions tantamount to man made disasters.
Despite an
increasing toll from disasters in terms of human suffering, death,
infrastructural damage, loss of income and the attendant psychological trauma,
feasibility measures to mitigate disasters are not adopted by most developing
countries. Presently, there are no internationally agreed standards for
disaster management institutions, structure and legislation, there are however
some agreements on codes. Some of such are building codes and transportation of
dangerous materials. These are however, far from Inter-continental. Although
the United Nations (UN) and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) have made
significant efforts at promoting and formulating strategies for Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR) and response, many countries including Nigeria are become
increasingly vulnerable. Some examples quoted could have been avoided through
better planning, control measures, warning systems, community development and
preparedness.
Disasters
and emergencies impact negatively on sustainable national development. Frequent
occurrences of disasters and the need to manage them more effectively have made
most developed and some developing nations like South Africa to adopt proactive
measure by forecasting hazard prone areas in order to prevent or mitigate the
impact of disasters. In this regard, central coordinating machineries were put
in place to manage disasters.14
In Nigeria,
there are many stakeholders in the management of emergencies and disasters.
These include the Nigerian Armed Forces, Nigeria Police (NP), Federal Road
Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and the Nigeria
Fire Service (NFS). Others are the National Security and Civil Defence Corps
(NSCDC), the Red Cross and United Nations High Commission for Refuges (UNHCR)
and some individuals among others. However, the extent to which the various
activities of these stakeholders are harmonised coordinated and synchronised in
situations of national emergencies and disasters leaves much to be desired.
The
foregoing challenges necessitated the establishment of the National Emergency
Relief Agency (NERA) in 1976 before Decree No 12 of 1999 amended by Act No 5
of 1999 with
a broadened scope transformed it to the National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA). NEMA was among other things, designated to effectively coordinate the
management of emergencies and disaster efforts of all the stakeholders.
However, despite the NEMA’s establishment, response to disaster in Nigeria has
fallen short of expectation. This has largely been attributed to inadequate
capacity building and integration of effort. Moreover, NEMA’s intervention has
continued to be focused largely on relief efforts as against proactive approaches.
The
recurrent and increasing occurrences of disasters have presented the critical
need for a more effective, holistic and proactive approach to disaster
management in Nigeria. This approach ought to be community based and federally
funded and coordinated. There is the need therefore, to focus on disaster risks
and the vulnerability of communities with emphasis on multi-levels and
multi-dimensional coordination. More collaboration between all stakeholders and
the private sectors particularly the insurance companies would also be
necessary as mitigation measures. The disaster plan ought to include
preparation for terrorist threat, which poses new and hitherto unimaginable
concern in Nigeria. This is therefore the motivation for this research.
STATEMENT OF
THE PROBLEM
NEMA whose
supervisory role is the management of emergencies in Nigeria has been incapable
of fulfilling its statutory mandate. One can posit therefore that this
organization lays more emphasis on the distribution of relief materials than a
holistic, scientific and pragmatic management of emergencies and disasters. The
concern is whether the present state of disaster management in Nigeria is
capable of achieving its statutory role on human security through disaster
reduction. For instance, in the aviation sector, the ADC aircraft that crashed
on 10 June 1996 in Ejirin village in
Ogun State took almost 24hrs to be located.
Similarly, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) plane that crashed in Vandeikya,
Benue State
on 17
September 2006 took some hours before official assistance and response could be
provided.
Other
recurring problems to disaster management in Nigeria include lack of proper
maintenance of infrastructure and equipment, lack of adequate early warning
system and inadequate funding. Others are; lack of proper mobilisation of the
citizenry to manage disaster and improper vulnerability assessment of likely
disaster areas including inadequate and ineffective legal and regulatory
framework. Improper planning and uncoordinated management of risk-reduction
strategies, and haphazard relief and recovery processes result in loss of
lives, problems of feeding, sanitation, housing, medical and undesirable social
vices. It is against this background that this research seeks answers to the
following questions.
What is
disaster management?
What types
of disasters and emergencies are prevalent in Nigeria?
What is
Nigeria’s approach to disaster management?
What are the
challenges to disaster management in Nigeria?
What are the
prospects for efficient disaster management in Nigeria?
OBJECTIVE OF
THE STUDY
The main
objective of the study is to discuss disaster management in Nigeria and the
role played by NEMA in this regard, with a view to highlighting the prospects
of an efficient disaster management system in Nigeria. The specific objectives
are to:
a. Define disaster management.
b. Examine the types of disasters and
emergencies prevalent in Nigeria.
c. Analyse Nigeria’s approach to disaster
management.
d. Highlight the challenges to disaster
management in Nigeria.
e. Outline the prospects for enhancing
disaster management in Nigeria.
SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE STUDY
The study
will be beneficial to the Nigerian Government in the formulation of effective
policies in furtherance of an enhanced emergency preparedness and disaster
management in the country. It will specifically benefit National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA) and its implementation of risk reduction measures and
strategies for disaster management. The Nigerian Armed Forces, NP, FERMA, FRSC,
NFS and NSCDC will also benefit from the research in their respective roles in
disaster management. It will also serve the Red Cross Society, local and
international organisations involved in disaster management.
This is to
enable the foregoing organisations appreciate the importance of the subject
matter and understand the difficulties encountered in managing disasters as
well as the suggesting the benefits of an enhanced disaster management in
Nigeria. It will also serve the general public and add to the existing body of
knowledge as well as a future reference material for further research on the
topic
SCOPE OF THE
STUDY
The scope of
the study will highlight the roles of NEMA in national disasters issues and
discuss the managerial effectiveness of NEMA officials in tackling disasters.
It will also ascertain if NEMA has any constraints in the course of performing
its roles and identify the government and non-governmental organisations
contributions to national disaster problems in Nigeria.
The study
highlighted hazard profiles in Nigeria over the last 3 decades but only
critically analysed the most prevalent disasters within 2000 and 2010. This
period was chosen because it was a period that recorded frequent cases of
disasters in Nigeria. It also marked a period when the Federal Government of
Nigeria (FGN) embarked on a systematic approach for the management of national
emergencies and disasters. Activities of the security agencies in managing
disasters will be discussed. However, NEMA is the central focus in this study.
LIMITATIONS
The
limitation of this study was the problem of poor record keeping in some
government agencies. NEMA and its related bodies did not properly document some
past disaster management operations in the country. Statistical and other
relevant information on previous disasters in Nigeria were limited. Some
newspapers statistics were also found to be inaccurate with the reports
sensationally inclined.
These
limitations did not however, degrade the quality of the research, as past works
and literature were available at Armed Forces Command and Staff College
(AFCSC), Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Federal Polytechnic Kaduna, NEMA and
the Internet among others. It was also difficult to get responses from some
relevant government agencies because of administrative procedures and the fact
that the researcher was not able to travel to other parts of the country other
than Abuja and Kwara State on an environmental study tour. This would have
afforded a wider research with other deductions.
THE RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
The research
questions are as follows:
a. What factors give rise to increase in
number of disasters in Nigeria within the last decade?
b. Why are the effects on the populace still
very severe despite government efforts?
c. What is the role of NEMA in the
management of national disasters?
d. Has NEMA adequately performed its
statuary role of managing disasters within the nation?
e. Are there any constraints encountered by
NEMA in the management of national disaster?
f. How can NEMA be assisted to achieve its
goals and objectives?
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