Long-term Solutions To Three Major Environmental Threats To The

Future Generation in Nigeria

1. INTRODUCTION
Nigeria is the largest country in Africa and it is home to 200 million people. The
world population review has predicted that Nigeria will be over 400 million by the
year 2050, which means that the country twice her current population in just two
decades. This insight can only be a pointer to one thing, that policy decisions
made today will have consequential effects on the coming future generation on a
larger scale.
Environmental issues have become a matter of global concern in recent years,
while the world seems to be maintaining a united front in tackling this challenge,
it could be said that Nations are faced with specific threats that are peculiar to the
developmental level of their economy.

This work will therefore consider three specific environmental threats to the future
generations in Nigeria, policies, and regulations that may be put in place to
mitigate the effect of these threats on the coming generation, and also some
recommendations for the actualization of a sustainable environment.

2. IDENTIFICATION OF THREATS

2.1 Deforestation:

Rapid population growth and urbanization are major concerns for city
sustainability; the more people there are on the planet, the greater the impact on
the environment and society. (Ogunwale., 2015) Because of this, there is the
observed and aggressive use of land resources partly due to ignorance and lack
of education but more fundamentally, the growing spate of overpopulation and
uncontrolled greed that exists among people account for the major cause of
 deforestation in Nigeria. The poor and illiterate are frequently more interested in
issues concerning their daily survival than in environmental management; this lack
of interest and awareness frequently leads to more reckless environmental
behavior, which breeds more environmental problems and leads to a vicious cycle
of poverty. (Adebayo (2010)

Charcoal is widely used by a huge portion of the country's population for

preparing food and other purposes, which makes it a major threat to forest
reserves. Forest covers approximately 31 percent of the world's land surface,
while in Nigeria it has gradually declined from 16.6 percent in 1996 to 7.7 percent
in 2015. (Emeodilichi., 2018) Deforestation emits nearly a billion tons of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere each year, according to the 2010 Global Forest
Resource Assessment, though the figures are lower than those recorded in the
previous decade. Climate change is caused by the release of carbon, which
results in extreme weather conditions such as droughts, floods, and heat.
(Emeodilichi supra) Environmental impacts result in the loss of bio-diversity, the
putting at risk of life forms, and the constant forest destruction of forest reserves
intended to protect the surrounding area and serve as a shield against the direct
impact of downpours of rain, high temperatures, and wind, which will result in
erosion, flood, and other environmental instability.

2.2 Oil Production Impacts:

Oil is an integral part of Nigeria’s economy. According to the world bank, Oil alone
makes up for 40% of the nation's exports, 70% of government revenue, and 95%
of exchange earnings. Nigeria is far more reliant on petroleum than many other
manufacturing countries. The Niger Delta is made up of diverse ecosystems such
as mangrove swamps, freshwater swamps, and rain forests, and it is Africa's
largest wetland and one of the world's ten most important wetland and marine
ecosystems. However, due to oil pollution, the area is now characterized by
 contaminated streams and rivers, illegal logging, and ecological imbalance, and it
is an ecological ruin in general. (Kadafa, Adati Ayuba., 2012)

Since 1971, Nigeria has been a member of the Organization of Petroleum

Exporting Countries (OPEC). It has the largest natural gas reserve in Africa, the
second-largest oil reserve in Africa, and is the primary oil producer on the African
continent. Oil revenue provided 90% of Nigeria's foreign exchange earnings and
85% of government revenue in the 1980s (Odeyemi and Ogunseitan 1985), with
estimated reserves lasting 20-decade (NNPC, 1984).

Clearly, with such a massive investment in the oil and gas sector, the dangers of
impact on the environment can not be over-emphasized. According to the US DOE
(Twumasi and Merem 2006), there have been 4,000 oil spills in the Niger Delta
region since 1960. Mangrove trees have been lost as a result of their inability to
withstand the high toxicity levels of the petrochemicals spilled into the habitat. The
spills have also had a negative impact on the contaminated marine habitat. The
consumption of contaminated seafood poses a significant risk to human health.

2.3 Land and Water Pollution:

In Nigeria, waste disposal and management pose serious environmental challenges.

Landfilling, dumpsites, land spreads, water disposal, and incineration are the most
common waste disposal methods in the country. (Olanike., 2003) While humans rely
on their surroundings for the resources they require for survival, human exploitation
of these resources causes environmental degradation.

Pollution remains the most serious threat to endemic cichlids, the fish fauna as a
whole, and the aquatic system as a whole. Domestic waste, industrial pollution, and
agricultural run-off have been identified as the primary causes of water pollution in
Nigeria (FEPA, 1991).
 On land pollution, Nigeria generates approximately 32 million tonnes of waste per
year, 2.5 million metric tonnes of which is plastic. The country's disposal, recycling,
and waste management system is extremely inefficient, with 70% of plastic and non-
plastic waste ending up in landfills, sewers, beaches, and bodies of water. (Nwafor.,
2021)

3. Mitigating These Crises:

3.1
Deforestation: The crisis of deforestation can be mitigated by the imposition of
sanctions on the person who engages in tree logging without lawful permission. Also,
the government must encourage what has been called “Green Growth”.

Green growth originated in the Asia and Pacific regions in 2005, at a conference held
in Seol, where it was decided that there is a need to transition from the then-current
economic growth path to a sustainable green growth path with the overall goal of
reducing poverty and environmental sustainability. It began as a regional policy in
2005, but it later gained global attention, particularly among developing countries,
with assistance from several international organizations such as the World Bank,
UNESCAP, and the OECD 2012. (Omilola, 2014)

Indeed, adequate green growth adoption can be activated by ensuring the required
level of efficiency and effectiveness in these African countries and removing
bottlenecks to proper green growth product or technology diffusion.

Laws and Policies:

The Nigerian government has implemented strategies to combat the alarming rate of
deforestation in the country, such as the national forest plans of 1988 and 2006. The
National Parks Service (NPS) was also given paramilitary status by the federal
government to help it fight poaching and trespassing. Many of these policies,
however, have been a resounding failure.9 (Khalid., 2022)
 That is why, in 2021, Nigeria launched the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation (REDD+) strategy to address the country's deforestation
problem, with support from the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, the
United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation (UN-REDD), and technical assistance from other organizations such as
the FAO; the United Nations Development Programme; and the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP). The approach aims to mitigate climate change by
ending forest destruction and supporting sustainable forest management.

With the Nigerian government's goal at COP26 to eradicate deforestation by 2030,

it's more important than ever to evaluate strategies that have proven to be effective in
combating deforestation.

3.2
Oil Production Impacts: Although definitions vary, (Selznick, 1985) defined
regulation broadly as a sustained and focused control exercised by a public agency
over activities valued by a community. The safety and environmental regulation of
the oil sector, also known as the downstream sector, is examined in this context.
The federal government's active involvement in oil industry operations, whether
through equity participation or outright ownership, including downstream, means that
the federal government is also potentially a polluter. It is suggested that the
government should radically privatize the downstream sector. If this is done, it will be
on a much more reasonable moral plain to ensure environmental compliance for
private investors.

Laws and Policies:

The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Act, the Oil Pipelines Act, the
Petroleum Act, which is about to be amended by the Petroleum Industry Bill, the Oil
 Navigation Act, the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, and the Freedom of
Information Act is the most relevant laws enacted by the Nigerian parliament in
relation to this piece of work. (Noah 2019) The National Oil Spill Detection and
Response Act allow the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency—-an
established agency under the Act—-' to prevent, regulate, combat, and alleviate
maritime pollution,' according to Section 7(d). Polluters who refuse to report oil spill
occurrences face penalties under the National Oil Spills Detection and Response
Act, while those who refuse to clean up spills face penalties as well.

Further, according to Section 17(4) of the Oil Pipeline Act, an operator who is
granted a pipeline operating license is obligated to prevent contamination of land
and water. The Oil Navigation Act was primarily established to reduce marine
pollution. Section 1 of the Act expressly forbids crude oil pollution of the environment
and makes a vessel owner who discharges crude oil into the waterways and banned
areas of the sea criminally liable. Fines are imposed if provisions of the Oil
Navigation Act are not followed.

The Environmental Impact Assessment Act stipulates that projects involving pipes
with a length of more than 50 kilometers must be approved by the authority in
charge of environmental impact assessment. In order to protect the environment, the
Freedom of Information Act requires public institutions to make information available
to the public. This contains oil pollution data, which will allow the general public,
particularly individuals who may be harmed by oil operations, to file a lawsuit in court
to safeguard the environment. (Act)

3.3
Land And Water Pollution: To reduce water and land pollution, the government
must ensure the enforcement of applicable environmental laws. Non-enforcement of
laws has for long been a failure that is a part of Nigeria’s political system. The
 reasons are not disconnected from the perennial struggle from the shackles of
corruption a factor that is typical of many African countries.

Laws and Policies:

The signing of the Convention was one of the important accomplishments of Nigeria's
participation in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED). As a result, Nigeria accepts the treaty's responsibilities in conformity with
customary international law. The Nigerian constitution establishes essential
environmental protection protections and explicitly specifies key environmental
elements (3). Section 20 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria's constitution outlines the
country's environmental goals, which include "protecting and improving the
environment and safeguarding the water, air, land, forest, and wildlife." (CFRN.,
1999)
Nigeria has enacted a variety of laws to safeguard its natural resources, including the
Forestry Ordinance, the National Parks Decree, the Federal Environmental Impact
Assessment Decree, and the Environmental Impact Assessment, among others.

4. Recommendations
Table 1

Threat Solution Responsibilit Resources

y

Deforestation Green Growth Government & Financial

Policies Private Parastatals Resources and
Human Capital
Investments

Oil Production Privatization of the Government and Domestic/

 Impacts oil and gas sector Private Investors/ homegrown
parliamentary Investments
oversights

Land and Water Implementation of Collective efforts of Human Capital,

Pollution existing laws and various Financial resources
policies. government
agencies and the
citizenry

Conclusion

Finally, we have looked at three major threats facing the environment in Nigeria which
will most certainly have adverse effects on the coming generation if measures are not
taken. We have also looked into some mitigating tactics that may be adopted to stem
the tide, and finally, we have made a clear and concise recommendation for this effort.

If these cues are taken into consideration in the fight against these three imminent
environmental threats, we would have saved the future generation from the anguish
that can only come from our indifference.

Table of References:
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of Social and Economic Research (NISER) lbadan, Nigeria
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Mba, Department of Geography, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria
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Dr. Kadafa, Adati Ayuba Volume 12 Issue 3 Global Journal of Science Frontier Research
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Opportunities. United Nations Development Programme, Pretoria.
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