JAN15

Environmental laws

There is no gain saying that our environment has been devastated due to man’s activities. To continue in this stead would be catastrophic hence the law as a means of social change and social engineering would be used to checkmate the activities of man on the environment. Laws as a body of rules to guide the activities of man cannot be effective unless prescribed by an authority and sanctions for its breach stipulated. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) Act enacted to protect the Nigerian environment are general laws and no specific sanctions provided for the breach of each provision; furthermore the international laws and treaties adopted and ratified by Nigeria have vague enforcement procedure. In this wise, this article advocates that not only should laws be enacted to protect the three (3) environmental media but appropriate sanctions recommended for specific breach and an effective implementation process/strategies established to ensure the laws enacted are adhered to, if our environment will be optimally utilized and same preserved for posterity.

Upon creation of the world, man was admonished by God to conquer it and since then, man has left no stone unturned in this quest to conquer the world. Man is totally dependent on the environment for his daily needs such as food, shelter and clothing and it is in the bid to acquire these basic needs that he has dealt adversely with the environment. Section 38 of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) Act defined the environment as including water, air, land and all plants and animals living therein and their interrelationship which exist among these or any of them.

Man’s intrusion into this complex web called environment has had devastating effects. The environment is the source of the energy and materials which mankind transforms into goods and services to meet his needs. It also acts as a vast sink for the wastes and polluting substances he generates. This increasing hostile and unhealthy environment is causing the dislocation, depletion and extinction of species of plants and animals. To maintain the environment at a life sustaining level with attendant economic development and also have a reserve for the future, the concept of sustainable development was initiated by the Brundtland Commission. Sustainable Development is defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. This principle aims at reconciling the apparent conflicts between environmental protection; economic development and the quality of life. It’s relevance at the global, national and local levels are its value for setting the context for policy development and environmental laws.

Today, human activities and the demand for economic growth and development have negatively affected the environment thereby causing land degradation, water pollution, air pollution, slums in the cities as a result of urbanization, utter neglect and disregard for the protection of the immediate environment, much more the future environment.

In addressing the problems of economic growth, the developed countries have adopted legal strategies that attempt to meet the competing demands of urbanization, pollution and the protection of the environment. The question confronting sustainable development is whether non-renewable natural assets should be put in jeopardy by economic growth? It has been suggested that where natural assets are in jeopardy, economic growth should be prohibited to protect the environment. This suggestion could hold sway in developed countries but not in developing countries like Nigeria where economic development is sine qua non to human existence. Rather than prohibit economic development, laws protecting the environment should be enacted and existing ones reinvigorated, and compliance ensured to achieve environmental sustainability.

Prior to June 1988, Nigeria responded to most environmental problems on an ad hoc basis. Although the Nigerian Criminal Code contained some provlSlons in the with respect to certain environmental infringements, such as the pollution of water sources, the burial of corpses within a hundred yards of residential home, and the sale, possession or manufacture of matches with white phosphorus, the code lacked any concrete national legislation dealing specifically with the ever-increasing pollution caused specifically by hazardous waste. Environmental legislative provisions in existence at the time were enacted in direct response to problems associated with the newly industrializing economy and the discovery and processing of oil.
The discovery of toxic waste dumped in Koko, at remote part of southern Nigeria, in June 1988, and the attendant media and public outcry prompted the government to react swiftly. Through diplomatic channels, the Nigerian government succeeded in getting the Italian government and the Italian company·that was the culprit to lift the toxic waste out of the country. The Nigerian government followed this action by organizing an international workshop on the environment. The result was the formulation of a national policy on the environment. Consequently, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency 1988 (FEPA) was created and charged with the administration and enforcement of the environmental law. In addition, the government enacted the Harmful Waste (Special Criminal Provisions) Act, 1988, to deal specifically with illegal dumping of harmful waste.