Sustainable Development and the Exploitation of Bitumen in Nigeria: Assessing the Environmental Laws Faultlines

A major target or the attainment of sustainable development is the maintenance of a healthy environment within the dynamics of natural resource development. In order to achieve this target, mechanisms are put in place to ensure that prior to and during the developmental process of the resource, the environment is reasonably spared of the consequences the invasive exploitation activities. This makes it important for states to put in place laws and regulations that would guarantee the attainment of sustainable development in the natural resources section of its economy. Bitumen is one of the natural resources Nigeria has commenced commercial development in order to diversify its economy from a largely oil dependent one. Study has shown that bitumen, if not carefully monitored, has a potentially more devastating environmental footprint than petroleum. This paper therefore examines two environmental statutes in Nigeria viz the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act and the National Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) Act, with the aim of ascertaining if their provisions are expansive enough to take care of bitumen’s processing requirements prior to and during development. The paper finds that these laws, in relation to bitumen development, have serious lacuna that could endanger the attainment of sustainable development in the Nigerian bitumen sector.