He comes into contact with other individuals in different capacities. It took over this function in 1999 from the federal environmental. Section 33 and 34 guarantee right to land and human dignity and it is said to associate with the necessity for safe and healthy environment. Failed promises and reviving community voices by eferiekose ukala abstract this note examines the use of litigation to stop gas flaring in nigerias niger delta, and proposes an alternative solution to the ongoing gas flaring in the niger delta region. Gas flaring practices started since the first discovery of oil in the niger delta region of nigeria, and this practice has continued without seizure.
It is a country with a current population of about 180 million people, and with different laws policies and constitutions to ensure that order is maintained. Sources of nigerian lawconstitution are of various adaptations and we would attempt having a glance at those sources. Examining environmental policies and laws in nigeria aliyu ibrahim kankara dept. Environmental laws not only aim to protect the environment from harm, but they also determine. The nigerian constriction, for one, makes provision for environmental protection and management in sections 12, 20, 33 and 34.
It consists of the exclusive list, concurrent list and residual list. Hence the appeal for a global environmental law court of international jurisdiction. Civil law systems often absorb ideas from the common law and viceversa. Sources of law can be definedas the places to which a. Environmental pollution and sustainable development in nigeria. Environmental issues, national environmental legislation and implementation of international environmental law. Sources of law the constitution acts of parliament subsidiary legislation existing laws all laws existing prior to 1992 constitution common law of ghana i. According to obi ogbalu in his environmental regulation in nigeria, xiv real environmental legislation in nigeria was a product of national emergency. The way forward joseph akinkugbe adelegan department of civil engineering, university of ibadan, ibadan, oyo state, nigeria. Scotland, for instance, has a hybrid form of law, as does. Community protests, civil disobedience, picketing, have been. Environmental pollution, types, causes, impact and management. As a federation, there are numerous sources of environmental law including the constitution,22 international treaties, state laws, local government laws, and common law.
An act to establish the federal environmental protection agency with its functions and the powers for the effective implementation of such functions. Environmental laws, enforcement and effect on nigerian businesses. Get free research paper on environmental pollution in nigeria. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental legal principles, focus on the management of specific natural resources, such as forests, minerals, or fisheries. By this expression is understood the authority from which the laws derive their force. Thus the formative years of institutional environmental regulation in nigeria could. Environmental policies and strategies in nigeria oil and gas. This is approved for students in accountancy, business, computer science, economics, engineering, arts. Environmental policy and its enforcement in nigeria 1. These places from which the law is derived are aptly described as the sources of law. Federal environmental protection agency act 1988 no. Chapter 1 law and its sources introduction man is by nature a social being.
These sources shall be more closely examined in part iii. Pdf water resources use, abuse and regulation in nigeria. The paper examines how environmental law and other relevant sources of law endeavoured to tackle noise pollution in the country. The purpose of environmental law is to protect the environment and create rules for how people can use natural resources. Petroleum industry in nigeria environmental issues, national environmental legislation and implementation of international environmental law. Environment law in nigeria energy and natural resources. However, events of the last decade on the socialpolitical terrain of the country is a pointer to the fact that environmental pollution a fairly. Environmental policy and its enforcement in nigeria. The federal laws that affect social activity performed each day in environmental law and regulation are environmental impact assessment and.
The case for a global environmental court of justice all the more challenging because there is hardly any viable means of conflict resolution. Water resources use, abuse and regulation in nigeria. Moreover, this gain helps to enforce the environmental standards as well as the liability and compensation mechanism that is in need of, for further development and better integration with this principle. The environment provides the required resources necessary for the actualization of individual potential. Examining environmental policies and laws in nigeria. The basis of environmental policy in nigeria is contained in the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of nigeria. Development of environmental law in nigeria 6 environmental law in nigeria is that branch of public law, which contains rules and regulations, which have as their object or effect the protection of the environment.
Ghana legal system an overview sturm college of law. What is the source of environmental laws in nigeria answers. Environmental pollution occurs when any material, organism or substance is introduced into the environment especially by the direct and indirect action of man, in more than its natural concentration which has detrimental effect on it and every other thing therein. Coker department of civil engineering university of ibadan ibadan environment according to federal environmental protection agency fepa act of 1990, under. It is the pillar upon which the nigerian legal system rests. Environmental law is the collection of laws, regulations, agreements and common law that governs how humans interact with their environment. Nigerian legislation is the most important source of law because it is through nigerian legislation that other sources of law are validated into the nigerian jurisdiction. In civil law systems, the sources of law include the legal codes, such as the civil code or the criminal code, and custom.
This is the most important of the sources of nigerian law. Where a project for which an environmental assessment is not required under section 15 of this decree is to be carried out in nigeria and the agency or the president, commander in chief of the armed forces is of the opinion that the project is likely to cause serious adverse environmental effect on federal lands or on lands in respect of which a state or local government has interests, the. The chapter, therefore, explores the lawmaking processes listed in article 38 in turn, and then moves on to consider newer processes. Developmental stages of environmental lawsregulatory frameworks and policiesstrategies in nigeria the development and evolution of environmental lawsregulatory frame works and by extension policiesstrate gies in nigeria with reference to the oil and gas industry can be divided into three major generations. In order to know what comprises the law, you have to derive it from various places. Apr 18, 2012 what is the source of environmental laws in nigeria. Another defence under the law is that the breach of the environmental law or any permit given. This is because of its ecological and political history, its exceptional diversity of species and ecosystems and its current economic and. The history of environmental policy and pollution of water. These contacts or associations are the inevitable consequence of modern civilization.
Under nigerian law, environmental law includes all the sources of nigerian law that impact the environment. Gas flaring has been associated with many socioeconomic, political and health implication in. Environmental policy and sustainable development in nigeria it should be noted that the achievement of individual potential through the state is a function of the carrying capacity of the earth environment. In nigeria, there is virtually little or no official data relating to the harmful effects of toxic wastes on the environment. This offence is punishable with a fine not exceeding n100, 000 one hundred thousand naira and in the case of a. He explained further, the development of environmental regulation was greatly aided in the late 1980s by the kook incident that occurred in the country. Sources of the law legal definition of sources of the law.
Rethinking environmental law enforcement in nigeria. Environmental and natural resource concerns rank highly in both continental and national priorities in africa. Environmental pollution control law section 12 of this law under the laws of lagos state makes it an offence to cause or permit a discharge of raw untreated human waste into any public drain, water course or onto any land or water. Nature and sources of nigerian legal system nigeria became a federation in 1954 with the introduction of a federal constitution by the nigerian constitution. The history of environmental policy and pollution of water sources in nigeria 19602004.