A bill that seeks to address critical issues such as climate change adaptation, drought, desertification, flooding, coastal erosion, dam failure, building collapse, oil spills, among others has passed its second reading on the floor of the House of Representatives.
The Bill presents a practical step towards transforming the nation’s emergency and disaster management response framework.
Also, the emergency and disaster response mechanism contemplated by this Bill is an important legislative response which meets the demands of Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution.
The proposed legislation titled, “Bill for an Act to Repeal the National Emergency Management Agency Act, Cap. N34, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and Enact the National Emergency Management Agency Bill and for Related Matters,”; was sponsored by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Okezie Kalu,. Babajimi Benson and 5 others.
Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, one of the co-sponsors, Amobi Ogah said while the NEMA Act provides a solid foundation for disaster management, it lacks provisions for addressing critical issues such as climate change adaptation, amongst others.
Ogah stated: “The National Emergency Management Agency (Establishment) Act of 1999 elaborately provided for the establishment, functions and governance structure of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) making it the central body for disaster management in Nigeria with State Agencies supporting its mandate at the State level.
“While the Act provides a solid foundation for disaster management, it lacks provisions for addressing critical issues such as climate change adaptation and resilience, digital transformation initiatives, drought, desertification, flooding, coastal erosion, dam failure, building collapse, oil spills, road accidents, bomb explosions.”;
Ogah stressed that the Bill, therefore, seeks to establish a framework that would address the mentioned critical issues and a well establish a self-sustaining alternative funding mechanism beyond the funding mechanism under the extant Act.
He added: “NEMA will be repositioned through this Bill to ensure climate adaptation and resilience in today’s world of complex disaster management.
“This reform will also ensure that NEMA disaster risk reduction strategy is aligned with international best practices. This will also transform NEMA into a stronger coordination authority.”;
Ogah added that when the bill becomes law, NEMA would be repositioned to ensure climate adaptation and resilience in today’s world of complex disaster management.
