EZEMA, UCHENNA PHILIP (2026) ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IN NIGERIA: OVERVIEW OF EXTANT LAWS AND REGULATIONS. Other thesis, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu.
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Abstract
This study looks at the laws and regulations guiding environmental pollution in Nigeria and how these regulatory frameworks aim to tackle the issue of environmental pollution in Nigeria. Environmental pollution represents one of the most pressing governance challenges confronting Nigeria. Despite possessing a relatively developed statutory architecture including the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (Establishment) Act 2007, the Environmental Impact Assessment Act 1992, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency Act 2006, the Harmful Waste (Special Criminal Provisions) Act, and the Petroleum Industry Act 2021. Nigeria continues to grapple with pervasive pollution of its air, water, land, and marine environments, most acutely in the oil-producing communities of the Niger Delta. This study undertakes a critical examination of the regulatory frameworks for the prevention of environmental pollution in Nigeria, with a view to identifying their structural deficiencies and proposing targeted reforms. The aim and objectives of this study are tocriticise the existing regulatory frameworks for the prevention of environmental pollution in Nigeria, identify the possible reforms necessary to the regulatory frameworks guiding environmental pollution in Nigeria and identify the forms and effects of environmental pollution in Nigeria. The study uses the doctrinal research methodology to examine the relevant primary legal sources including statutes, laws and other regulations guiding environmental pollution. The findings of this study reveal gaps in the regulatory frameworks guiding environmental pollution in Nigeria and also a lacuna in the institutional frameworks too and also that strengthening environmental governance in Nigeria requires legal and institutional reforms aimed at enhancing enforcement mechanisms, increasing the operational capacity of regulatory agencies, imposing stricter sanctions on offenders, improving judicial responsiveness, and promoting greater public participation in environmental protection.The study concludes that Nigeria’s environmental regulatory crisis is not a product of legislative inadequacy but of a systemic failure of implementation, institutional integrity, and political will, and that addressing this crisis is essential to the realisation of sustainable development, the protection of fundamental human rights, and the long-term resilience of the Nigerian environment for present and future generations.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Other) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | K Law > K Law (General) |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Law |
| Depositing User: | COMFORT AJALA |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Jul 2026 13:38 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Jul 2026 14:25 |
| URI: | http://eprints.gouni.edu.ng/id/eprint/5987 |
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