Challenges of Emergency Management in Nigeria: A Case Study of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) (FEMA)

The study examined the challenges of emergency management and response in Nigeria; a case study of FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), FCT Nigeria. The study assesses the nature and trend of disasters and emergency situations prevalent in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the effectiveness of FEMA’s response to emergency situations in the FCT, and highlights the challenges of the Federal Environmental Management Agency of FCT. Both primary and secondary methods of data collection were used. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that road crashes and flooding are the highest emergency situations recorded in the area. The trend shows that in 2014, 40 emergency situations were recorded, 26 in 2016, and 49 the highest in 2019. In terms of the effectiveness of FEMA’s response to emergencies, the study findings revealed that from 2014 to 2019, 215 emergency situations were recorded, 740 lives were saved as a result of FEMA’s response time of 3 to 15 minutes. The study also revealed that FCT FEMA synergies with other emergency stakeholders in emergency management and response. Training of staffs was periodically carried out to improve productivity and level of alertness of the staff. Some of the humanitarian services of FCT FEMA include the distribution of relief materials and school enrolment for internally displaced persons (IDPs). These notwithstanding, the activities of the agency have been constrained by inadequate funding, poor logistics, wrong address from callers, lack of proper maintenance of infrastructure and equipment, improper vulnerability assessment, and inadequate and ineffective legal and regulatory framework. Based on the findings, the study recommends adequate funding, use of other means of transportation, public enlightenment, and increase synergies among emergency management stakeholders.