Institutional Framework for Disaster Risk Management in Nigeria; Need for a Paradigm Shift

Abstract

National Disaster Management Framework (NDMF) was designed in 2010 to correct the inadequacies in disaster management efforts in Nigeria. This well designed framework is suffering implementation challenges which make it unable to fulfil its purpose. This paper reviews current NDMF strategies and seeks to promote community-based disaster risk management in line with conventional best practices as a viable alternative to the traditional top-bottom approach enshrined in the NDMF. It identifies communality, one of the principles of permaculture as a heritage that is deeply rooted in many Nigerian cultures and is been promoted internationally as best practice in disaster management. It highlights how vulnerable populations and victims rely more on individual abilities to cope and how their social contacts have played prominent roles to support them. It suggests the need for a redirection in disaster management that will explore communality to promote bottom-top strategies in disaster management in Nigeria using community development associations as a platform.