Achieving environmental sustainability in Nigeria’s extractive industry : how viable is a human rights approach to environmental protection?

Maduekwe, Nkiruka Ugwuji Chidia

Abstract

The Nigerian extractive industry illustrates the tension between economic development on the one hand and environmental sustainability on the other. As of 2017, the Central Bank of Nigeria Annual Report indicates that oil revenue constituted 56.2% of federal funds compared with 43.8% from non-oil receipts. Despite this immense contribution to economic development, the activities of the Nigerian extractive industry entities have led to the non-maintenance of the environmental sink, drastically compromising its ability to absorb future waste emissions. The 2011 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report states that remediation might take 25-30 years. This incessant environmental degradation and pollution has resulted in the loss of life, livelihood, destruction of flora and fauna, and is identified as one of the causes of the Niger Delta conflict.
This research investigates whether the approach of using human rights to protect the environment provides a viable mechanism to ensure environmental sustainability in the Nigerian extractive industry. HRAEP concept within the Nigerian context is defined as the Nigerian citizens’ right to a clean, safe and secure, healthy environment. The study finds that the enforcement of this right might provide an adequate mechanism to maintain or restore the qualities of the abiotic components by preventing the emission of pollution or reducing the presence of polluting substances in the environmental media. Thus, this enforcement might influence the maintenance of the environmental sink by the Nigerian extractive industry entities, thereby, improving the sink’s ability to absorb future waste emissions. Consequently, engineering an environmentally sustainable Nigerian extractive industry.

Citation

Maduekwe, N. U. C. Achieving environmental sustainability in Nigeria’s extractive industry : how viable is a human rights approach to environmental protection?. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4429881

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Nov 1, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 1, 2023
• Keywords: Law; Extractive industry; Environmental protection; Human rights; Artisanal and small-scale mining; Environmental sustainability; Host community; Sustainable development; Petroleum; Sustainability; Solid minerals
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4429881
• Additional Information: Law School; University of Hull
• Award Date: Oct 1, 2018