A Critical Policy Review on Environmental Protection in Nigeria

Abstract

The environment is as important as human life because it is the environment that shelters the earth and enables life to exist with essential elements and compounds like nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapour etc. On this note, it becomes essential for human beings to, as a matter of necessity properly manage the environment for life sustenance. In Nigeria, there are several policies of government to protect environment to safeguard human survival. These policies deserve review and assessment to see their effectiveness on the protection of the environment. To properly take off, the study adopts secondary source of data using published and unpublished relevant materials.  The study adopts the theory of Environmentally Responsible Behaviour (ERB) as a theoretical framework which serves as a foundation upon which the discussions of this study are based. The study deduced that human activities on the environment earnestly change the face of the earth, the nature of its atmosphere, and the quality of land, water, air, forest, etc. Many of the environmental policies in Nigeria are outdated and many fragmented. Many of them were not formulated with contributions from informed masses nor based on nationally generated baseline data. Participation of the people in policy formulation and implementation is lacking. The paper identifies challenges confronting the management of environment in Nigeria and policy options are provided.