Often labeled as the slickest concept in the policy
lexicon and at the same time, an important
ingredient required for policy success, political will
remain the most cited reason for policy failure. In
Nigeria, particularly since the return of civil rule in
1999, many notable policies and action plans have
been designed to curb the challenges that disasters
pose to all facets of national life. However, those
policies and plans, particularly the ones on Disaster
Risk Reduction, and the National Disaster
Management Framework, the most comprehensive
disaster management policy in the country have not
attained their formulation goals. The NDMF stipulates
that disaster management operations shall be
tailored after the country‟s federal political structure,
thereby requiring the commitment of the three levels
of government. Yet, lack of political will has often
been labelled the most prominent of those factors
responsible for the limitation in the implementation of
the policy. While issues around policy implementation
have gained sufficient attention in the literature, no
known work has viewed the subject matter through
the lenses of „politicized‟ political will, and from a
disaster management standpoint, hence, this article.
Methodologically, the article draws from secondary
data including published data from relevant
government agencies. Findings reveal that although
many other factors from the country‟s complex policy
environment contributed to the low level of
implementation of disaster management policies,
lack of will from the political class, as displayed in its
inability to make adequate funds available accounted for the dreary level of implementation of disaster management policies. It was posited that the level of success achieved in the policy process is incumbent on the deliberate actions and inactions of the political class.