Nigeria Natural Hazard Governance: Institutional Perspective

Nigeria is affected by several types of natural disasters, such as floods, landslides, drought, pest invasion, gully erosion, coastal erosion, soil erosion, and storms, among others. The National Emergency Relief Agency was established in 1976 by the federal government purely as a relief organization focusing only on post disaster management to coordinate its disaster response activities. It later became the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), delegated with the primary responsibility for coordinating federal emergency preparedness, planning, management, and disaster assistance functions in the country. NEMA also has been delegated with the responsibility for establishing a disaster assistance policy. In this stewardship role, NEMA has the lead in developing and maintaining the National Disaster Response Plan. There have been significant strides made in the effort to clearly define policies and institutions and promote collaboration with critical national agencies and stakeholders and related international organizations. As such, an institutional perspective of the natural hazard governance structure in Nigeria became critical. The evolution of natural hazard governance in Nigeria also highlights the coordination and types of disasters as policy triggers. There is a legal framework of disaster management that empowered NEMA as the coordinating agency for disaster management in Nigeria, especially in collaborating with offices such as the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, the Surveyor General of the Federation, the National Space Research and Development Agency, and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency in areas of flood vulnerability mapping as well as international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and nongovernmental organizations. A review of the challenges in the implementation and management of policy and of the implementation of the natural hazard governance in Nigeria are critically important.