What do we know about disaster risk reduction practices in Nigeria?

Six years after Nigeria and other African states signed the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR), disasters of various magnitudes continue to destroy properties and render survivors homeless in Nigeria. This is further compounded by substandard housing; inadequate and/or poor, in many cases outright absence of basic infrastructure and poor environmental sanitation. Specifically, economic losses have risen steadily, stoked by climate change, unbalanced urbanization and inequalities, and now average US$250 billion to US$300 billion a year in damages across cities in Nigeria according to EM-DAT database. The combination of these risk factors creates instant recipe for human-induced and nature-induced disasters in the country. 

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    In response to this realisation, the Nigerian government participates in several regional and international DRR frameworks such as Hyogo Framework of Action in 2005 and the recent Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, albeit with limited success. One reasonable explanatory hypothesis for this reality is that the operational disaster risk reduction systems in the country place more emphasis on disaster response than on risk prevention and mitigation. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), whose responsibility is to organise and coordinate DRR activities in the country, has been incapable of fulfilling its statutory mandate. The general approach to disaster management by the agency is made up of facilitating the evacuation of victims and providing the victims the most urgent assistance, usually in the form of food, clothes, medicine and temporal shelter. Where the agency’s DRR strategy has shown a leaning towards some disaster preparedness efforts, they have remained theoretical rather than practical.

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    In view of this seeming retrogressive state of DRR in Nigeria, it is strongly recommended that disaster risk reduction should be national, state and local governments’ priority, focusing on understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of vulnerability, capacity, exposure of persons and assets, hazard characteristics and the environment. Such knowledge can be used for risk assessment, prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response in accordance with Sendai Framework.

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    Furthermore, awareness on disaster impacts is necessary in inculcating into the residents and community groups the culture of disaster preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response and recovery. In other words, both proactive and reactive approaches to disaster education are advocated. Public information and enlightenment campaigns in print and electronic media and through community-based organisations such as women and youth associations, neighbourhood organizations, market/trade and religious organizations should be vigorously pursued. Also, disaster management studies should be incorporated into the educational curriculum at all levels in Nigeria with emphasis on disaster risk reduction. This will among other benefits produce qualified professionals, policymakers and managers required to meet the human resources need of disaster management organizations and enhance the capacity of the agencies to formulate the right policies needed for effective disaster risk reduction strategies in Nigeria.