Pollution Resulting From Oil Exploration in the Niger-Delta Region of Nigeria: A Need to Re-Evaluate the Legal Sanctions Contained in Nigerian Environmental Laws
- September 22, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue IX, September 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
Abdulwasi MUSAH1, Adegoke Olusegun Steve2
1Centre for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
2Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract:-Environmental pollution is commonly associated with oil spillage in the Niger-Delta Region of Nigeria. To address the menace posed by pollution resulting from oil exploitation activities, the government has through legislations sought to outlaw acts capable of endangering the environment. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Environmental Impact Assessment Act and Harmful Waste Act (both contained in Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2004) are some of the legislations through which the government seeks to make the Niger-Delta environment pollution free. Sanctions like fines, imprisonments and revocation of licences have been used to discourage oil companies from polluting the environment, yet the problem lingers on. It is therefore the aim of this paper to interrogate the potency of these environmental protection laws most especially the legal sanctions contained therein. It is a fact that the legal sanctions in the petroleum industry were out-dated and ineffective in making polluters comply in Nigeria. The loopholes in the laws have allowed polluters to escape without sanctions. It is also a fact that pollution is prevalent in the Niger-Delta communities and from findings, the regulators usually issued warnings without prosecuting the offenders. The government needs a transformation from making ineffectual laws to making laws that are effective so that any erring environmental polluter would immediately be made to face the music stemming from their misdemeanours and prosecuted accordingly while high fines and imprisonment terms should be imposed where they are found guilty. The Nigerian courts must also rise to the occasion by ensuring that environmental cases are treated with the seriousness they deserve. Justice and not technicality of laws should be the order when adjudicating on cases of environmental pollution.
Keywords: Environmental pollution, Legal sanctions, Oil producing communities, Niger Delta, Nigeria.
