The Impact Of Disaster Risk Management On The Development Of Small Scale Business In Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

There are evidence to suggest that in many countries there has been an increase in the rise of natural disasters occurring – natural hazard rise – due to environmental degradation (World Bank 2002). Natural disasters are complex and multifaceted events resulting from mismanaged and unmanaged risks that reflect current condition and historical factors (Alexander 2000). Disaster risk is collective in its origin and remain a ‘public,’ shared risk that makes finding individual, and often community solutions, difficult (comfort 1999). A disaster is said to take place precisely because the losses originated by a given event overwhelm the capacity of a population (local, regional or national) to respond and recover from it. Disaster rise emerges from the interaction between a natural hazard – the external risk factor – and vulnerability – the internal risk factor (Cardona 2001).

International consciousness rising about integrated disaster risk management (of which disaster risk mitigation is a part) was given a boost by the recently concluded United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. 

Similarly, The Nigerian Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002) heralds a new era as far as the way in which disaster risk, hazards and vulnerability will be perceived in Nigerian in the future. As one of the finest pieces of legislation ever promulgated in Nigerian, the right into the backyard of each and every state and local municipality, as well as all the organs of the state and entities in the public sector. 

It calls for the establishment of structures, frameworks, plans, procedures, and strategies that cut across all government sectors. It introduces a new way of managing the complex and perilous society in which we find ourselves. It further gives the responsibility of managing disaster risks to the highest political authority in each sphere of government.

The cornerstone of successful and effective disaster risk management is the integration and coordination of the entire role – players and their activities into a holistic system aimed at disaster risk reduction. Disaster risk reduction in Nigerian consists of a variety of crosscutting facts requiring the participation of a host of sectors and disciplines, not only from within the spheres of government (Federal State and Local), but involving the private sector, civil society, Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs), Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Research Institutions, and Institution of higher Learning, to name but a few. In the context of disaster risk management, none of these role-players can act in isolation from the other.

Disaster Risk Management in Nigeria has been established as a public sector function within each sphere of government. But disaster risk management goes beyond pure line function responsibility. Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002) as an integrated, multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary approach aimed at reducing the risks associated with hazards and vulnerability. It therefore needs to become an integral part of the development planning.

Process in order to be successful. For this reason disaster risk management plans form an integral part of the Integrated Development Plan of each of this state. In the light of this the budgeting process within the state government sphere in Nigeria, aiming at sustainable development within state government, the direct like with disaster risk management is undeniable of strategic importance. Development planning should therefore be assessed according to its contribution towards either risk reduction or disaster risk augmentation.

Unfortunately, the current policy and legislation do not provide adequate guidance to state government in terms of funding arrangements for disaster reduction, response and recovery. Various funds and funding mechanisms are available; this leads to a consideration amount of confusion. The need to consolidate all disaster reduction and response-related funding into one funding pool is well known and has been already discussed within the disaster management fraternity.

Although this would be the ideal situation, it is not realistic to assume that an all-inclusive fund would be in any way possible given the public financial infrastructure of Nigeria. It is against this background that this research is triggered and search light is put to northern Nigeria sequent to the current security challenges and flood that have brought untold hardship to people in the North.

The act establishing the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) of Nigeria makes specific provision for the funding of post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation as well as requiring that a disaster management plan should be prepared for a specific  state and should form an integral part of  the state’s overall integrated development plan, such a disaster management plan must indicate measures to reduce the  vulnerability of disaster prone areas, communities and households, as well as the appropriate strategies for prevention and mitigation.