Dana plane crash: An Analysis of Response

Since the crash of the ill fated Dana Aircraft which claimed the life of 153 passengers/crew and some 6 other people on whose houses the plane crashed, I have seen a lot of write ups castigating the response by emergency management officials. I strongly agree that response teams could have done better in their handling of the unfortunate incident but with a caveat. This write up is not a justification for us emergency managers, yes we could have done better,yes if the response came earlier some of the people that died could have been saved but the question to ask is: was the delay deliberate? Obviously the answer is no.
Like all other professionals in Nigeria emergency managers also work under a very challenging environment.

The national emergency management agency NEMA which is charged with ‘coordinating’ emergency management is percieved wrongly as a first responder  agency .Even though NEMA has response capabilities in form of  a helicopter and internationally trained and cerified search and rescue SAR officers , the responsibility of managing emergency situations is sub divided and vested on the various levels of government. The local government emergency management committees  LEMC  are to coordinate disaster activities  at local government level while state emergency management agencies SEMA are to handle cases at state level in conjunction with critical stakeholders like the red cross, fire service,road safety  and the civil defence corps. This legally recognised framework of operation is none existant in majority of the state and local government levels that is why NEMA has been dragged into performing functions which is best suited for states and local governments thereby over stretching the agencys resources.
According to the act setting up NEMA, the Agency is  only expected to respond in cases of catastrophic disasters that have OVERWHELMED the capability/resources  to cope with the situation in the affected State. The governor of the affected state can then call for Federal assistance fromNEMA through the president ( this is not in anyway underating the impact of air crashes or abdicating responsibility) .This is the reason why NEMA does not  have offices in all states,restricting its presence only to Zonal offices, one in each of the six geopolitical zones and the headquarters at Abuja. To drive home this point NEMA was domiciled under the Presidency.
Looking at the Dana crash, anybody who has been to the Ikeja/Oshodi axis will confirm that navigating through traffic in that area where the airport is located is just like the proverbial camel passing through the eye of a needle.Due security concerns and development encroachments, the emergency exits around the airport are not accessible hence the absence of alternative routes which could have been used by response teams. They had to pass through the usual traffic asssociated with the area thereby prolonging response tme. Assuming that a well equipped fire station is maintained at the local government where the crash occurred, am sure the response time will not be as long as when the response has to come from outside. Basic town planning which creates access roads and infrastructures like fire hydrants are absent in most cities, so during emergencies the responders cannot  access disaster scenes and even when they do, like is the case mostly with the fire service they run out of water which will not be possible if fire hydrants are installed in neighbourhoods.
With the various disaster risk reduction initiatives put in place by NEMA which includes;the training of volunteers in all local government areas in the country,  school basic emergency response training for students and the NEMA/NYSC emergency management volunteers which entails training youth corpers as emergency vanguards;very soon the general public will begin to see changes in how response activities are carried out. A 24 hour emergency call center 0800CALLNEMA (080022556362) is now fully operational and the agency is also working in conjunction  with the national communications commission to compel gsm operators to also provide emergency toll free numbers to their subscribers. NEMA is also harnessing ICT solutions through the use of social media like Facebook(Facebook.com/nemanigeria) and twitter(@nemanigeria) to take emergency management closer to all citizens, by giving  them a platform to make suggestions and report potential harzards which can be utilised to prevent disasters where possible and to report to the Agency when actual ddisasters occur. On a final note I wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to those who lost their loved ones on behalf of all emergency management professionals in the country, I also pray that the Almighty grants victims of various disasters around the nation eternal rest. Hopefully, the Next time any disaster occurs within the country (God forbid) we will try to improve to meet public expectations and also save as many lives  as possible or

#CONSENSUS 2015