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NATIONAL
DISASTER RESPONSE PLAN
The National
Disaster Response Plan (NDRP) was prepared within the span of two years through researches and analysis of experts from
different fields with relevance to disaster management. The
document has been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC)
to serve as a policy guideline for disaster management in
Nigeria.
The document established a process and structure for the
systematic, coordinated and effective delivery of Federal
Assistance, to address the consequences of any major disaster or
emergency declared by the President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
It has been prepared to set forth fundamental policies, planning
assumptions, concepts of operation, response and recovery, and
also describes the responsibilities of agencies and Private
Sector organizations. It has been designed in such a way that it
spells out the process and methodology for implementing and
managing Federal Government Recovery and Mitigation Programmes,
and support Technical Services.
The Plan provides a focus for inter-agency and
inter-governmental emergency preparedness, planning, training,
exercising, coordination and information exchange. The plan also
indicates the scope of Federal Government response assistance
that a state is most likely to require under the 13 Support
Service Areas(SSAs), each of which has a designated Primary
Agency that acts as lead in the Support Service Area. It is also
of utmost importance to understand that the format adopted in
the preparation of the document allows flexibility, which makes
it very easy to work with. The document's scope is mainly guided
by the concepts of Response and Recovery.
Response activities include direction and control, early
warning, evacuation and emergency services. These are designed
to address immediate and short-term effects of the onset of an
emergency or disaster. They help to reduce casualties and damage
and also to speed up recovery programs.
Recovery includes both short and long-term activities. Short
term operations seek to restore critical services to the
community and provide for the basic needs of the public.
Long-term recovery focuses on restoring the community to its
normal or improved state of affairs. Examples of recovery
actions could be temporary housing and feeding, restoration of
non-vital government services, and reconstruction of damaged
areas.
The National Disaster Response Plan (NDRP) also specified the
roles of every stakeholder in Emergency Disaster Management in
such an explicit way that their activities can be performed with
very little supervision and thus, allows for smooth operation of
Disaster Management.
The Support Service Area Section of the Document describes the
Mission, Policies, Concepts of operation and responsibilities of
the primary and support agencies involved in the implementation
of key response functions that supplements state and local
government activities during emergencies and disasters.
The Support Service Area has been subdivided into 13 SSAs to
enable them handle specific areas of disasters where the
Agencies are specialized.
These include:
Transport
Communication
Public Works and Engineering
Fire Fighting
Information and Planning
Mass Care
Resource Support
Health and Medical services
Search and rescue
Hazardous Materials
Food and Water
Military/Police Support
Every Agency and Organization relevant to emergency management
have been systematically divided to fit into a Support Service
Area where their expertise would be maximally utilized. This is
to allow "for efficiency and speed" which remains the watchword
in disaster preparedness as well as for Search and rescue
Operations.
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