National Emergency Management Agency Research Articles

Assessing the effectiveness of government and non‐governmental organization in assisting internally displaced women in Nigeria

AbstractMotivationThere is scant information on support systems for internally displaced persons in Nigeria, and none on internally displaced women in the New Kuchingoro camp. This limits the operations of aid agencies and other stakeholders, preventing them from providing targeted assistance.PurposeFirst, it examined the support provided by two government agencies: the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Second, it investigated and examined the support given by non‐governmental organizations, religious organizations, and philanthropists. Third, it analysed the challenges facing these bodies, drew conclusions about the policy implications of the situation in New Kuchingoro, and made recommendations for changes that would improve the lives of internally displaced women in the camp.Methods and approachUsing qualitative research methods, the study investigated and evaluated the various support systems provided by NCFRMI and NEMA to internally displaced women in the New Kuchingoro camp in Abuja, along with some NGOs, religious groups, and philanthropists.FindingsThe study revealed the inadequacy of co‐ordination between government agencies and NGOs in the provision of humanitarian assistance to the New Kuchingoro camp. While these NGOs were willing to provide humanitarian assistance to the women, the lack of administrative support from NCFRMI and NEMA frustrated this objective.Policy implicationsThe government needs to clarify the respective roles of NCFRMI and NEMA with regard to IDPs and relationships with non‐government aid providers, ensure adequate funding for IDPs, stamp out corruption, respect the humanitarian principles of impartiality and neutrality, and ultimately address the underlying causes of displacement.

Mapping of human displacement by Boko Haram in Nigeria from 2009 to 2021

Insurgencies by Boko Haram, a terrorist group operating in the north-west African states, have negatively impacted the sense of national security in Nigeria. The activities of the sect have assumed political dimensions in that they have evaded all the possible technical and military solutions that have been implemented. The humanitarian crisis caused by incessant attacks by Boko Haram sects has led to a growth in the population of internally displaced persons and the associated camps accommodating them. This research examined the activities of the Boko Haram sect and how they relate to internally displaced persons, as well as to the challenges faced by the latter from 2009 to 2021. The data used comprise data from the Armed Conflict and Location Event Data Database (ACLED), from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and geospatial data from Diva-GIS. The method that was applied for this purpose incorporated the use of GIS techniques for mapping the activities of the sect from 2009 to 2021: Microsoft Excel was used for the purposes of data refinement and analysis; while ArcGIS was used for the mapping of the camps of internally displaced persons, as well as for the hotspot and directional analyses in this particular context.. The findings of this research study show that Borno state experiences a 77% frequency of insurgency attacks, followed by Yobe state with 11%. Over the years under study, 2015 is the year recording the highest number of fatalities in Nigeria, with Adamawa recording the highest number of fatalities in a state in spite of it being the least of all the states susceptible to terrorism. Borno, the most terrorized of the states, hosts the largest number of IDP camps but the challenges that these state experiences are relatively limited.

Between Policy Goals and Actual Outcome: An Assessment of the National Disaster Management Framework in Nigeria, 2010-2020

In Nigeria, research on disaster management has witnessed tremendous attention in recent years. However, no known study has directly assessed the country’s main disaster management policy framework. Introduced in 2010 to replace the National Disaster Response Plan, the National Disaster Management Framework (NDMF) represents Nigeria’s attempt to depart from a response-driven system to a proactive and comprehensive one within its federal political structure having three levels of government. In assessing the Framework, two sets of criteria were used. The first is in line with its pre-determined goals while the second set was drawn from the ecological context of the Framework. Data for the study were generated from both primary and secondary sources. In-depth interviews were conducted with two senior officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA); and General Managers of the State Emergency Management Agency of Oyo, Ekiti, Lagos, Osun, and Ogun States. Besides, the NDMF and other secondary materials were read and critically reviewed to generate secondary data. Findings show that despite over a decade since its introduction, the NDMF has not been able to engender the realization of a holistic disaster management system in the country. Rather, it generated rivalry among government agencies assigned to manage disasters. The perceived alienation of many stakeholders especially at the State level in its formulation process; poor funding and lack of political will to execute the provisions of the Framework are notable causes. Knowing the importance of a policy framework in actualizing the goals of disaster management, the paper recommends that stakeholders in the country, especially those at the state and local government levels should be repositioned to play more active roles in the operationalization and implementation of the NDMF.

Arms Conflicts, Community Safety, Security and Reintegration Challenges in Madagali Local Government Areas of Adamawa State, Nigeria

Since 2009 the North east of Nigeria has been engulfed in arms struggles by the Boko Haram insurgents. This menace has brought serious setbacks to the socio-political and economic development of the region. The three states mostly affected by recurrent and pervasive violence are Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY). The Federal and States governments concerned responded swiftly to this menace through military operations and humanitarian interventions through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). This study therefore examines Arms Conflicts, community safety, security and Reintegration challenges in areas affected by the Insurgency in Madagali local government Areas of Adamawa State, Nigeria. The study used a combination survey, observation and available documents. The paper clearly established that: peace is progressively returning to some communities in the studied conflict area as evident in the gradual return of economic and social activities with the last violent attack on the community being in 2018 even though neighbouring communities are still experiencing attacks from the Boko-haram insurgents. Similarly, there are new emerging trend in the conflict dynamics particularly the emergence of new crimes such as kidnapping for ransom, abduction, drug abuse and trafficking, cattle rustling, rape and other forms of sexual and gender based violence in the community. The paper established that communities in Madagali are in urgent need of critical infrastructures such as water, electricity, doctors, health services, humanitarian support and employment opportunities. In addition the study revealed that although humanitarian support and assistance exist, such interventions are inadequate for the large population of IDPs and host community and the process of sharing is marred by irregularities, sharp practices and favouritism that tend to deepen exclusion and generate tension. That the community has shown commitment to peace building, social cohesion and reintegration by demonstrating willingness to accept and reintegrate those associated with the insurgents. In particular, those who were forced into joining the insurgents but have re-joined the community or those that had undergone the de-radicalisation process through participation in the safe corridor programme of the government. The study recommended among others: the need for the Federal government of Nigeria to expand and consolidate the operational capacity of the security architecture in the counter insurgency through, recruitment of additional personnel, weapon upgrade, and motivation and above all provide logistic support to the relevant agencies

Evacuation Behavior and Information Needs of Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand Residents Following the 5 March 2021 Mw 7.3 East Cape Earthquake

Abstract At 2.27 a.m., on 5 March 2021, an Mw 7.3 earthquake occurred approximately 100 km off the East Cape of the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. This earthquake was felt across the entire country, including in the capital city of Wellington and the surrounding region. Previous work reports varied levels of tsunami evacuation behavior for natural warnings from earthquake shaking. To further explore this behavior, we surveyed residents of the Wellington region about their evacuation decisions following the 5 March East Cape earthquake, their motivations for evacuating or not evacuating, and their immediate information needs. Approximately one-third of those who felt the earthquake, and who were in a tsunami hazard zone, self-evacuated, similar to previous findings following a larger, closer earthquake in 2016. Reasons for evacuating immediately were evenly split over specific awareness of the National Emergency Management Agency’s “Long or strong, get gone” tsunami evacuation advice, general knowledge that earthquakes can trigger tsunami, and social influences. Among those who did not evacuate, common reasons included not receiving an official warning and not believing that the earthquake was strong enough to generate a tsunami. Most people sought information from GeoNet, an official provider of earthquake information, though civil defense and emergency management sources were less used than mainstream news and social media. Along with information about tsunami risk, people tended to seek or want general information about earthquake characteristics such as location and size. Overall, the findings suggest that current public education efforts to encourage people to recognize and act on natural warnings (i.e., earthquake shaking) rather than waiting for official advice should be continued, and that consideration should be given to encouraging the use of official information sources.

Developing a framework for stakeholders collaboration in the management and mitigation of oil pipeline disasters in Nigeria

<abstract> <p>Multi Stakeholders collaboration becomes imperative when a single agency such as the NNPC or the Oil Companies alone cannot adequately address a recurring menace such as oil pipeline disasters. Thus, agencies such as National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), NOSDRA, FMHDSD, Fire Service, Oil Companies, Health and Security agencies, the Media and Academia, as well the Community must seek to promote cooperation in order to achieve successful oil pipeline disaster policy implementation. To achieve this goal efficiently and effectively, a framework for stakeholders* collaboration in the management and mitigation of oil pipeline disasters in Nigeria was developed in this study, following a logical path and adopting the use of interviews conducted among the main stakeholders and with industry experts. In a bid to achieve an un-biased opinion, questionnaires and document analysis of data obtained from secondary sources was carried out.</p> <p>A framework for the mitigation of oil pipeline disasters before, during and after disaster occurrence was developed. The framework captures the relevant stakeholders as well as their roles in disaster mitigation.</p> </abstract>

The effect of global warming in Nigeria: Flood in perspective

Background: Global warming is the world phenomenon and its effects cannot be overemphasized. In Nigeria, the effect of global warming is being experienced on a daily basis as a flood which is one of its effects is now the order of the day in some parts of the country. In Nigeria, the body responsible for taking necessary actions during an emergency situation called The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) warned in 2014 that some states across the country would experience flooding and they did. The same warning came from the body in the year 2015, and of course flooding affected the concerned states same has been happening on a yearly basis across the country. As can be seen in Nigeria, many lives have been lost to a flood which is related to global warming. Some families have perished while some have been rendered either fatherless or motherless. Some have also been rendered homeless and their property has been destroyed as a result of the flood. This article examines some causes and effects of the global warming in Nigeria, while paying particular attention to floods as one of its effects.
 Research purpose: The purpose of the article is to answer the question why is Nigeria so much affected with the effects of global warming especially flooding.
 Methods: This article relies on both primary and secondary research sources. Various laws regulating environmental protection, both local and international, were considered. The Internet sources as well as Nigerian newspapers articles related to the research topic are also essential to this work.
 Conclusions: It has been observed that there are inadequacies in the existing laws regulating environmental protection. The article recommends the application of the new regulations ensuring adequate environmental protection, especially to tackle the flood menace in Nigeria.

Farm households' levels of vulnerability to extreme weather events in South-Eastern Nigeria

The impacts of climate change risks, risk management mechanisms, and the physical environment under which farm households operate play significant roles in poverty and hidden hunger dynamics in developing countries. Extreme weather events are most often triggers of changes in risk management, which also affect the capacity of households to absorb the resultant shocks. This paper based on primary data collected as part of a PhD dissertation in the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, presents an analysis of farm households’ levels of vulnerability to extreme weather events in South-eastern Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used in the selection of 120male-and 120 female-headed farm households that constituted the sample for the study. Both structured interview schedule and focus group discussion guide were used to gather data from the respondents, which were analyzed using UNDP vulnerability index. Using household adaptive capacity approach, data were collected on human, economic and institutional capacity of farmers in coping with extreme weather events. Female-headed households were more vulnerable than their male-headed counterparts to the effect of extreme weather events with respect to some of the indicators such as farming income, years of formal education, farm size, land ownership status, number of extension contacts, access to weather information, access to remittance, membership of cooperative and assistance from National Emergency Management Agency in the area. Overall, using household adaptive capacity approach, the results of the gender-based vulnerability analysis showed male-headed farming households with a vulnerability index of 0.38 while the female-headed farming households, on the other hand, had vulnerability index of 0.68. Although female-headed farm households were more vulnerable than their male counterparts, the farmers were all generally highly vulnerable to the incidence of natural disasters because of low adaptive capacity. The study recommends that government and development partners with the responsibility of protecting the environment should be gender-sensitive and redirect more effort in mitigating the negative agricultural effects caused by extreme weather events, especially among female-headed farm households who are more vulnerable.

The Empirical Study of Employers Satisfaction: The Case of Executive Leadership Academy, University of Internal Affairs, Mongolia

The study aims to examine the correlations between alumni learning attributes and knowledge, leadership, communication, and managerial skills and how alumni’s attitude is assessed through employers’ satisfaction. We attempt to evaluate the employer satisfaction of alumni from the Executive Leadership Academy/ELA/, and the effectiveness of its learning outcome. The employers’ feedback on satisfaction of alumni is the one of the most affecting factors that evaluate the effectiveness, relevance and of their curriculum, other specific programs and training outcome. The study result reveals that alumni's skills' assessment, knowledge management, specific job-related communication skills, leadership skills, and other crucial abilities in critical thinking, problem solving, research and analysis, teamwork, time management, and attitudes are in highly satisfactory ratings. The data were collected from 216 respondents of administrative, executive and senior employers who work at the law enforcement agencies: Policing, Correctional service, National Emergency Management Agency, Border protection agency that other organizations are under the authority of the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs of Mongolia. Data were estimated by Smart PLS 3.0 and SPSS-23.0 software and Cronbach's alpha index has been used for data analysis and reliability analysis of the questionnaire, respectively. At the present, alumni have good attitude into learning and their managerial skills are considered better. Their value is satisfied. The next level concepts to climate and environment can be considered. About culture in the organization, autonomy was created from alumni. There are many other things that can be developed, but first of all proaction, collaboration and experimentation can be future circumstances. In other words, there can be some new aspects of opening the organization into collaboration with the community and the whole people of the country, planning activities ahead and several experimentations on the problem solving. For the future, it can be significant to consider both theoretical and practical issues and inserting further practices in the University of Internal Affairs, Mongolia /UIAM/.

Hospital admissions due to endocrine diseases in Korean male firefighters.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between occupational exposure to various hazards and hospital admission due to endocrine diseases in Korean male firefighters.MethodsFrom 2000 to 2008, former and current male firefighters registered in the Korean National Emergency Management Agency were investigated based on their hospitalized health insurance admission data for the same period. Admission data for endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases were obtained from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. Standardized admission ratio (SAR) with reference to the general population of Korean men was analyzed.ResultsSAR for firefighters with endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases was 0.56 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.49–0.65), which was significantly less than that of the general population of Korean men. For those with endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases, SARs for those with a history of fire suppression tasks and those without experience of fire suppression tasks were 0.58 (95% CI: 0.49–0.68) and 0.53 (95% CI: 0.40–0.70), respectively.ConclusionsThe admission rate of Korean male firefighters due to endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases was significantly lower than that of the general Korean men population, the hazardous potential of endocrine disruptors remains an open question. Further studies of firefighters with longer follow-up are needed.

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Guma local government area of Benue state and their information needs

Recently, 1st of January, 2018 to be precise, communities in Guma local government area of Benue state, Nigeria were attacked by suspected Fulani herdsmen thereby forcing them to abandon their ancestral homes and livelihoods. The displaced lost their social, legal and economic ties and thus suffered considerable physical and psychological hardships. Attempts were being made by the combined assistance of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the state government and spirited individuals to address their food, shelter and water needs however, it was not certain if the information needs which, is measured as the fifth of the human needs in ranking with air, water, food and shelter has been identified and addressed. The crux of the study therefore, is to ascertain the information needs of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Guma local government area of Benue state and how to meet the needs. One thousand (1000) displaced persons from seven IDPs camps were randomly selected for the study. Descriptive and evaluative survey research designs were adopted for the study while oral interview was used to collect data for the study. The data collected were analysed using statistical descriptive tools such as tables, simple frequencies and percentages. The findings from the study revealed that the IDPs’ greatest information needs among other things included information needs on: water supply, food supply, healthcare, the where about of their loved ones, when to go back home to reintegrate with their families and the Governments’ efforts to end the crisis. The study further revealed that majority of the IDPs are illiterates and their major sources of information are basically the churches and Public gatherings. In addition, the paper attempted to offer measures on how to meet their information needs. Keywords: Information, Information needs, Internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Assessment of Community’s Resilience to Flooding in the Flood-prone Areas of the Core Niger Delta, Nigeria

The study assessed the community’s resilience to flooding in the flood-prone areas of the Core Niger Delta, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. 790 respondents were selected using a multistage stratified sampling technique in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis of data. Findings showed that the level of community’s resilience to floods in the core Niger Delta included distribution of relief materials by community flood control committee (61.9%); helping flood control committee to effectively use the equipment to detect early flood warning (56.5%), the response committee effectively measured and assessed the extent and risk after every flood incident (52.1%), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) or the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) engaging members of the community flood control committee on capacity building on ways of mitigating flood menace (51.7%); and community constructing flood barks, drainage, dam, etc. in order to control or manage flood incidents (51.1%). The study revealed that the frequency (F=2.661, p<.05) and magnitude (F=1.355, p<.05) of flood determined its intensity in communities in the study area. The study recommended among others that communities should set up an efficient and effective flood control committee in order to effectively tackle the impacts of flood menace, including the Ministry of Agriculture enhancing the knowledge of local farmers in using new and improved inputs and techniques (i.e. smart agriculture) for planting crops that can be harvested before the flooding.

Spatial analysis of disaster statistics in selected cities of Nigeria

The frequency and occurrence of natural, technological and man-induced disasters are increasing in Nigeria. The trends and patterns of these occurrences are scarcely accessed in literature. This paper focuses on types, occurrences and causes of disasters in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kaduna, Nigeria. Data were collected by administering questionnaires and conducting in-depth interviews (IDIs) with disaster stakeholders (residents, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) personnel and victims of disaster) in disaster-prone areas of the selected cities. Results indicated that fire outbreak, flood, building collapse and windstorm have been major threats to lives and properties in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kaduna, Nigeria. Also, factors such as overpopulation, poor governance, erections of weak structure, unplanned urban spread and unenforced physical planning policy worsen the issue. These results among others contributed to our understanding of causes and trend of disasters in a typical developing country.

Spatial analysis of disaster statistics in selected cities of Nigeria

The frequency and occurrence of natural, technological and man-induced disasters are increasing in Nigeria. The trends and patterns of these occurrences are scarcely accessed in literature. This paper focuses on types, occurrences and causes of disasters in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kaduna, Nigeria. Data were collected by administering questionnaires and conducting in-depth interviews (IDIs) with disaster stakeholders (residents, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) personnel and victims of disaster) in disaster-prone areas of the selected cities. Results indicated that fire outbreak, flood, building collapse and windstorm have been major threats to lives and properties in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kaduna, Nigeria. Also, factors such as overpopulation, poor governance, erections of weak structure, unplanned urban spread and unenforced physical planning policy worsen the issue. These results among others contributed to our understanding of causes and trend of disasters in a typical developing country.

Effect of typhoons on the Korean national emergency medical service system.

ObjectiveWhile the effect of typhoons on emergency medicine has been evaluated, data are scarce on their effects on the emergency medical service (EMS). This study evaluated the effect of typhoons on EMS patients and performance.MethodsThe study period was January 2010 to December 2012. Meteorological data regarding typhoons were provided by the Korean Meteorological Administration. EMS data were retrieved from the EMS database of the national emergency management agency. The database includes ambulance run sheets, which contain clinical and operational data. In this case-crossover study, the cases and controls were EMS calls on the day of typhoon warnings and calls one week prior to the typhoon warnings, respectively.ResultsDuring the study period, 11 typhoons affected Korea. A total of 14,521 cases were selected for analysis. Overall, there were no obvious differences between the case and control groups. However, there were statistically significant differences in age, place, and time requests. There were fewer patients between 0 and 15 years of age (P=0.01) and more unconscious patients (P=0.01) in the case group. The EMS operational performance, as measured by the times elapsed between call to start, call to field, and call to hospital did not differ significantly. There was also no significant difference in the time from hospital arrival between the cases (28.67, standard deviation 16.37) and controls (28.97, standard deviation 28.91) (P=0.39).ConclusionTyphoons did not significantly affect the EMS system in this study. Further study is necessary to understand the reasons for this finding.

Disaster risks and management policies and practices in Nigeria: A critical appraisal of the National Emergency Management Agency Act

Disasters, whether natural or man-made, remain a major challenge to achieving global sustainability. Findings show that Nigeria is prone to disasters such as destructive storms, desertification, drought and flood. It is generally recognized that there is the need to advance policies and practices to reduce the risk of disasters, and one way to reduce such risks is to ensure that laws are put in place to ensure effective integration of DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction) policies in disaster management processes. Many nations have accordingly formulated disaster management laws and are using same in their countries. As nations search for solutions to challenges facing sustainability, such laws need to be subjected to critical appraisals from time to time. It is against this background that this study carried out an appraisal of Nigeria's NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) Act with a view to ascertaining its effectiveness and efficiency in dealing with disasters in the country. It was observed that the Act focuses more on establishment and functioning of the nodal agency (NEMA) for disaster management rather than on development of action plans for mitigating or preventing or minimizing the risks of disasters in the country. It was further discovered that the Act lacks a clear-cut direction on resource mobilization for disaster management by the stakeholders and also does not confer on the nodal Agency the power to compel other government and private agencies to integrate disaster risk reduction in their operations. The Act, therefore, should be reviewed to ensure centrality in the coordination of disaster management by stakeholders, empower the nodal agency to be more proactive than reactive in its operations and also to guarantee that funding of disaster management operations becomes the responsibility of all stakeholders in the country.

A Study on Improvement of Target Setting Criteria for Disaster Prevention Performance in Jeju Island

The government has set the disaster prevention performance target rainfall by the local government (National Emergency Management Agency, 2012) as a flood control policy that can prepare against natural disaster. However, the method of setting the disaster prevention performance target rainfall by municipalities does not reflect the rainfall characteristics of mountainous regions and islands. In this study, rainfall data reflecting the altitude and regional characteristics were analyzed using the meteorological observation system (ASOS, AWS) for Jeju Island. As a result, it was found that the rainfall increases about 1 ~ 4 times as the altitude increases from the lowland to the highland, and the existing disaster prevention performance target standard of Jeju Island does not reflect altitude characteristics. In addition, The target rainfall for disaster prevention performance is presented as dividing the two localities of Jeju city and Seogwipo city into Jeju East, West South and North areas. It is considered that various factors can be reflected in the compatibility assessment stae of rainfall estimation standard. Keywords: Disaster Prevention Performance Target, Jeju Island, Elevation, Site

International Humanitarian Law: A Need for Legal Protection to Address the Mismanagement of Humanitarian Aid in IDP Camps in Nigeria

Over time, Nigeria has encountered internal displacement. The challenges of displacement have now become a national concern as Farmer-herders conflict has been attributed to be one of the major causes of displacement in the country. The realities of climate change and global warming also have affected the ecosystem causing internal displacement hence; there is need for urgent legal protection for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). With the increasing rate of vulnerability in displacement, the research examines the causes and effects of internal displacement in Nigeria. It also evaluates the legal framework which seeks to protect the rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The paper critically reviews the provision of the Kampala Convention and the United Nations Guiding Principle on Internal Displacement and protection of displaced victims. The research adopts a doctrinal and library-based approach to examine the provisions of the law on the protection of IDPs in Nigeria. Thus, primary and secondary sources of law were relied on. The primary sources include the Kampala convention, amended 1999 constitution of Nigeria, International Treaties, conventions and resolutions, National Emergency Management Agency Act and semi structured Interviews. The secondary sources include articles, journals, books, newspapers and internet materials. A case study of the government-controlled camps in Benue state was done and the research unveils the poor management of humanitarian aid and relief items meant for victims. The research also finds that in Nigeria, there is no enforceable legislation which aims to protect the rights of the displaced persons and its calls for urgent national assembly efforts to protect vulnerable victims. The research concludes that there is need to rethink humanitarian assistance to victims by adopting a strategic approach to ensure that the relief materials appropriately target the victims. Hence, the paper recommends the domestication of Kampala convention and amendment of Nigeria constitution to guarantee more protection for displaced persons in Nigeria.

An Ethical investigation of State and the Management of Internally Displaced Persons: Nigeria as a case study

The decision among human beings to change their places of residence has remained an age-long strategy of survival practiced for a very long time. However, the migratory activities associated with internal population displacement are often propelled by forced migration occasioned by natural or anthropogenic forces or a combination of both. The upsurge of internal population displacement in the Nigerian state is incontrovertible given the maniacal campaign of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east region. The dilemma of internally displaced persons and the imperative management have proven a formidable challenge to the Nigerian state. The aim of this paper therefore is to ethically investigate whether the ineffective control of the Boko Haram insurgency by the state is implicated in the rising incidence of internally displaced persons and evident vulnerabilities. The study adopted qualitative research which relied heavily on the documentary method of data collection and, guided by the ‘Marxist theory of the post-colonial state’ as a theoretical underpinning. The findings of this paper showed that the ineffective control of Boko Haram insurgency by the state was implicated in the rising incidence of internal population displacement in the North-east. The paper critically observed that the state and its agencies like the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs), National Commission for Refugees, Migration and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE), Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiative (PCNI), among others have become the main instruments for the advancement of the interests of the dominant class. The study however recommends amongst other things that the state should ethically rethink its narrow strategy against Boko Haram insurgency through the adoption of a broader approach according to the dictates of Nigeria’s Countering Violent Extremism framework.

Incidences of Waterborne and Foodborne Diseases After Meteorologic Disasters in South Korea

BackgroundClimate change could increase the number of regions affected by meteorologic disasters. Meteorologic disasters can increase the risk of infectious disease outbreaks, including waterborne and foodborne diseases. Although many outbreaks of waterborne diseases after single disasters have been analyzed, there have not been sufficient studies reporting comprehensive analyses of cases occurring during long-term surveillance after multiple disasters, which could provide evidence of whether meteorologic disasters cause infectious disease outbreaks. ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the nationwide short-term changes in waterborne and foodborne disease incidences after a meteorologic disaster. MethodsWe analyzed cases after all 65 floods and typhoons between 2001 and 2009 using the Korean National Emergency Management Agency's reports. Based on these data, we compared the weekly incidences of Vibrio vulnificus septicemia (VVS), shigellosis, typhoid fever, and paratyphoid fever before, during, and after the disasters, using multivariate Poisson regression models. We also analyzed the interactions between disaster characteristics and the relative risk of each disease. FindingsCompared with predisaster incidences, the incidences of VVS and shigellosis were 2.49-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.47-4.22) and 3.10-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.21-7.92) higher, respectively, the second week after the disaster. The incidences of VVS and shigellosis peaked the second week postdisaster and subsequently decreased. The risks of typhoid and paratyphoid fever did not significantly increase throughout the 4 weeks postdisaster. The daily average precipitation interacted with VVS and shigellosis incidences, whereas disaster type only interacted with VVS incidence patterns. ConclusionsThe incidences of VVS and shigellosis were associated with meteorologic disasters, and disaster characteristics were associated with the disease incidence patterns postdisaster. These findings provide important comprehensive evidence to develop and support policies for managing and protecting public health after meteorologic disasters.