Sustainability 2023, 15, 2392. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032392 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Article Flood Policy and Governance: A Pathway for Policy Coherence in Nigeria Samir Shehu Danhassan 1,2,3 , Ahmed Abubakar 4 , Aminu Sulaiman Zangina 5 , Mohammad Hadi Ahmad 6 , Saddam A. Hazaea 7 , Mohd Yusoff Ishak 4 and Jiahua Zhang 1,2,3, * 1 Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China 2 International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals, Beijing 100094, China 3 College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 4 Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia 5 National Biotechnology Development Agency, Abuja 820101, Nigeria 6 Space Applications Department, Zonal Advanced Space Technology Applications Laboratory Kano, National Center for Remote Sensing, National Space Research and Development Agency, Kano 700103, Nigeria 7 School of Accounting, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming 650221, China * Correspondence: zhangjh@radi.ac.cn Abstract: In recent years, Nigeria is witnessing increasing frequency of flood occurrence with dev- astating impact translating into significant loss of lives (in Nigeria, over 300 people died in Septem- ber 2022) and properties. Addressing flood disaster requires holistic approach from policy and gov- ernance perspectives, integration of policies and programs and synergies between institutions. Us- ing synergies and eliminating trade-offs, flood governance and policy coherence integrate all rele- vant policy fields and institutions to achieve common policy outcomes. The objective of this study is to examine and understand how flood governance and policy coherence are approached, as well as institutional design and implementation for coherence in Nigeria. The findings revealed that there is no single flood policy in Nigeria. Due to this, there is no focus and no defined objectives for flood governance, prevention, control, and management, and no imperative for the government to seek both short-term and long-term flood solutions. There is no synergy and coordination among institutions for flood governance in the country. Since the country established the federal ministry of environment in 1999, the environment, floods, and climate-related hazards were given less pri- ority. State and local governments handle most flood disasters and emergencies. Federal assistance is provided, however, when flood disasters exceed the capabilities of local and state governments. This study recommends that across the country, flood policy needs to be designed, formulated, and implemented while assigning governance responsibility and decentralizing policy to state and local governments. Keywords: flood; policy; governance; institutions; Nigeria 1. Introduction Flooding is regarded as one of the most dangerous natural disasters confronting the world today [1–5]. In many countries around the world, particularly developing nations, flooding has become a major issue because of its social, economic, and environmental consequences [2,6–9]. In the last three decades flood alone affects over 2.3 billion people, accounting for 74% of all recorded natural disasters, and responsible for 43.5% all death in 2019 from natural disaster globally [9]. It has wreaked havoc on development infra- structure and increased human casualties all over the world. Between 1960 and 2000, floods displaced over 5 million people globally [8] Citation: Danhassan, S.S.; Abubakar, A.; Zangina, A.S.; Ahmad, M.H.; Hazaea, S.A.; Ishak, M.Y.; Zhang, J. Flood Policy and Governance: A Pathway for Policy Coherence in Nigeria. Sustainability 2023, 15, 2392. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032392 Academic Editor: Antonio Miguel Martínez-Graña Received: 17 November 2022 Revised: 16 December 2022 Accepted: 28 December 2022 Published: 28 January 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Li- censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons At- tribution (CC BY) license (https://cre- ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).