By Ladi Osadebe
Abstract
In Nigeria, event management has evolved into a complex, high-stakes business that represents both the pace and volatility of the world around us. Nigerian event firms are a fragile ecosystem of uncertainty, and because of security incidents and vendor vulnerabilities to climate, they operate in an ecosystem that demands more than creativity; it requires resilience. This paper examines the emerging methodologies and practices in event risk management and operational resilience as prevalent in Nigeria’s context.
In the frame of global standards such as ISO 31000, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and current organizational resilience theory, it asserts that resilience in the Nigerian event industry is an ethical and strategic imperative. This study finds that sustainable event management requires anticipatory planning, stakeholder coordination, adaptive leadership and post-event learning as the foundation for continuity and trust in a volatile market.
Keywords
Event Risk Management, Operational Resilience, Business Continuity, Nigerian Event Industry, Stakeholder Coordination, Crisis Leadership, Sustainable Event Planning
INTRODUCTION
Nigeria’s event industry has become a billion-naira ecosystem. And it embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and social dynamism of the nation. Weddings, corporate launches, concerts and cultural festivals are not just celebrations; they are multimillion-naira productions that sustain thousands of jobs and stimulate other sectors from logistics to media (Osadebe, 2023). But behind the glamour lies a fragile infrastructure with perpetual hazards, economic disruption, supply disruption, security threats and environmental threats.
In recent years, global instability, such as COVID-19 pandemic, inflationary pressures and extreme weather patterns, has highlighted the importance of resilience in event operations. But resilience in Nigeria must not be splayed around by Western paradigms. It must reflect the distinct institutional realities of the country, informal vendor networks, and societal insecurities. Event managers are not just planners; they are risk strategists, negotiators, and crisis managers, working with creative vision and contingency foresight.
This paper puts Nigerian event risk management practices into the global conversation on resilience and examines firms’ strategies to anticipate, mitigate and respond to disruption. It proposes that Nigeria’s event management can move from reactive adaptation to proactive resilience by incorporating integrated approaches of anticipatory risk mapping, stakeholder collaboration, and knowledge institutions.
Rethinking Risk in Nigerian Event Management
Traditional event management models in Nigeria favors logistic, aesthetic, and client satisfaction, often putting risk assessment at the expense of ad hoc measures (Ajayi, 2020). This approach proved costly in an environment with involuntary disruption, vendor failure, traffic gridlock, or regulatory delay, possibly impaling entire productions. The concept of IRM articulated by the ISO31000 framework is not an isolated event as it is an interconnected system of vulnerabilities that must be identified, examined, and mitigated by continuous monitoring (International Organization for Standardization, 2018).
As Nigeria expands risk management in events, environmental, or heavy rainfall, security, or localized unrest; supply chain, or unreliable power and transport; and reputation, or client dissatisfaction heightened via social media, risk management in the context of events is becoming more complicated. But innovations emerge in how practices address these frameworks, creating hybrid models that combine formal contingency plans with informal social networks to respond quickly. Resilience at an event in Nigeria is more about relationships than regulation.
Building Resilient Event Systems: From Anticipation to Adaptation
Resiliency, stated by Hollnagel et al. (2015), is the ability of an organization to anticipate, absorb and adapt to disruptions without losing its core values. In event management, this means devising a flexible operating model that can endure shocks and return quickly. Plus, the adaptive ability of Nigerian event firms surviving the pandemic is shown, for example, by shifting from hybrid or virtual models to differentiated suppliers and incorporating scenario planning in project timelines (World Bank, 2022).
The practical resilience strategies included the creation of redundant supplier networks, modular event infrastructure, and deploying real-time communication systems that connect on-site teams to remote coordinators. In Lagos where environmental and logistical volatility is high, resilient event planners increasingly use GIS mapping and predictive analytics in order to forecast disruptions such as flooding or congestion. These initiatives reflect the Sendai Framework’s, (UNDRR, 2015) emphasis on disaster preparedness and community participation, where resilience is built not in isolation but in coordinated governance across stakeholders.
Stakeholder Coordination and Governance for Resilience
Events in Nigeria are ecosystems of interdependent actors; vendors, regulators, security agencies, sponsors, and communities. The key to risk governance is stakeholders alignment. The Project Management Institute’s mission is to create a collaborative model of resilience that provides communication transparency and accountability through shared responsibility and adaptive leadership.
In the volatile climate of Nigeria, stakeholder alignment is a possibility for minimizing short-run success. These pre-event briefings, such as targeted meetings by local governments, transport agencies, and emergency services, can reduce response lag during crises. In other words, after-event debriefings institutionalize organizational learning, allowing lessons learned from past events to be applied to the new systems. This doubling-down transformation creates a corporate culture that shifts resilience from the event to the organization, and a hallmark of mature event management firms.
Yet stakeholder coordination in Nigeria is often curtailed by insufficient institutional capacity and fragmented communication channels. The next move is to define these networks for industry-wide standards and the digital compliance tools to make them accountable at the supply chain level.
Learning from Disruption: Post-Event Evaluation and Knowledge Retention
A key component of resilient event management is the feedback loop between disruption and innovation. The post-event evaluation should not only focus on customer satisfaction but also document systemic weaknesses, such as vendor coordination and environmental unpredictability. In advanced markets structured tools such as After-Action Reviews (AARs) and Business Continuity Audits are part of organizational learning (Smith & Riley, 2012).
Nigerian firms can apply these concepts to local situations, by integrating debriefing templates and digital reporting tools into their practice. While such reflection is useful for future projects, institutional memory is an archive of experiences that provides the project with better insight. The resilient firms are those that transform every crisis into a strategic advantage, refine procedures, increase power to negotiate with vendors and build client trust.
Toward a Model of Event Resilience for Nigeria
This study also proposes a four-dimensional resilience model for Nigerian event-related operations based on global best practice and local insights. Anticipatory intelligence, mapping vulnerabilities through data-driven forecasting and scenario analysis. Operational redundancy, building flexible systems that combine backup vendors, venues, and logistics. Stakeholder synchronization, building communication networks that enable shared response to a situation. Reflective adaptation, examining the learning through the post-event analysis and policy development.
This model aligns with the UNDR resilience cycle, but it fits Nigeria’s socio-economic context in which informal networks and adaptive improvisation are vital components of success.
CONCLUSION
Event resilience in Nigeria moves beyond operational survival; it is ethical leadership, stakeholder leadership, and national progress. By offering integrated risk management and continuous learning, Nigerian event firms can achieve excellence beyond aesthetics, for reliability, accountability and sustainability.
In a world in which disruptions are the new normal, the resilience journey of the Nigerian event industry offers a blueprint for emerging markets, creativity reinforced in structure, innovation guided by expectation, and business growth sustained by adaptability.
References
Hollnagel, E., Woods, D. D., & Leveson, N. (2015). Resilience engineering: Concepts and precepts. Ashgate Publishing.
International Organization for Standardization (2018). ISO 31000: Risk management—Guidelines. ISO.
Osadebe, L. T. (2023). We must be immune to the everyday challenges of running business in Nigeria. Vanguard.
Project Management Institute (PMI) (2021). Pulse of the profession 2021: Beyond agility. PMI.
Smith, K., & Riley, J. (2012). School leadership and crisis management. Routledge.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) (2015). Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030.
World Bank (2022). Business resilience in sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from COVID-19 response. World Bank Group.
The author, Ladi Teresa Osadebei, is an award-winning entrepreneur and CEO of RedBubblesEvents Limited, with over 20 years of experience in hospitality, event strategy, and business leadership. A graduate of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University and an alumnus of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in the field of event management, she has articulated excellence in Nigeria’s event management landscape through operational precision, innovation, and mentorship. Her work advocates resilient business models that balance creativity with sustainability in the rapidly changing markets in Africa.
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