Disaster Watch Nigeria Brochure Correct

NIGERIA: 2012 DISASTER REPORT
Building Capacity for safe, Secure & Sustainable Environment
A Publication of
Disaster Watch Nigeria Initiative
Disaster Watch Nigeria Initiative is a humanitarian organization registered in Nigeria in 2012 to focus primarily on disaster management issues in Nigeria in particular and West Africa in general. The establishment of Disaster Watch Nigeria was predicated on the need to make quality difference in the disaster management in Nigeria and West Africa and provide disaster management services through:
? ? Publication of disaster reports and quarterly and annual bulletins. ? Assessment of disaster/emergency events and dissemination of such
reports to governmental, non-governmental and corporate organizations and other relevant stakeholders including the public.
? Research studies about disaster/emergency issues. ? Providing quality training for government, non-government, corporate
bodies and communities prone to disasters (focusing on youths).

? Periodic dissemination of information about disaster/emergencies
through early warnings preventive and mitigation activities.

? Logistics
and organizational support to disaster management
organizations and corporate bodies.

? Seminars, workshops and conferences on disaster/management and
articulating recommendations for the use of stakeholders
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The 2012 Disaster Report for Nigeria was collated, analysed and published by Disaster Watch Nigeria Initiative (DWN) to inform, educate, mobilise and sensitise governments at all levels, corporate bodies, communities and individuals about salient issues related to the monitoring, management and mitigation of disasters in our country. Indeed, this phenomenon (disasters) should be an issue of great concern to everyone. DWN wishes to express its appreciation to Adebayo Olowo-Ake, Oforbuike Nwobodo, Abiodun Orebiyi, Patrick Bawa, Bola Bayo Solarin, and several other Nigerians and friends of Nigeria too numerous to mention, working within the humanitarian community at home and abroad, for their wonderful contribution and tireless effort towards ensuring the successful publication of this epoch-making document. We equally recognise and appreciate the advice, contribution, as well as moral and financial support provided by Sule Baba Ali, Emmanuel Imafidon, Olutoyin Adepate, Adekunle Adebanjo, Jane Martins-Offiong, Oladimeji Ige, Daniel Edobor and Emmanuel Adomeh. It is our intention to ensure that the compilation and publication of this document becomes an annual event henceforth, for the betterment of our society and greater security of our peoples in times of man-made and natural disasters.
D I S A S T E R WATC H N I G E R I A I N I T I AT I V E
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INTRODUCTION
The publication of this report marks the first time such document will be produced in any country in West, Central or East Africa. While it is a landmark achievement for Nigeria, the lessons learned from the intervention of governments and several agencies during disasters over the period under review and as chronicled herein must be taken to heart and acted upon if the experience gained is not to become meaningless. Relying on the skills and experience of Nigerians and friends of Nigeria currently deployed in the humanitarian space at home and abroad, we undertook painstaking monitoring, evaluation, analysis and compilation of disasters which hit the country in the past one year and were able to draw critical conclusions that have formed the essence of this landmark publication and which, hopefully, will change the face of disaster response in our country from now on. Our team of experts, consultants and advisers evaluated our early warning system and their use, our disaster response capacity, our intervention and mitigation efforts, our mobilisation techniques and action, our disaster risk reduction programmes and our overall post disaster recovery efforts among several other indicators. The orientation and behaviour of communities affected by disasters and the contribution of extragovernmental agencies and the private sector were also reviewed, with all the above-mentioned indices being diligently compared with international best practices to enable us obtain a reasonably accurate picture of where we stand on the disaster management configuration. An organisation like Disaster Watch Nigeria Initiative can and should play a critical role in supporting the disaster management structure in the country. In our staffing, we possess an aggregate of some 35 years
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experience in the field of disaster management and response, and enjoy the support of compatriots at home and in the Diaspora, many of who work (or have worked) in difficult and sometimes complex emergencies and at the very highest levels of the management structure. Thus, what we offer and indeed bring to the table is not just cutting edge but critical intellectual and analytical resources that position us to meet and exceed global standards in our field. As you digest this report, you will no doubt come across our assessment and commentsoffered as our noble contribution towards helping to improve our disaster management standards. It is our expectation that we shall continue to enjoy the support of all stakeholders, local and international donors and friends of the environment to strengthen our resolve to complement national and other resources in disaster and climate management for the overall benefit of our people and their resources, making the climes of Nigeria safer and more habitable for this and future generations. All of us at Disaster Watch Nigeria Initiative therefore, taking great delight in what we have produced, seize this opportunity to wish you happy reading! Abiodun Orebiyi, Executive Director
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Copyright 2013 by Disaster Watch Nigeria Initiative. All rights reserved. Except for quotation in view of the work, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Disaster Watch Nigeria Initiative. This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced without fee for teaching purposes but not for resale. Formal permission must be obtained from the publisher. Thanks to all those who assisted contributors during travel and research. Contact details: Corporate Office: 57/59 Isawo Road, Agric Bus Stop, Owutu, Ikorodu, Lagos Tel: 07031618553, 08033052824 Website: www.disasterwatchnigeria.org
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Disaster Watch Nigeria Initiative (Inside Front Cover) Acknowledgements Introduction CHAPTER ONE Hazard Mapping, Early Warning and Assessments---Building Capacity & Reducing Vulnerability. CHAPTER TWO Incident Management CHAPTER THREE Emergency Management and Community Participation CHAPTER FOUR Nigeria Police, Fire Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Commission Relevance to Emergency Management CHAPTER FIVE Overview of the National Disaster Scenario 2012 CHAPTER SIX Implications of 2012 Emergencies For Nigeria EPILOGUE Going forward with disaster management in Nigeria in 2013
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HAZARD MAPPING, EARLY WARNING AND ASSESSMENTS CAPACITY AND REDUCING VULNERABILITY If we carry out a critical appraisal of natural and manmade disasters/emergencies that not only occurred in Nigeria in the year under review but that have occurred at least over the immediate past decade, i.e. 2002--2012, we discover that these disasters/emergencies have the following common denominators: They caused loss of life They displaced thousands of people They were predicted (and can always be) using modern technology and traditional methods They affected human and material resources They affected the environment and its systems They impacted negatively on the economy, security, and social life of the nation Their management / mitigation required huge financial resources before, during and after. Disasters/emergencies cannot be wished away, yet whenever we are confronted with them in Nigeria, the immediate reaction of the average citizen is encapsulated in this statement: God forbid. This attitude inhibits our ability to think proactively and to react appropriately to deal with the situation. Sometimes, we are never conscious of the risks we are exposed to within our immediate and larger environment and at other times, we pretend that those risks do not exist or that they can easily be dealt with since we consider them part of our normal life. Even where we have a fair idea of the hazards around uswhich are usually not well documented and understoodwe tend to take for granted the necessary steps and actions we should take in order to minimise, or prevent their occurrence or impact if eventually they occur and become a serious emergency event that threatens our lives
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and property. In most cases, the information about these hazards is sketchy or nonexistent because nobody has made any conscious or structured effort to acquire, analyse and disseminate it to the generality of the people. In essence, people are caught unawares by the emergencies generated by these hazards that they live with everyday. This scenario played itself out in 2012 as it did in the immediate past decade. HAZARD MAPPING Disasters which occurred in the country in the period under review once again brought to the fore the need for sectoral hazard maps to be developed for Nigeria in general terms and for specific areas. The urgency of providing these maps cannot be overemphasized. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) already have general hazard maps for Nigeria (and are perhaps the only two organisations which have such documents), which they use for their contingency planning from time to time. It must however be noted that the information about this important emergency planning document is limited in terms of its dissemination and operational technicalities. It is also apparent that many states of the federation do not have hazard maps in place, while the provision of these maps is apparently not of any priority importance to the various administrations in charge of our Local Government Areas. Indeed, it is at this level of governance that the maps are most needed considering their closeness to the people and the hazards which occur. If hazard maps had been in place in all the Local Government Areas and States and they are periodically reviewed and assessed, they would have aided the management of emergencies at the state and local government levels in a more proactive way that would have reduced the impact and scope of the various disasters that occurred
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in the previous years in general and 2012 in particular. These maps would have given meaning to the various early warning calls and signs that were issued by Nigerian Meteorological Agency, National Emergency Management Agency, some State Governments, local communities, UN Agencies etc. because hazard mapping, if properly done, gives operational effect to the assessment done before, during and after disasters/emergencies in any given context. If we must be in control of any emergency situation therefore, we must link hazard mapping to early warning and assessment, a process that will allow us to plan for our preparedness, response, mitigation and recovery/reconstruction activities. We reiterate the fact that emergency management should not be based on mere assumptions, as there must be proper assessment procedures to establish hazard maps before an emergency. From our analysis, some of the disasters which occurred in Nigeria in 2012 (which among others) included flooding, landslides, violent conflicts, rainstorms, ocean surge, fire etc were particularly severe in their impact because the various communities and individuals affected by them were not aware of the prevailing hazards in their respective environments. They were also not in possession of any information about the assessment exercise carried out on such hazards if any and we may therefore conclude that the impact of the flood and other disasters was heavy on the affected people, individuals and communities because of lack of information regarding these hazards and assessments carried out which could have educated them on steps to take in order to mitigate the emergencies and reduce the negative impact they had on lives and property. EARLY WARNING Early warning is an essential process in emergency management. It is meant to warn and alert individuals and communities about the likelihood of an emergency based on certain parameters which are already identified, through scientific, physical and practical assessments.
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Usually, early warnings about the probability of an emergency occurring should be leveraged by the use of hazard maps/hazard assessments in order to give vent to disaster mitigation. However the required follow-up to the early warnings in the form of pre disaster assessments, community/social mobilization, enlightenment campaigns, information dissemination and other preparedness activities are usually lacking. This was the scenario that played itself out in 2012 with particular regard to the flood disaster and other emergencies. To illustrate this point, the Nigeria Meteorological Agency rightly and promptly issued an alert as early as February 2012 on impending heavy rainfall and attendant flooding, yet many states, local governments, and communities in the area to be impacted were caught unprepared. This inaction led to massive destruction of property, with infrastructural facilities like roads, bridges, schools, health institutions suffering direct hits by the flood. The sad reality about all these developments is that the early warning alerts issued by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency and NEMA were neglected or taken for granted by communities, state and local governments. There were no follow-up assessments of the areas prone to flood disasters based on the early warning in order to put in place measures that could mitigate the emergency or reduce the impact of the disaster on lives and property. The issue of climate change has been a topical one for the past three to four years but it was never regarded as an issue which poses a direct threat to lives and property in Nigeria. However the Lagos State Government (LASG) must be commended for taking proactive action based on the early warnings of impending flood disaster in 2012.
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It is obvious that the LASG already learnt some lessons from the devastating flood disaster which affected the state in 2011 by embarking on various preparedness and mitigation activities to reduce the impact of any subsequent flooding thereafter. Some of the activities carried out by the state government include seminars/conferences on climate change, pre-flooding assessment activities, clearing of canals and drainages targeting particularly flood prone areas, community mobilization and sensitization, enlightenment campaigns and removal of structures blocking drainages and canals. All these activities paid off for the state to the extent that the 2012 widespread flood disaster which affected about 24 states in the country had minimal impact on the state despite the fact that it lies at sea level and its topography is largely dominated by wetlands. It is however worth mentioning that even though early warning signals are easily identified and issued for certain categories of emergencies like floods, rainstorms, building collapse, landslides etc, the same thing can not be said of the greater percentage of violent conflicts which are usually spontaneous in nature. This particular emergency requires serious intelligence and information gathering that should be done by security agencies and skilled professionals. Due to the nature of its clandestine planning and spontaneity, it is sometimes difficult to issue early warning signals for such a phenomenon. Sometimes the signs that all may not be well and that there would be likelihood of eruption of conflicts, emotions and other factors may not allow people to take precautionary measures that could mitigate or prevent the emergency until its occurrence which usually lead to serious casualties. It is on record that people are usually caught unawares by violent conflicts due to lack of early warning alerts, lack of conflict emergency assessments (before the conflict breaks out) etc.
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Even when the remote signs of violent conflicts are identified, we tend not to give it the required attention necessary to mitigate or prevent it. Plateau state witnessed more than twenty five (25) devastating violent conflicts in 2012. These conflicts consumed at least 250 lives, destroyed several houses, property, farm lands and livestock. It is of note that billions of Naira was lost to these conflicts while the economic, social and psychological impacts of the conflicts can not be quantified. The issue of the terrorism / sectarian violence / insurgency which has been ravaging Borno, Kano Adamawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Kaduna, Niger and Gombe States was also bereft of any serious early warning alerts which could have assisted in reducing its impact on the population. It thus claimed at least 750 lives in 2012, while several churches, schools, some government buildings, health infrastructure etc were destroyed by the insurgents. In essence, it can be deduced that early warnings for violent conflicts do not work effectively or that they are not even available. If early warning alerts work for violent conflicts or are available at all, then the high loss of life and property usually experienced during such terrorist act / insurgency, communal and religions conflicts etc. would have either been avoided or significantly reduced. To stem the phenomenon of high casualties usually experienced during violent conflicts in the country, security agencies will have to be more proactive, effective and efficient in their intelligence gathering activities so as to put in place early warning alerts that would be of tremendous help in saving lives and property. People need to know and understand the hazards they are exposed to in their environment and how to prevent or mitigate such. While such information is often regarded as classified by security agencies who are often reluctant to share it for the safety of the civilian population, it should be stressed that these agencies owe the
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population the responsibility to release at least aspects of such information for the people to be aware and be properly alerted to impeding dangers and risks. In situations where early warning alerts are issued concerning any impending emergency, the various governments and communities have not been able to provide safe corridors or reception areas for people to be moved to in order to protect them from the effects or impacts of an emergency. Sometimes people do not know what to do with early warning alerts and equally do not even know where to go for safety just because their awareness and knowledge about how to manage emergency in terms of safety arrangement and security is very limited. This may explain why people still get caught up in the web of some emergencies despite being well aware that it was going to occur! During the widespread 2012 flood disaster in Nigeria, twenty four (24) states of the federation were ravaged with attendant colossal loss of lives and property. Some of the affected people who were interviewed in the media after each of these disasters had occurred declared that generally, they were not alerted by the authority on the impending flood even though they saw the signs from the rising water levels which they took for granted since they were already used to such occurrence in the past. Some claimed that the alerts or early warnings were only meant for the book people i.e. the elite, to plan and spend money. Some other people expressed the opinion that if they had been properly alerted and advised as to what they should do and where to go (with their movable property) for their safety and those of their movable property, they would not have suffered so much loss materially and psychologically. They advised that in future, the respective Local Government Authority should be empowered to reach out to the people to alert, advise and direct / move them to safe and secured locations.
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Those affected by these disasters further averred that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other security agencies that are closer to the communities should be given more responsibilities in emergency management especially regarding early warning alerts and assisting the people to secure safe areas for their lives and property. They suggested that there should be high level of co-operation and collaboration between the communities, the NPF and the NSCDC in the management of disasters if we must reduce the negative impact of emergencies and loss of lives and property. With regard to violent conflicts and terrorism in some parts of the country, some of the affected people claimed that they never received any early warning or alert from the government or any responsible authority. Sometimes, they claimed warnings were received from the community members / leadership and such alerts were only meant to prepare them to fight and defend their communities. In most cases, some of the affected people claimed that they were caught in the web of the violence unexpected and unprepared. Others revealed that the only time they were aware that all was not well in their community security-wise was whenever they saw a large contingent of soldiers and policemen. Even at that, they were never alerted or prepared officially to deal with the situation in order to safeguard their lives and propertya role they believe the authorities have the responsibility to play. Some of the actors in the violent conflicts especially in Plateau State revealed that they had to keep the information about impending violence (on their part) to their chest for strategic, tactical and security reasons. They claimed that most of the time, they do not trust security agencies to protect them as they believed that the said agents are working for their opponents. This scenario probably helps explain the vicious circle of the conflicts in Plateau State and other States affected by violent religious/communal conflicts.
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The terrorist / insurgent attacks in the northeast of Nigeria presented a very complex scenario whose impact on targeted communities, throughout 2012, defied mitigation and therefore led to the loss of hundreds of innocent lives. Those bearing the brunt of this terror attacks / insurgency are caught between the actions of the perpetrators and the programmes of security/law enforcement agents to neutralise them. The dilemma of choosing which way to turn in terms of where their loyalty lay has exposed them to serious and precarious security situations. Providing information to the security operatives or cover to the insurgents has never helped their case, and they are therefore left to use their initiatives and creative sense to fight for survival. This development thus has led to high mortality among innocent citizens especially in Kano, Borno and some other north eastern States where these terror attacks / insurgency is much pronounced. They claimed that security agencies often do not issue any early warning alert before their operations neither do the terrorists / insurgents. Perhaps a proactive way of warning possible innocent targets without compromising security operations has to be developed and implemented. In some cases where early warning alerts were issued by security agencies, the insurgents still managed to hit their targets as planned. Some of the people affected by the terrorist / insurgency acts in the northeast of the country expressed frustration and confusion as to how they could be properly protected against the insurgents, taking into consideration the fact that perpetrators of terrorist acts / insurgent action actually live in the community. What they have lost to the insurgency, economically, and socially can not be quantified. Their children now lag behind in education, they can no longer concentrate on their economic activities and even some of their fundamental freedoms have been curtailed by the absence of security as they can neither speak nor move freely.
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In view of the aforementioned developments and scenarios, the importance of early warning as a tool for disaster management in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. It is a tool that will add value to quality emergency management if effectively and efficiently deployed to serve the desired purpose, taking into consideration certain social, economic, political and environmental factors that may militate against or support its effectiveness for all categories of emergencies. CONDUCTING ASSESSMENTS An analysis of disasters in Nigeria in 2012 underscores the need to situate early warning alerts and other emergency management activities within proper context. Conducting assessment immediately after an early warning alert has been issued gives effect to the alert and kick starts the process of good emergency management. Post early warning alert assessment will give us a good overview of how to manage the emergency situation if it should occur in terms of magnitude, impact, vulnerability, needs, mitigation/prevention strategies and mobilization of resources. It will also afford us the opportunity to put into context, social mobilization activities, contingency planning, as well as a proper coordination and command and control mechanism. Following the timely issuance of a flood alert in 2012 by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, naturally governments at all levels as well as stakeholders should have carried out an assessment of flood prone areas most especially settlements/communities along the major rivers, canals and settlements at and below sea level. However going by the level of devastation experienced from the ensuing disasters in the country throughout 2012, it can be safely opined that no post early warning alert assessment was conducted by majority of the stakeholders with the exception of Lagos and Ogun State Governments that made some effort (and were thus able to minimize the impact of the flood disasters in their respective states).
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If the post early warning alert assessments were conducted, certain measures which would have minimized the impact of the flooding would have been put in place. Some of these measures or actions that could have been considered necessary and important are the creation of buffer zones between the River beds/ways and the settlements, creation of additional channels for the major rivers to inland/artificial lakes/dams, mobilization and sensitization of individuals and communities to vacate flood prone areas to safer areas, identification of safe grounds/areas for the possible evacuation of vulnerable people, reinforcement of bridges and roads likely to be under the threat of flooding, making available alternative routes to divert traffic from roads prone to flooding, construction of small earth dams to divert excess water from rivers prone to flooding among others. It can not be disputed that all these actions and measure were not in place before the onset of the flooding because no assessment was conducted based on the early warning alerts issued by the Meteorological Agency. There is no gain saying the fact that an assessment is even needed before one can draw up a hazard map at the local, state or national level even though the exercise will involve a lot of resources to conduct. This important exercise is worth the effort and resources on the long run considering the fact that it will enable us plan well and effectively for achieving a result oriented emergency management. From this exercise we will be in a position to establish national, state, and local contingency plans for every emergency scenario within and without our environment which will add value to our capacity to attend to emergencies in a more proactive and result-oriented manner. Locating the hazards and being able to identify what can be done at any point in time will give meaning to early warning alerts and make our emergency management action more effective. Our failure from time to time to follow-up early warning alerts with proper
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assessments has always exposed us to greater risks, damages and losses as experienced during he 2012 flood disaster and other emergencies like building collapse, ocean surge, violent conflicts, cholera, meningitis, measles among others. It has also been established without any doubt that after the issuance of any early warning alert by the responsible bodies, we have never undertaken an assessment of the integrity of threatened infrastructure relative to their ability to withstand the impending threat, nor did we undertake a vulnerability and capacity assessment, environmental impact assessment/analysis etc. The failure to take into consideration the aforementioned activities as part of our overall disaster management strategy especially as a follow up to hazard mapping and early warning alert has oftentimes left us stranded and devastated by the effects of the ensuing emergencies. The short comings in our emergency management efforts were highly amplified by our failure to carry out the aforesaid, resulting in the monumental loses we experienced in terms of human and material resources during the 2012 flood disaster in particular and other disasters in general. It is on record that many roads were rendered impassable by the nationwide flood, while bridges and other infrastructural facilities like hospitals, health centres, schools, business premises, local government secretariats, office buildings and many more were rendered unusable by the flooding. Indeed, the 2012 flood disaster exposed the high level of vulnerability of the affected people as well as the inability of government at all levels (except Lagos and Ogun States) and their agencies in managing multifaceted and multidimensional emergencies. Communities, individuals and the different levels of government were caught unawareness and even if there were contingency plans in place for the different emergencies and especially for the flood emergency, the agencies and structures concerned struggled hard to activate the plans and make them effective because of the emergence of certain hitherto unanticipated critical factors that worked against the effective activation of such
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plans. Such factors include, infrastructural collapse, high number of affected and displaced people which were 7 and 2 million respectivelyinadequate financial and material resources, accessibility to the affected people and areas, weak coordination, command and control mechanism, weak information management strategy and weak emergency management strategies at state, local and community levels. From the onset of the flood disaster, it was apparent that everybody and everything within and around the flood affected areas became vulnerable including the environment, its inhabitants and emergency managers. The vulnerability and lack of capacity was apparently highlighted by the quality of preparedness in terms of mobilisation, sensitization, advocacy activities, resource mobilization, establishment of appropriate and practical structures for mitigation and prevention, timeliness of response, quality of response, assessment and provision of appropriate and quality needs, co-ordination, traffic management, information management and many more. All the while we have focused our attention on pre emergency assessment, but it is also important to give some consideration to assessment during emergency which is equally important and can not be isolated from pre-emergency assessments and some of the activities associated with it. This is because the conduct of assessment during an emergency and shortly after is very critical to our planned response which will enhance the activation of our contingency plan / response plan. The assessment exercise during and shortly after an emergency is mainly to determine the scope of the emergency- level of damages/losses, the capacity of those affected and their level of vulnerability, impact of the emergency on the environment, infrastructure, economic and social activities, the needs of those affected and strategies for meeting such needs, mitigation strategies, recovery and rehabilitation strategies.
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It must be noted that the nationwide flood emergency in 2012 witnessed comprehensive assessment activities by the different stakeholders led by NEMA, the Federal Ministry of Health (MOH), Federal Ministry of Environment, NRCS and a host of national and international humanitarian agencies. Even through the assessment activities were hampered by such factors as lack of accessibility to some affected areas/communities, lack of appropriate equipment and materials and delayed response to the emergency, the stakeholders were still able to respond effectively within available means to carry out the required assessments. It is however worth mentioning that the assessments carried out during and shortly after the flood emergency reflected different approaches adopted by the stakeholders involved. This development led to different reports and scenarios presented by the humanitarian actors in terms of numbers of people affected and displaced, injured and dead. The reports gave different accounts of the causes of the emergency, impact on the people, environment and infrastructure, needs and strategies to meet the human, material and environmental needs. It is quite commendable that the major stakeholders and humanitarian actors do share information and compare notes, it cannot however be over emphasized that there is need for more co-ordinated approach to the issue of emergency management in the area of information management- collation and the use of information, response plan of action and strategy for mitigation. We cannot neglect the issue of coherent and coordinated response action if we are to avoid duplication of roles, multiplication of the same relief support to the beneficiaries from different sources, over subscription of support in particular area of needs, provision of unsolicited and inappropriate needs and over subscription of relief support to a particular group to the neglect of others.
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In our emergency management efforts, we have been able to achieve some measure of success in carrying out assessments during and shortly after an emergency like floods, fire, collapsed building, plane crash, road accidents, pipeline explosions, oil spills/environmental pollution, but the same cannot be said of religious/communal violent conflicts and insurgencies. It is usually difficult accessing areas affected by this phenomenon due to the volatile nature of the emergencies and because getting accurate information regarding causes and those responsible have always been very difficult. Assessors may even not be able to make any head way in terms of information gathering because their lives too are constantly in danger and they could be labelled as parties to the conflict if they do not adopt the right approach requiring a visible exhibition of neutrality. In the process of carrying out their humanitarian mandate, the humanitarian actors may find themselves in conflict to the interest of the authorities or the insurgents. Sometimes while humanitarian actors are making efforts to carry out needs assessment and assist those affected by a violent conflict, the parties to the conflict usually see such actions as an effort to empower their opponents against them. In effect, that humanitarian organisation is regarded as an enemy by both parties to the conflict and this explains why humanitarian actors are always conscious of their efforts and conduct while giving humanitarian support to people affected by violent conflicts. The experience of humanitarian actors has led to the establishment of a code of conduct and other guidelines necessary for good and appropriate delivery of humanitarian assistance, pioneered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and which meets international best practices and are acceptable to the parties to the conflict and those affected by it as well. It is pertinent to state that adhering to international best practices does not always mean that humanitarian agencies may still not be perceived as biased or seen to be bolstering the capacity of one of the parties to the conflict but doing so significantly diminishes the likelihood of such perception problems arising and spreading.
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NIGERIA: HAZARD/RISK MAP
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Post emergency assessment is another activity which should not be taken for granted in emergency management as this exercise, if properly and effectively conducted, will give us good insight into the scope/impact of the emergency (on human and material resources, environment, infrastructure etc), lessons learnt, rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery strategy, preventive/mitigation strategy, preparedness and response strategies. It will also afford us the opportunity to know the total cost of the emergency in terms of human and material resources. More importantly, post emergency assessment will give us a good idea of the vulnerability and capacity of the people prone to disasters, the institutions, stakeholders and humanitarian actors in disaster management and the environment. With good post emergency assessments, all these combined will feed into a comprehensive Emergency Management strategy for the country. It may however be safely posited that over the years and also going by our experience in 2012, we have not been able to come to terms with the need to conduct comprehensive and rigorous post emergency assessment for most of the emergencies that occurred in Nigeria. If however, there had been such assessments they have not been disseminated by those who conducted them for the utilisation of the people and stakeholders in emergency management. Commendably, NEMA has been conducting a lot of research and assessments, but for its own internal planning and programming purposes. There is the need to disseminate the outcome of this exercise across board so that more value can be added to our emergency management capacity. Furthermore, state and local governments should be encouraged by NEMA to conduct periodical post emergency assessments for effective and proactive emergency management. It must be emphasized that without serious and elaborate post emergency assessments, it will be difficult to develop the parameters
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for sustainable rehabilitation and recovery framework for the people, infrastructure, economy and environment. We may also face some challenges in drawing up effective plans for preparedness, mitigation and response for the future. It must be noted that the result/outcome of the assessments coupled with lessons learnt will strengthen our capacity for effective and efficient emergency management and thus reduce the vulnerability of the people, stakeholders, infrastructural facilities and the environment. In conclusion, we have to convince ourselves that effective, efficient and proactive emergency management cannot be achieved without developing hazard mapping, early warning alerts and assessments to serve as the framework for emergency management in the country. There is no doubt that we need to do more in this area more especially in the states, local government areas and communities if we must effectively superintend over disaster management challenges going by our experience in 2012.
LESSONS LEARNED In summary, and from the analysis above, the following constitute lessons-learned from our latent disaster management capacity in 2012: Hazard mapping is very essential to emergency management. Unavailability of hazard maps in some States, LGAs and communities compromised our response to the disasters witnessed in 2012. Early warning alerts should be followed by comprehensive assessments. There must be strong links between hazards maps, early warning and assessments for effective, efficient and proactive disaster management. Disasters created vulnerability for people, environment, infrastructures and even humanitarian actors, where there are no base line studies, vulnerability and capacity assessments and good contingency plans/plan of action.
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It is sometimes difficult if not impossible to give proper and reliable early warning alerts for violent conflicts hence the high casualty usually recorded during this phenomenon.
Actions Points Development of reliable hazard maps for every State, Local Government, cities, towns and communities. The hazard maps should be reviewed periodically. Create more awareness about the hazard maps and possible risks people live with to encourage proactive disaster preparedness, response and mitigation. Wide dissemination of early warning alerts through advocacy, social mobilisation community mobilization, education, media, trainings, workshops and seminars. Encourage states and local governments to carry out assessments to determine or identify hazards/risks, and follow up early warning alerts with required assessments for effective emergency management. Audit, compile, upgrade and or develop a dossier on infrastructure, like roads, hospital, camps, heavy lift equipment among others that can help facilitate the organisation and execution of good emergency management plan. Make hazard mapping, early warning and assessment priority issues for effective and proactive emergency management.
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INCIDENT MANAGEMENT It must be noted that any disaster management strategy that does not take into consideration the provision of sound and effective incident management structure can not deliver required results no matter the input in terms of human and material resources. Incident management involves co-ordination, command and control as the main focus, while division of responsibilities, cooperation, collaboration, and communication complement the realisation of the aforementioned issues. To get engaged in emergency management requires minimum rules of engagement for the benefit of the stakeholders and those directly and indirectly affected by any disaster. These rules of engagement will allow for effective control over the disaster management activities in terms of the what, how, when, where, taking into consideration the responsibilities of the disaster management actors and beneficiaries of their actions. Incident management involves creating structures and systems that will allow for effective and efficient management of any given emergency at any particular time. When there is an incident management system in place, it is always easy to affect coordination, command and control of all actors on the ground to ensure efficiency. This also makes it possible to identify the lead agency for the entire emergency operation and agencies/bodies for the lead roles in respect of sectoral responsibilities in any particular aspect of the emergency. We must note that most emergencies are multi sectoral and multidimensional in nature, therefore no single agency may be equipped enough to respond to all the sectoral needs of an emergency - health, security, traffic, food and nutrition, water and sanitation, camping, children, infrastructure, engineering, rescue, evacuation, first aid etc.
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The implication of the foregoing is that for us to have any effective disaster management system, we need a coordination platform which must be active and proactive. In essence there must be a lead agency responsible for general disaster management at the National, State and Local levels. This agency will be responsible for coordinating the activities of other stakeholders in disaster management. At the national level in Nigeria we have the National Emergency Management Agency, State Emergency Management Agency for States and Local Emergency Management Agency for Local Government level. With the issue of coordination system in place it is always operationally expedient to activate a command and control platform that will make it easy for us to establish an incident management structure. In Nigeria there is no doubt that the NEMA is the Lead Agency for coordination activities for disaster management at the national level and it has been carrying out this responsibility very well since its establishment in 1999 and has also continued to improve on its coordination role. The same can not however be said of the state Emergency Management Agencies. As at now not all the States have fully established their own versions of the Agency, while majority of the Local Governments do not have Local Emergency Management Agencies either. This development does not make the management and coordination of emergency response to be an easy task in many states and local government areas. NEMA must be commended for advocating the establishment of State and Local Government Emergency Management Agencies and encouraging them to engage in robust disaster management over the years. NEMA has also led by example through the establishment of 6 Zonal Offices to bring its disaster management structures closer to States and the people, so that the States can effectively collaborate and cooperate with NEMA in disaster
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C H A P T E R T W O
management. However it must be noted that we still need to focus more attention on the important issue of incident management structure which is apparently the weak link in our disaster management activities. Looking at the various emergencies that occurred in Nigeria in 2012, we can safely opine that we did not give incident management structure any priority attention. From what happened generally, majority of the stakeholders acted unilaterally in terms of information management, and relief response. This action accounted for the disparity in terms of information given to the media concerning the scope of the disaster, number of people affected, displaced, injured and casualty figure. We discover that different information about some disasters especially the nation-wide flood disaster was given by NEMA, States, NGOs, and INGOs etc. This is because different assessments were conducted and different needs were identified based on the perception, sentiments and official systems of those involved. If there had been incident management centres/structures created for the emergencies, there would have been agreed rules of engagement which will determine the mode of operation for every stakeholder. This would have made the issue of coordination, command and control easier within the context of incident management structure which was lacking. It must be emphasized that an incident management centre is responsible for coordination, command and control as earlier mentioned with a Lead Agency for that particular emergency in control of the activities of other agencies. The incident management centre is also responsible for information management, activation of the required contingency plan and plan of action, delegation of responsibilities and making sure that disaster management actors act according to the rules of engagement.
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C H A P T E R T W O
It is also worth mentioning that because we did not fully activate an incident management structure process for the emergencies in 2012, many of the emergency sites were invaded by ad-hoc and non professional volunteers/actors who either more or less aggravated the emergency situation by hampering the operations of the trained personnel in carrying out their responsibilities, or tampering with vital evidence that could have aided investigations in situations of fire outbreaks, airplane accidents etc. With properly constituted incident management structure, the agency responsible for security and safety would have been fully mobilised to give necessary protection and cooperation to emergency and other related actors. This scenario played itself out during the DANA plane crash of June 2012, likewise the various incidents of building collapse in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. The importance of an Incident Management structure for managing a disaster cannot be over emphasized because it can be regarded as a clearing house for any emergency response action in terms of general information concerning the scope of the emergency, people affected, displaced, missing, dead, injured, needs to be met resources required, humanitarian actors operating in the emergency, information on safety and security, traffic warnings etc. With an Incident Management Centre, members of the public are updated regularly with regard to the current position of the emergency and actions being taken for its mitigation. This will also provide good education to the people in terms of disaster management and make them to offer their co-operation and resources if and when needed. In 2012, a lack of such structure possibly contributed to members of the public not receiving enough information about most of the disasters that occurred in the country, except through the media, some of which gave conflicting accounts of what happened and on the on-going disaster response activities.
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C H A P T E R T W O
In some cases organisations get involved in certain emergencies by creating chaos, confusion and aggravating the situation rather than offer relief and succour to vulnerable people through their actions and mode of operation. In 2012, some organisations which offered to assist people affected by emergencies did so for commercial/economic or political reasons. They took advantage of the precarious situation of the vulnerable people to market their products, company, personality or political ambition. This development is unacceptable because it is exploitative and lacks real compassion for the vulnerable people. A good Incident Management Centre should be in a position to profile donors, responders and other stakeholders in an emergency in order to prevent the inhuman exploitation of the condition of the vulnerable people in addition to regulating the activities of emergency response actors and other stakeholders relative to the performance of their specified roles within the context of their core competence and with emphasis on where they have comparative advantage.
LESSONS LEARNT Our disaster management lacks strong Incident Management Strategy. Actions/responses during emergencies lack enough co-ordination. Assessments and information given about any emergency are sometimes based the sentiments, political needs. Such assessments are usually not professional done. Unprofessional actors do cause more harm than good with their actions/response. Weak information management about emergencies little is shared with the public and conflicting information are usually disseminated. Information management about emergencies is sometimes uncoordinated.
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ACTION POINTS State and Local Governments (which have not done so) should put in place Emergency Management Agencies without further delay. Incident Management Centre should be considered a priority action to address any emergency at any time at national, state and local levels. Coordination, command and control should be operationalized effectively in disaster management. Co-ordination of information management is very important to effective emergency management especially within the context of the overall incident management strategy. Collaboration, cooperation, delegation of responsibilities, core competence and comparative advantage give operational effects to co-ordination, command and control. Emergency scenes/spots should only be accessible to trained and personnel and professionals. For every emergency the issue of security and safety (human and material) should not be compromised.
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C H A P T E R T H R E E
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EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION Communities, urban or rural are always the first at risk and first responders in any emergency situation. As individual members of the community, or as group and corporate entities, they live day in day out with those risks within their environment either caused by nature or created by them. We should therefore not take for granted the deep knowledge community members have about the risks they are exposed to and sometimes the strategies for tackling the challenges posed by such risks. However the sad reality is that community members are oftentimes too familiar with the hazards such environments hence their inability to recognise the risks associated with these hazards until they become overwhelming emergencies that lead to loss of lives and property. It is also worth mentioning here that most of the time, these communities expect the government or the formal authorities to take the initiative in mitigating the possible risks and its attendant emergencies since they believe it is the responsibility of the government and because of this, they fail to activate their latent coping capacities to tackle such risks thereby becoming victims when the equilibrium is disturbed. We also need to be aware of the fact that some of the risks that eventually become emergencies are usually situated within the historical context of the communities so affected to the extent that community members feel they can always bring such risks under control or manage them through ritualistic practises which their ancestors did many years ago. Communities have thus failed to realize that the environment, weather and events have been changing over the years due to human, technological, climatic and more importantly natural phenomena. The traditional beliefs and practices of the people have therefore failed them because they have failed to adjust to the level of phenomenal changes going on in our world today.
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The 2012 flood disasters in particular and other emergencies like ocean surge, building collapse communal/religious conflicts, rainstorms etc brought to the open the nonchalant or lackadaisical attitude of communities to issues of risks and emergency management. Indeed, it is on record that communities living along major river beds and coastal shore lines often claim that they have the required capacity to cope with the menace of any flooding from the rivers and sea since they had lived there for years. They often claim that they can predict when the flooding would happen, thereby ignoring warnings and advice given by the government and its agencies. Regrettably however these people who defied government warnings and advice and also deny the rights of nature are left devastated at the end of the day by the effects of the risks they are exposed to. After effects of all these is the continuous call for government assistance to restore what they have lost by their own failure to heed early warning. Despite all the aforementioned identified weaknesses, some communities have been able to deploy their local capacity to tackle certain identified risks in their environment. In some cases some communities in Niger, Ogun and Jigawa States living along major rivers which include River Niger have been able to construct earth dams to receive excess water from the rivers around them. They have also been able to construct local barriers or dykes to prevent the flooding of their farmlands and homes. This development of local capacity building using local creativity can be found in Bida and Lapai areas of Niger State, Mokoloki in Ogun State and Hadeija area of Jigawa State to mention but a few. It must be noted their actions although did not totally eliminate the risks of flood disasters but assisted in reducing or mitigating the effects of the disasters on their economic and social life. These examples underscore the fact that community participation in emergency management must not be under estimated and can not be over emphasised in the sense that as earlier stated, community members are first affected and first responders and they can make a lot of positive difference if properly
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primed for that purpose. The National Emergency Management Agency has been making a lot of effort in mainstreaming communities in emergency management through mobilization, advocacy and training as well as some non governmental organisations and UN agencies such as Nigerian Red Cross, Save the Children, UNICEF, UNHCR etc. It must however be recognised that there is still a lot more to be done in terms of developing the capacity of the communities in emergency management and disaster risk reduction. The experience of the country during the 2012 flood disasters, communal conflicts and terrorist attacks reinforced the need of many Nigerian communities in rural and urban areas for massive capacity building scale up in emergency management. It is not enough to engage in disaster risk reduction or emergency management rhetoric without the practical involvement of those who are first affected and first responders i.e. the communities. COMMUNITY BASED EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT There is need to take emergency management/disaster risk reduction to the community level in order to give ownership of the process to community members who are daily exposed to the associated risks. This is because to have a dynamic and proactive emergency management strategy in place in the country we need to further deepen our community based emergency management strategy which will recognise and improve the capacity of the communities and reduce their vulnerabilities. As much as we have come to recognise that the communities are very vital to our emergency management activities, we must also recognise the different community structures that can be used as entry points into the various communities. Admittedly, such structures such as Community Development Associations, Landlord Associations, Youth Associations, National Union of Road Transport
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Workers, Churches, Mosques, Road Transport Employers Association, various professional groups (among others) do exist in our various communities. These groups can serve as an entry point for us in building and or improving the capacities of the communities in emergency management. These different community structures wield a lot of influence among their rank and file through well established and serviced command, control and communication system and if well harnessed will surely make a lot of difference in community level disaster management. Reflecting on the various emergencies that occurred in the country in 2012 and giving a critical analysis of the scenarios that confronted us, one might be tempted to conclude that awareness about hazards, risks and emergency management generally is very low among the generality of the population. This could be explained by the way the general population affected by these emergencies handled the situation prior to the arrival of official emergency responders. It may not be an understatement that majority of the people affected or around the emergencies did not know what steps to take in terms of evacuation, search and rescue, first aid, mitigation just because they were never exposed to any training and information concerning how to handle any particular emergency. This development might have contributed to the high human, material and economic losses suffered during the ensuing emergencies. If we recognise the fact that communities are first affected and first responders in an emergency and that they are relevant to our disaster management strategy in the country then there is need for us to empower these communities through their existing structures. We should therefore consider improving their capacity to cope with and reduce their vulnerability to emergencies through structured training, social mobilisation, aggressive awareness campaigns, advocacy activities, workshops, seminars and sustainable partnership arrangements. Disaster management stakeholders should consider scaling up their community based activities to give
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more creative and proactive platform to emergency management at the local or community level. The issue of perception, attitude, behaviour and structural context in the communities should not be ignored if we want to establish a high level disaster management platform. The orientation of people in the communities at the corporate, individual and group levels is very important to our disaster management strategy since these determine the orientation of the individual and group as to how they react to issues. There is need to work on these factors through aggressive advocacy/enlightenment campaigns, social mobilisation and trainings to engender proper orientation of the people for good emergency response. Some of the issues on which we need to focus our attention (and those of the communities in order to enhance their emergency response capacity) include: waste disposal pattern and management, building construction pattern and approval, drainage construction and use, settlement construction and pattern, enforcement of the existing laws/rules/guidelines on building code, preservation of the environment, sanitation, application of the justice system, responsive, responsible and accountable political system, political will/discipline, social responsibility. We need to realise that weaknesses in all the aforementioned issues are most likely to affect our effort in instituting good, efficient and effective disaster management platform. A lot of efforts are being made at the administrative level in terms of strategic planning, research, budgeting, strategic thinking but not much is being done at the community level where the scenarios are located and not much of this administrative output is disseminated to the communities for their information, planning and use. It can be safely asserted that not many people at the community level know anything about contingency planning, a plan of action,
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national disaster risk reduction plans, response plans and the technicalities involved. These resources are available on our desks in the offices but not available to the actual end users. We must realize that less than 10,000 people can not effectively manage emergencies in terms of early warning, preparedness, response, mitigation, rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction on behalf of at least 170 million people without engaging more people who are prone to the identified and unidentified risks in the communities involved. There is no denying the fact that the path to achieving this process is likely to be tedious and resource consuming but it will worth all the effort on the long run since we will be able to achieve safe, secure and sustainable environment which will lead to social, economic and political prosperity for all. LESSONS LEARNED Weak coping capacity of communities led to high human and material losses during disasters. Communities have very low awareness and knowledge about modern disaster management strategies / techniques. Activities about emergency management happen more in the offices than in the communities. Community structures can be used as entry point to establish good disaster management structures in the communities. Community members take risks they are exposed to for granted and this attitude has often times proved devastation for them. The issues of perception, attitude, behaviour and structural context have strong implications for disaster management. Early warnings are usually ignored by communities if and when issued since they tend to rely more on their historical/cultural antecedents.
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ACTION POINTS Build very strong community partnerships for good Community Based Disaster (CBD) management. Strengthen the capacity of communities using Community structures such as, churches, mosques, Community Development Associations, Professional Associations among others, through training, workshops, seminars, advocacy, social mobilisation resource mobilisation etc. Strengthen the institutions and agencies responsible for issues that affect the environment, disaster management, sanitation, building codes etc., to enforce the relevant guidelines and advise the people accordingly. Encourage communities, government at all levels, political leaders, opinion leaders, religious leaders to be alive to their social and political responsibilities with regard to orientation concerning emergency management. Encourage more activities to be carried out in the communities than in the office and establish strong link between the communities and the extant administrative structures.
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C H A P T E R F O U R
THE ROLE OF THE NIGERIA POLICE, FIRE SERVICE, NIGERIA SECURITY AND CIVIL DEFENCE CORPS, FEDERAL ROAD SAFETY COMMISSION IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT The Nigeria Police, Fire Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and Federal Road Safety Commission are community based; field operation based, security and safety oriented, ranks as the first level of assistance/support to the community, and are the operational link between the government and the governed. Thus, considering the mode of operation and the rules of engagement of these paramilitary outfits, it is safe to say that they are in operational and practical partnership with the communities and this makes them to understand the dynamics of the community in relation to the risks they are exposed to on daily basis. To give practical expressions to their knowledge of, and partnership with the communities has always been an issue for serious consideration if one takes into account their capacity to discharge other responsibilities aside from law enforcement which is only an item among other tasks. Looking at 2012 emergencies in retrospect in relation to the involvement of these paramilitary agencies, one can say with modest confidence that they were able to discharge their civil responsibilities in giving quality support to the emergency managers and population affected by emergencies. There is no denying the fact that the presence of these agencies added value to the emergency response especially in the area of search and rescue, evacuation, traffic control, security, maintaining law and order among others. As much as we can not diminish the importance of these agencies more especially at the tactical and operational level in emergency management in relation to their statutory and other responsibilities, it is yet to be determined if they are performing optimally in view of their potential capacity and what they have been able to achieve
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more especially in 2012. These agencies have the potential capacity to make a huge difference in emergency management but they are seriously constrained by the financial, material and other resources at their disposal. In 2012, it was apparent that the country does not have a national ambulance policy that should be responsible for medial evacuation during an emergency and these paramilitary agencies that should fill the gap could not deliver effectively and efficiently due to inadequate ambulances and other equipments/materials for search and rescue. If the country should experience simultaneous complex emergencies today, the lack of required capacity of these agencies will easily be exposed. The 2012 flood emergencies brought to the fore the need to equip these agencies with modern equipment, like ambulances, up to date and well equipped fire fighting/ rescue trucks, rescue helicopters, rescue boat ambulance, intensive first aid training, evacuation trucks etc. Many of the people affected by the flood emergencies got trapped on tree tops, roof tops, farms and bushes for days without much effort to rescue them just because the right equipment or working tools were not available. Even though these stranded people could not be rescued from their precarious locations there were also no means of reaching them with food and other supplies for days. They were left at the mercy of other risks like, malaria, water pollution, snake bites, animal attacks, hunger, water borne diseases etc. If these paramilitary agencies are well equipped with modern equipment they would be in a position to partner with National Emergency Management Agency to deliver quality, timely, effective and efficient services in any emergency situation. It is also not in doubt that these agencies do lack operational vehicles to move their personnel and equipment to discharge effective services before, during and after emergencies. It is not that they lack the ability and capability to perform but there is
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not enough political and economic will to strengthen their capacity for the benefit of sound emergency management. We must really commend National Emergency Management Agency for bringing all these paramilitary agencies and others on board for sound emergency management in Nigeria but NEMA can not be responsible for the total capacity upgrade of these agencies especially in the area of operational materials and equipment. NEMA can only support and build their capacity through advocacy, trainings and workshops to enhance their operational partnership for good disaster management. National Emergency Management Agency has also done a lot by putting in place National Disaster Response Plan which already indicated the responsibilities of these agencies in partnership with others. The strategic plan for disaster management, contingency plans, hazard/risk maps and many other documents on emergency management in Nigeria have been put in place by NEMA to add value to emergency management across board. Taking a cue from NEMA efforts, these agencies should be encouraged as much as possible to have their own contingency plans, strategic plans and general plan of action for emergency management. Such document if in place should be disseminated across board within the organisational structure of these agencies. However, it needs to be pointed out that certain organisations in the country have the skills, equipment and experience required for undertaking complex search and rescue operations and it is necessary to factor them into the overall plan involving paramilitary agencies. These organisations include the Nigerian Army (NA), whose combat support units like the Corps of Engineers, Corps of Supply and Transport and Corps of Signals can play a crucial role in helping to mitigate complex emergencies. It should be noted too that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF)which is able to locate and rescue any of its distressed fighter pilots deployed in jets which travel at
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speeds faster than soundand have dedicated helicopters for search and rescue, is a potential partner for undertaking assessment (over-the-horizon surveillance) as well as search and rescue especially during flooding when people are trapped on rooftops. The Nigerian Navy (NN) also operates platforms which go far out to sea and should be the first respondent to any distress at sea. The Nigerian Space Research and Development Agency (NARSDA) can equally play a key role in providing satellite mapping to aid early warning or detailed imagery of disaster prone or disaster affected areas with the aid of its remote sensing satellite and should be courted. Concluding this list are the oil prospecting companies which operate oil rigs deep offshore and often manages fire outbreaks and other emergencies which arise offshore without help from any other agency. The cumulative experiences which all these military and civil organisations have can be deployed for the benefit of the civil population in the event of a disaster but a proper strategy of securing and utilising their involvement needs to be developed by NEMA and factored into the overall national disaster response plan. In order to further enhance the responsibilities of the paramilitary agencies mentioned and make them reliable and reliable collaborators, supporters and partners of the people and NEMA in emergency management, they should consider deepening their responsibilities in addition to their statutory roles. The following issues should be considered and taken on board.
TRANSLATING EARLY WARNING ALERTS TO ACTION Early warning alerts are issued by some government agencies and others to alert the general population about an impending emergency so that individuals, corporate bodies, groups, government and non-government agencies could get prepared to address such emergency in a proactive way. In the course of dealing with early warning alerts there are coordination, collaboration and
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partnership meetings and discussions. Contingency plans and plans of action are established to include roles, responsibilities needs, time frame, resources to be mobilised among others. However the paramilitary agencies should as a matter of priority be responsible for translating the early warning alerts into action by mobilising, sensitising and educating members of the public that are likely to be affected. They should be able to partner with the communities, to map out safety strategies to include evacuation routes, safe grounds maintenance of law and order, safety of lives and property. They are in a better position to do all these because they are closer to the people and there are only few communities where you do not have these paramilitary agencies represented especially the Nigeria Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. These paramilitary agencies as earlier indicated have very good knowledge of the people and the environment, they can do lot more to mitigate or reduce the impact of emergencies by translating early warning alerts into action. As earlier stated the communities do have structures that the paramilitary agencies can work with to realise the effectiveness of early warning alerts.
SEARCH AND RESCUE, EVALUATION AND FIRST AID The paramilitary agencies are known for their strength and operational capacity to respond to emergencies and they always make a lot of difference among the civilian population in an emergency with the right motivation and equipment. In some emergencies the issues of search and rescue, evacuation and first aid cannot be ignored and they can be better handled by the paramilitary agencies if well trained and motivated with support from military forces.
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Unfortunately however a great percentage of the personnel of these paramilitary agencies are not trained in first aid, therefore rescuing people affected by emergencies can sometimes be very challenging. If they are properly trained, many lives will be saved before moving wounded or traumatized people to medical facilities. It is therefore paramount to train a large percentage of the paramilitary personnel if not all in first aid, considering their numerical strength, closeness to the communities and the responsibilities they are supposed to discharge before, during and after emergencies. The need for operational vehicles, ambulances and other equipment for these people cannot be over emphasised to give expression to their search and rescue, evacuation and first aid services. We must realise that NEMA cannot be in every community, NGOs and international NGOs and UN agencies also cannot be in every community but these paramilitary agencies are in nearly every community therefore their services are crucial and indispensable when it comes to effective emergency management (before, during and after). No effort should be spared in strengthening and improving their capacity through trainings, funding, operational equipment and materials and motivation which should be on regular basis.
INCIDENT MANAGEMENT The paramilitary outfits are well positioned for the responsibilities attached to incident management. They have been making effort to carry out this responsibility but it seems there is no structured system and procedure in place to enhance their role in this regard. These were highlighted during the major disasters that occurred in 2012, namely DANA air crash, nationwide flood disasters, building collapses etc. These paramilitary agencies struggled hard to secure the locations of the incidents from being invaded by informal
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rescuers, sympathisers and other undesirable elements just as it happened in previous years. It must be emphasised that the police in particular and other paramilitary agencies in general have the sole responsibility to secure the site of an emergency to preserve evidence, protect lives and property, maintain security, law and order. In addition they are responsible for giving information about casualties, injured and dead, what happened and give permission to humanitarian actors to deliver their services. In discharging these responsibilities there should be a better coordinated operation with proper definition of roles which will lead to effective emergency management. This will also eliminate situations where conflicting information and data about an emergency are released to the public. In conclusion, we should realise that our paramilitary outfit, Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Fire Service and Federal Road Safety Commission are a great asset to the nations emergency management strategy. We should not hesitate to make the best use of them especially when it comes to incident management for all emergencies, with additional support from the armed forces and oil companies where necessary. We should recognise their ability, capability, core competence and comparative advantage over other institutions if we are to establish a high Disaster Risk Reduction Platform in the country.
LESSONS LEARNED Paramilitary agencies lack the logistics, adequate operational equipment/devices to manage emergencies. Paramilitary agencies always make a lot of positive difference in emergency management considering their closeness to and knowledge of the communities. Some people affected by disasters are not reached quickly because of lack of appropriate materials/equipment to rescue them.
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Paramilitary agencies are primed better for search and rescue, evacuation and first aid services taking into consideration their numerical strength, comparative advantage, closeness to the communities and core competence. It is always difficult to secure emergency sites because of non availability of recognised incident management structure and system. Conflicting information and data are released to the public because of non availability of recognised incident management structure and system. Good collaboration and partnership between NEMA and paramilitary agencies (with support from the armed forces) brings about effective emergency management. ACTION POINTS Strengthen the capacity of paramilitary agencies through training, funding, provision of operational equipment and motivation. Develop sustainable collaboration and partnership between NEMA and paramilitary agencies. Establish formal incident management structures and system to be manned by paramilitary agencies in collaboration with NEMA and other recognised NGOs such as Nigerian Red Cross. Train large percentage of paramilitary agencies personnel (if not all) in first aid. Nigeria should consider establishing National Ambulance Service policy. Paramilitary agencies should develop contingency plans, strategic plans and plans of action for emergencies.
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C H A P T E R F I V E
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OVERVIEW OF THE NATIONAL DISASTER SCENARIO Nigeria was ravaged by several disasters in the year 2012 but before we delve into a review of the said disasters, provide an analysis of our cumulative disaster response mechanism and proffer suggestions for improving our management of such unfortunate events in 2013, it is pertinent to discuss a typology of these disasters. In the period under review, several high and low profile emergencies occurred, as did some silent ones that went relatively unnoticed (i.e. they were not announced or considered important). The disaster profile of Nigeria in 2012 include high profile nationwide flood disasters, an air crash involving DANA Airlines, persistent violent conflicts which included terrorism, insurgency and sectarian violence in Plateau State as well as in some States of the North East and North West of the country, low profile emergencies such as building collapses, ocean surges, landslides, pipeline explosions and the outbreak of measles, cholera and cerebra spinal meningitis. It must however be noted that road accidents which continued to occur on a daily basis have not abated and continued to claim the lives of Nigerians. Unfortunately, it has not been easy to have comprehensive and reliable statistics of accidents on our roads because most of such accidents go unreported. (The Federal Road Safety CorpsFRSChowever provides reliable estimates of these accidents).
Flood Emergencies In view of the statistics available on the flood emergencies in Nigeria in 2012, 24 States of the Federation were affected by the nationwide flood emergencies which started in May and did not subside until September 2012. The States most seriously affected include Delta, Kogi, Adamawa, Jigawa, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Niger, Plateau,
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TYPOLOGY OF THE EMERGENCIES THAT OCCURRED IN 2012

Type of Emergencies States Affected Number of Dead Number of Injured FLOOD Oyo, Osun, Bayelsa, Benue, Jigawa, Niger, Kano, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Adamawa, Taraba, Kogi, Kwara, Delta, Edo CONFLICT Plateau, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Anambra, Kogi, Akwa-Ibom BOKO HARAM Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Gombe OCEAN SURGE Lagos AIR ACCIDENT Lagos, Bayelsa LANDSLIDE BUILDING COLLAPSE CSM MEASLES Anambra, Zamfara Lagos, Abuja, Oyo, Port-Harcourt Kano, Katsina, Jigawa Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara CHOLERA Kano, Kaduna, Oyo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Gombe, Cross River PIPELINE EXLOSION OIL SPILL Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa-Ibom Rivers, Edo TOTAL 2,119 12,174 2,407,135 Lagos, Ogun, Delta, Edo 30 26 742 10,377 32 70 104 120 3 169 9 20 8 9 45 30 40 65 464 645 65000 217 300 242,000 363 540 Number of Internally Displaced 2,100,000
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Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Imo, Cross River, Edo, Rivers, and Taraba. The wide spread flood emergencies disrupted the economic and social activities of the country especially in the states and communities affected for days and it led to high loss of livestock, farm products, human lives, property in millions, man-hours etc. It brought about serious food security concerns across the nation while many health risks especially water borne diseases and other health hazards accompanied the flood emergencies. It is also of note that the widespread flood emergencies created a lot of stress/pressure on infrastructural facilities and utilities such as hospitals, roads, schools, telecommunication, transportation and business concerns. The effect of the widespread flooding on the environment should not be underestimated. Many land areas were washed away, while many areas that were affected (such as rivers, lakes, streams etc.) were polluted or contaminated by the flooding. The ecosystem in some areas were also affected leading to the displacement of animals, birds, insects while trees, shrubs and other plants were uprooted, destroyed or washed away. The flooding created lot of stress on the soil which affected some plants and other living organisms in the waters were displaced from their natural habitats and washed aground leading to their death. The said flood emergencies caused monumental loss of human, material, natural and environmental resources. This will definitely take a while for the country to recover. However a lot of effort will have to be made to reduce the losses now and in the nearest future by establishing comprehensive emergency management system which will take into consideration issues of early warnings, hazard mapping, assessments, mobilisation, education, enlightenment campaigns, trainings, incident management system etc., to enable us to effectively superintend over these types of situations in the future.
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Violent Conflict Emergencies In 2012, the country witnessed a serious upsurge in violent conflicts such as terrorism and insurgency, communal conflicts, pastoralists versus settler community conflicts, boundary conflicts, cult violence etc. It is quite interesting to note that not much of religious conflicts occurred or was reported in 2012. These violent conflicts and their tendency to defy any known solution led to the death of about 681 people, with 945 people injured and about 307,000 displaced. As a result of these conflicts, social and economic activities were paralysed while the people affected began to live in perpetual fear of the unknown due to the recurring nature of the violence perpetrated by the actors more especially in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Kano, Kaduna and Plateau states. It also resulted in the disruption of educational activities in the areas affected making the children of school age to be out of school for a long period of time. There is no gain saying that even in some places, activities of government establishments were disrupted since the people affected had to live under an insecure situation and state of the unknown. The insecurity in the affected areas was so palpable that one could feel its heavy presence thus accounting for mass exodus and displacement of people from the unsecured areas to more secured ones. This development as earlier mentioned had a lot of negative implications for economic and social activities, disrupting development activities and or projects that should have been executed for the benefit of the people since it was not safe for personnel and materials to be moved to the affected areas. It had similar implications for food security. It is also on record that apart from deaths, injuries, displacement and down ward economic and social activities, many property including private and government ones were lost to the violent conflicts. The cost of the conflicts to the government and the people is in the region of billions of naira which could have been channelled into
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development initiatives. It is also worth mentioning that these violent conflicts were facilitated by the high incidence in the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country, for it was clear that the combatants made use of arms which somehow found their way into the country illegally, some of them very sophisticated. The proliferation of small arms is therefore exacerbating the problem of insecurity and has become a serious threat to the population, undermining the effort of security agencies to restore calm and normality to affected areas. We are of the view that the authorities should without further delay put in place the appropriate policies, measures, structures and systems that will stem the further proliferation of small arms in the country in order to have a safe, secure and sustainable environment. The cooperation of Nigerias neighbours in West and Central Africa must be sought in order to have a comprehensive and effective response to the problem of arms proliferation and insecurity. Air Accidents The country witnessed three air accidents in 2012, two of which were fatal leading to the loss of 169 lives with 9 injured and about 30 people displaced. Property worth at least 40 million Naira was lost to the air crashes. This is because one of the crashes occurred in a residential area and led to the destruction of about 5 houses while 10 people lost their lives on the ground. It is also worth mentioning that the crashes led to the pollution of the areas affected and also affected the ecosystem of the crash sites leading to the destruction of trees, animals, living beings and other non-living things. These accidents compelled the authorities to reexamine the aviation policy of the country with regard to safety in the air and on the ground. It also brought to the fore the attendant risks people on ground are exposed to from flying objects.
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We note with regret that even though the emergency and rescue agencies including the security agencies were able to response quickly to the incident to undertake rescue mission, the problem of managing the crash sites in terms of securing and cordoning off the area came to the fore especially with regard to the crash involving DANA airlines that occurred in Lagos. The site of the crash was invaded by all and sundry and this hampered the rescue efforts of the official bodies and also prevented the police and allied agencies from preserving vital evidence and objects. This clearly highlighted our inability to date to establish a proper incident management system which should operationalise the concept of coordination, command and control. Building Collapse The country recorded emergencies occasioned by the collapse of certain buildings in different parts of the nation in recent years. However, the incidences of building collapse are becoming a worrisome development because many lives are being lost in the process. For example in 2012, about 10 buildings reportedly collapsed resulting in the loss of 20 lives, with 45 people injured and 65 displaced. This worrisome development gave the authorities, population and professional bodies a lot of concern, but the positive outcome is that the government and concerned professional bodies have both agreed that there is the need to revisit our building code regulations, approval procedures and processes, supervision of building constructions and other relevant issues to stem the tide of building collapse and unnecessary loss of lives and the sustenance of injuries. Quite commendably, the Lagos State Government, in its bid to stem the tide of building collapse, has set up an agency to test building and building materials in order to ascertain the quality of materials
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and ensure the integrity of the construction and the process leading up to it. The state government has also gone a step further by inspecting buildings that are suspected to be weak and likely to collapse. If such buildings are discovered, it seals them off and marked for demolition before creating any emergency. It must be noted that rescue operations at the site of building collapse are usually hampered by the invasion of sympathizers, unofficial rescuers, lack of appropriate equipment to remove rubbles of the collapsed building and other logistic problems. It has always been difficult for security agents to secure sites of collapsed buildings by security agents thereby leading to the destruction of vital information and evidence. Health Emergencies In 2012 Nigeria witnessed three major health emergencies namely cholera, measles and cerebra spinal meningitis (CSM) which mainly occurred in about seven states of the Federation. It must be noted that the health emergencies were not aggravated beyond manageable proportion because the Federal and State Ministries of Ministry of Health were proactive in preventing the escalation of these health emergencies through the issuance of early warning alerts, information dissemination, social and community mobilization, routine immunization and information sharing. The system of regular surveillance put in place by the Federal Ministry of Health and adopted by its counterpart ministries in the States cannot be overemphasized and is hereby commended. This development provided the platform for early detection of cases of CSM, measles and cholera and the prompt response to such emergencies. Officials of the Ministries of Health have come to terms with the cycle of these health emergencies and their likely locations and always prepared ahead of time to prevent or mitigate them.
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Terrorism, Insurgency and other Violence In general terms, violent conflicts and conflict related emergencies such as terrorism, insurgency, communal conflicts and cult related violence among others claimed more than 681 lives ( % of the total lives lost) with 945 people injured, while 302,000 were displaced. Health Emergencies Health emergencies, including cerebra spinal meningitis, measles and cholera claimed about 342 lives, while 10,601 people were hospitalized. Flooding Flood emergencies on the other hand claimed 363 lives, injuring 540 persons with over 2,000,000 displaced. Air Crashes The country recorded three fatal air accidents which claimed 169 lives, injured 9 people, while over 30 persons were displaced and property worth millions of Naira destroyed. Collapsed Buildings Furthermore, Nigeria recorded 10 cases of collapsed buildings notably in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan, resulting in the death of 20 persons and injuring about 45 others while 63 people were displaced. Analysis of Casualty Figures It may be observed that apart from road accidents which might have claimed more lives In 2012, violent conflicts (681) flood (363) health emergencies (84.4%) and air accident accounted for 97.0% of the total deaths due to emergencies while building collapse, landslide, ocean surge and pipeline explosions accounted for only 3.0%. Floods and violent conflicts accounted for 99.9% of displaced people while air accident, landslide, building collapse and others accounted for only 0.1%. Floods, violent conflict and health
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emergencies accounted for 99.2% of injured / hospitalized people while other emergencies accounted for only 0.8%. TYPOLOGY OF DISASTERS The following are the recorded emergencies that occurred in the period under review and they are classified under types of emergencies, States affected, the casualty figure (i.e. dead), number of injured and the number of internally displaced persons generated.
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IMPLICATIONS OF 2012 EMERGENCIES FOR NIGERIA The different emergencies that occurred in Nigeria in the year 2012 had a lot of implications for every sector/level of the society in one way or the other. While there were negative outcomes, there were also some positive ones too. Indeed, while some people counted their loses, some others counted their gains because out of every bad or terrible situation there will definitely be some measure of positives and we consider it important to so record them. On the positive side, the various emergencies made all concerned to reappraise the countrys emergency management structures and systems with a view to improving on what is on ground to meet the challenges of the future. The emergencies gave us food for thought as to what we did not do well and what we did well and what could be done better especially in the area of coordination, command and control, communication, collaboration, incident management and meeting the needs of the vulnerable people.
POSITIVE ECONOMIC OUTCOMES Profiling Corporate Social Responsibilities of Corporate Bodies These disasters instigated companies and corporate bodies to identify with their host / other communities, individuals and groups in the time of their challenges by offering a helping hand. It gave the corporate bodies the opportunity to give part of what they gained in their operations back to the society. Companies and corporate bodies supported people affected by the emergencies financially, medically, materially and psychologically. These efforts from the corporate bodies assisted in profiling their image as socially responsible organisations which may eventually boost their operations, profit profile and growth. This may eventually lead to
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more people being employed by these organisations thus leading to reduction in the unemployment rate in the society. Advertisement and Sale of Products The emergency situations which occurred in the country afforded some companies/corporate bodies the opportunity to advertise their range of products while presenting gift items/relief materials to the people affected by the calamities. This boosted the sales of some products like rice, blankets, mattresses, drugs, mosquito nets, cooking utensils, mats, and clothing among others. Some corporate bodies like financial institutions had the opportunity to be advertised to the people through the media and other means with regard to their profile. Through this, many people got to know more about them and what they do. The implication of this development is that they may likely experience increase in demand for their products which may lead to increase in profit and probably more people may be employed since their operations may expand. Economic Empowerment for the People affected by Emergencies Even though some of the people affected by the emergencies in the country lost their means of livelihood and other economic means of income, the various relief and rehabilitation efforts of the government, corporate bodies and individuals were able to restore them to their former economic status, giving them an opportunity to start afresh. The emergencies opened up the communities affected to be recognised and acknowledged by the government and others regarding their social and economic status which helped pave the way for the provision of infrastructural facilities that would add value to their economic and social life. Areas that were inaccessible before due to lack of roads now have roads constructed which aided the economic activities of the communities. Negative Economic implications The various emergencies in Nigeria disrupted the economic activities of the communities affected in terms of farming, trading, movement of farm and other products etc. It must be noted that the flood
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disasters and conflict related emergencies in particular and other emergencies in general brought about high loss of man-hours that could have been used in productive activities. These emergencies usually prevented people affected from attending to their economic activities and means of livelihood for days. When conflicts occur, people are forced to stay in-doors either for the fear of being a victim or through official declaration of curfew which restricts their movement. It is quite apparent that many productive hours are lost in this process which eventually affects the economic activities of the people.
The terrorist acts and insurgency in Borno, Yobe, Kano, Kaduna and Bauchi States have continued to have devastating effects on the economic life and activities of the affected people in these States. In some cases, economic and social activities have been brought to a standstill. Farmers were unable to attend to their daily activities while businesses were completely or partially shut down. Schools and offices were sometimes shut down for days for security and safety reasons. he flood disasters kept many people at home because their farms, business premises, offices, schools and other economic activities like transportation services etc were disrupted. Farms were taken over by the flood water and farm products and livestock were washed away. Market places were taken over by flood water while roads and bridges were washed away thereby preventing the people from carrying out their economic activities. Some of the emergencies like violent conflicts and flooding sometimes led to increase in the price of consumable items and in some cases non-consumables too items because while the available products in the communities were destroyed or exhausted, it was always difficult getting new supplies that could stabilise the price of these commodities in the communities affected by the emergencies.
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This development led to non-availability of the essential products and astronomical rise in their prices. In consideration of the foregoing developments, it can be asserted that billions of Naira were lost to the various emergencies more especially flooding and violent conflicts that occurred in Nigeria in 2012 in terms of man-hours, human and material resources, buildings, farm products, livestock, business activities and services, accidents among others. It must be noted that billions of Naira were made available for the provision of relief support and rehabilitation to those affected by the emergencies. It is also worth mentioning that billions more were committed to reconstruction and other essential services due to the challenges created by the emergencies like violent conflicts, aircraft accidents, flooding, collapsed buildings, landslides, ocean surges, road accidents among others. If these emergencies did not occur or were prevented or mitigated, the funds spent on relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and other services could have been used to stimulate the economy by creating more jobs, developing infrastructural facilities and social amenities that will be of tremendous benefit to the population.
POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE EMERGENCIES Positive Political Implications The various disasters that occurred in Nigeria in 2012 afforded some politicians / peoples representatives the opportunity to visit their constituencies and renew their mandate. It must be noted that some representatives of the people and politicians never visited some of their constituencies that had been affected by the emergencies after electioneering campaigns and elections. They had already lost touch with communities that voted for them. It is even not surprising that some of the areas hit by the emergencies are not known to these
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politicians. The emergencies therefore brought the people closer to their representatives and politicians seized the opportunity to embark on some development projects in such communities since they wanted the people to consider them responsible, accountable and responsive to their plight. The emergencies therefore opened up some communities for development and to receiving government patronage in terms of roads, potable water, electricity, health facilities, and schools among others. This in essence means that the emergencies made the vulnerable people to be recognised and instigated socio-economic reconstruction / development and raised the level of political awareness. Negative Political Implication The emergencies that occurred in the different communities made politicians to take advantage of the misfortune of the affected people to campaign for support on different party platforms. In some cases, political parties and leaders assisted the vulnerable people with the hope of winning their support during the next elections. This they did in order to show that they care for the people although, before the emergencies, none of these political parties and leaders visited or gave any support to these communities to show how much they cared for them. It must be noted that political parties and leaders more or less used the unfortunate situation of the affected people to campaign for support and votes which runs counter to humanitarian principles. Another negative political implication that should interest us is the fact that the emergencies which led to loss of human and material resources in billions highlighted the weakness in some government policies regarding the protection of lives and property in every respect. Certain policies are conceived without consideration for the immediate and long term needs of the people and it is therefore not surprising that there are many cases of failed policies that were conceived and which would have addressed some of the emergencies
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that occurred. Some of these policies have to do with every aspect of rural development which includes roads, health facilities, electrification, advocacy, social mobilisation, sensitization and community engagement. Issues such as rural agricultural policy, building codes, environmental and sanitation policy, drainage, settlement policy, rural public health policy, neighbourhood security among others could have been well conceived and implemented to save most of the communities the harsh experience they had following the various emergencies that occurred. Other positive Implications The emergencies that occurred in 2012 made the government at all levels to start putting in place necessary structures, system and procedures that will assist in preventing or mitigating such occurrences in future. It can be seen that government at the different levels have started reappraising, reorganising and reengineering the security system all over the country to stem the waves of terrorism as well as of communal and religious conflicts. The emergency incidents instigated the governments at all levels to start the strict enforcements of certain laws, regulations and guidelines regarding buildings, drainage, sanitation, settlement patterns, road use, premises among others which were hitherto not enforced. This development, it is believed will assist in preventing and mitigating certain emergencies. Another positive implication of the emergencies is that it has given the government the opportunity to reappraise the provision of certain infrastructural facilities and their qualities in meeting the future challenges of disasters and emergencies. Such facilities include roads, bridges, health centres, equipment, ambulances, and public utilities among others. These facilities, if provided, and in acceptable standard and quality, will go a long way in supporting our emergency management system as they are critical to disaster response.
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EPILOGUE
Going forward with Disaster Management in Nigeria in 2013 As can be gleaned from this first ever Nigeria Disaster Report, the types of disasters occurring in our country have largely remained the same and have certain denominators common to them in the sense that they can all be mitigated; can be predicted (with the technology available today); impact negatively on human and material objects as well as some objects indispensable to the survival of affected communities; and that while some of them are a consequence of changes in the environment, when they occur, they also affect it and its systems; they hamstring economic, security and social infrastructure and systems; and finally, they require huge financial resources for their control before, during and after they have occurred. While we, as those responsible for compiling and analyzing the said disasters believe firmly that the changes in the environment have played, and will continue to play a significant part in the instigation of natural disasters, we assert that such changes are not new. Indeed, despite the wide acclaim being given to global warming toady, we wish to remind everyone that such phenomenon had occurred in the past as exemplified in the recorded case of the desiccation of the Sahara, which anthropologists contend occurred between 3,0005,000 BC and which saw the emergence of the condition we now have in that part of Africaan area that had once been part of the sea. The danger signals today are that massive industrialisation and the in disciplined interaction of man with the environment have caused the intensity and regularity of such occurrences to rise in magnitude and the fact that the population of the world has risen astronomically puts many more lives in danger when the geophysical equilibrium is disturbed. Here in our own country and as this report has clearly outlined, our disaster response system has to be upgraded and sustained to ward of the untoward consequences caused by a dislocation of our environmental and social infrastructure by such disequilibrium.
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As this report has shown, our early warning system has been improving in Nigeria, especially regarding proper reading of changes in climatic conditions and the issuance of credible early warning information thereto. The Nigerian Meteorological Agency deserves commendation for this improving standard which meets and surpasses international best practices. As we commend the organisation for this invaluable provision of useful data, we must challenge the authorities who are supposed to utilise the information so provided to improve in the actualisation of our disaster response capabilities. A lot needs to be done in this regard, as only one aspect of that chain, i.e. the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is actually living up to its billing. While NEMA plays its coordinating role very well and in fact also gets involved in disaster mitigation for those affected, State and Local Governments need to empower their respective and corresponding agencies to improve on their performance. The Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF)two critical agencies in the disaster management chainare not being empowered nor are they being utilised to their respective full potentials. For the avoidance of doubt, let us re-affirm that what is peculiar to these two bodies and makes them key players in disaster mitigation in the country is the fact that they are based in all the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria. The NRCS has volunteers spread across these areas with its own communications system supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), while the NPF has police stations and Divisional Police Headquarters in all these areas too and more importantly, those stations are all linked by a communication system unique to the police. Indeed, the Red Cross and the Police will be pivotal in both the early warning phase, as well as in the disaster mitigation phase of disaster management in Nigeria in 2013. Furthermore, it is critical that the authorities urgently undertake a review of the mapping of companies, agencies, organisations and individuals who possess
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certain types of equipment which can be utilised in search and rescue, as well as the recovery phases of disaster management in the country. Such equipment include fixed wing and rotary aircraft (as well as air ambulances) and boats, heavy-lift machinery, fire fighting equipment with a capacity to contain and defeat fires in both medium to high-rise buildings in the country as well as transportation vehicles inclusive of ambulances,. Some Recommendations for Disaster Response and Risk Reduction in 2013 As we go forward into 2013, we need to imbibe and act on the lessons-learned in 2012 as enumerated in this report. In effect and for emphasis, as well as based on the need to have a comprehensive emergency preparedness and response structure and plan, we make the following recommendations: (1) The need to undertake well-thought out and elaborate post emergency assessments after disaster mitigation as it will be difficult to develop the parameters for instituting a sustainable rehabilitation and recovery framework for the people, infrastructure, economy and environment after the occurrence of a disaster. The need to urgently generate sectoral hazard maps for use in general terms and for specific areas. The need for the Nigerian Armed Forces and other security agencies to release aspects of vital security information to specific threatened populations in order for them to take necessary steps to avoid threats to their lives and well-being from terrorist and insurgent attacks (without compromising the integrity of the counterterrorism or counter-insurgency operations of the said security forces).
(2) ( 3)
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4)
The need for the various governments and communities to be able to provide safe corridors or reception areas where people can be kept for their protection in situations where early warning alerts are issued concerning any impending emergency. The need for communities in flood-prone and coastal areas to be sensitised against taking rising water levels for granted especially after alerts have been issued warning of impending rise in water levels. The need for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other security agencies that are closer to the communities to be given more responsibilities in emergency management, particularly for monitoring compliance by communities at risk to early warning alerts (among other responsibilities). Finally, the authorities should encourage community initiatives in disaster mitigation such as their own efforts at building earth dams to receive excess water from the rivers around them and the construction of local barriers or dykes to prevent the flooding of their farmlands and homes. While such preventive action may not totally eliminate the risks of flood disasters, they have the potential of contributing to the reduction or mitigation of the effects of disasters on the economic and social life of threatened communities. While we hope that there will be less disasters in 2013, we nevertheless advice that we take to heart the motto of the Boy Scouts, which charges us To Be Prepared. Doing so includes being very well aware of happenings around us, adhering to early warning alerts and having with us at all times gadgets, equipment and devices such as first aid boxes, life jackets, torch lights, knives, batteryoperated transistor radios etc which could enhance our safety during emergencies.
(5)
(6)
(7)
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Vision In partnership with stakeholders in disaster/emergency management(government, non-government organizations, corporate bodies, communities, individuals etc), DWN is committed to improving the quality of disaster/emergency management in Nigeria and West Africa by providing quality professional services in the areas of information dissemination, research, training and organizational support towards reduction of vulnerability of people t o d i s a s t e r s / e m e r g e n c y s i t u a t i o n s . Mission To improve the quality and timeliness of disaster/emergency management deliverables in Nigeria in particular and West Africa in general in order to reduce vulnerability of people affected by disasters/emergencies. Strategic Focus Information and dissemination of disasters/emergencies to include publication of disaster/emergency quarterly and annual, bulletins/journals, seminars, workshops and conferences. Assessment and research studies of disaster/emergency related situations for the use of stakeholders. Training in disaster management for communities, government and non-government organizations, corporate bodies and individuals.
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NIGERIA: 2012 DISASTER REPORT

Building Capacity for safe, Secure & Sustainable Environment

Disaster Watch Nigeria Initiative

bodies and communities prone to disasters (focusing on youths).

through early warnings preventive and mitigation activities.

and organizational support to disaster management

organizations and corporate bodies.

articulating recommendations for the use of stakeholders

NIGERIA: HAZARD/RISK MAP

TYPOLOGY OF THE EMERGENCIES THAT OCCURRED IN 2012

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