Appraisal of the Legal and Institutional Framework for Sustainable Environmental Management in Nigeria

The legal and institutional framework for sustainable environmental management (SEM) in Nigeria consists of the laws and statutory institutions (agencies) regulating the environment. There are several laws and institutions which seek to protect and sustainably manage the Nigerian environment from degradation, especially, through the activities of the oil and gas companies operating in the country. Oil and gas exploration, extraction, and production in Nigeria, especially, in the Niger Delta region of the country, have caused severe environmental degradation in the region, owing to the legacy of decades of oil spills and gas flaring. Despite the laws and institutions intended to protect and sustainably manage the Nigerian environment, the nation’s environment keeps deteriorating at an alarming rate. The aim of this paper is to appraise the laws and institutions expected to sustainably protect and manage the environment of Nigeria. The paper adopted the doctrinal research methodology and generated its data through local statutes, case laws, policy documents, textbooks, journal articles, seminar papers, manuscripts, newspaper reports, monographs, some unpublished works, and internet websites. The paper carefully examined the principal laws in Nigeria dealing with environmental protection and management with a view to reviewing their provisions and the method of environmental protection and management through these laws. Also, the paper examined the principal statutory institutions or agencies regulating the Nigerian environment with a view to achieving national environmental sustainability. The paper found that the laws enacted to protect the Nigerian environment are generally weak on the account of some flaws contained therein. The paper also found that the statutory institutions established to enforced environmental laws are ineffective in their enforcement mandate.