ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IN NIGERIA ISSUES: CHALLENGES AND CONTROL

 ABSTRACT

The paper set out to examine the issue of environmental pollution and its attendant consequences on the Nigerian society. In doing so, the paper has on the basis of personal observation and secondary sources examined the effects of environmental pollution in Nigeria. The findings show that environmental problems in Nigeria generally are many, diverse in nature, and are caused by man’s interaction with nature (environment) for exploits in a number of ways-both in the cities; where industrial activities predominate, and rural areas; where agriculture thrives. The paper posits that man utilizes air for survival, harnesses land and water resources for domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural and other purposes. Through these activities; man directly and/or indirectly create problems which are detrimental to his health/survival, well being, natural existence and stability. The paper observes that these problems are a consequence of environmental pollution which also degenerates into environmental degradation and several other hazards such as widespread epidemics, depletion of natural habitats, and thus; impede the socio-economic development of Nigeria as a nation. The paper recommends awareness creation and change in attitudes for effective environmental and resources management strategies as a way forward.

INTRODUCTION

It has been observed in recent times that the role the environment play to a nation‟s development process cannot be relegated to the background. Apart from being the physical surrounding for natural habitats, the environment provide the basis for human exploits for agricultural, industrial, commercial, technological and tourism development of a society. For this and several other reasons, environmental issues now occupy a centre stage in academic discourse and other public fora both at the national and international levels. Recorded evidence has also shown that the environment represents a wide range of the external circumstances, conditions and the things that affect the existence and development of an individual, organism, group (Isaichei 1999) and/or society.

In Nigeria for instance, environmental issues did not gain official prominence until the 1988 Koko toxic waste dumping saga which also brought to the fore the exigent need to establish the Nigeria Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), Federal Ministry of Environment and other relevant agencies, ostensibly to tackle environmentally related issues, in the country. These include issues such as environmental pollution, sanitation, depletion of ozone layer, desertification, flooding, erosion, poverty, bush burning, deforestation, soil conservation etc. All these mentioned above are a pointer to the fact that issues of environment and infact environmental pollution which forms the basis of this paper has taken a centre stage in the nation‟s (Nigeria‟s) development process.

Environmentally minded scholars: Ocheri (2003:174), Gbehe (2004), and Aja (2005:114) have associated environmental pollution with human activities and albeit persistent human interaction with the environment. Research has also shown that as the population of a country grows/increases with attendant pressure on the environment especially in the wake of improved technologies, environmental abuse and pollution is nevertheless heightened with corresponding effects on lives of people and other living organisms, (Ocheri, 2003: 175 and Hausers, 1971). It has been observed further that man through industrial, agricultural and the ever increasing urbanization process, security and terrorist activities tend to directly and/or indirectly pollute the environment. Jande (2005) and Aja (2005:114) in their separate observations, also in tandem with the foregoing agree that unrestricted use of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and indiscriminate dumping of refuse, excreta and animal dung as well as spillages from refineries, large scale bush burning etc are perceived as some of the leading factors of environmental pollution in Nigeria. Structurally therefore, the paper is divided into sections. Following this section (introduction) is section 2, and it dwells on conceptual clarification of environmental pollution. Section 3 discusses the theoretical framework, section 4 is environmental pollution in Nigeria and its attendant consequences on humans life, organisms and the country Nigeria, and section 5 is the need for awareness creation for sustainable development.

CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION

Environment: There have been different definitions of the concept of „environment‟ proferred by different scholars and organized bodies/agencies. However, from whatever angle one perceives the term; „environment‟, it simply depicts what surrounds us. To Hagget (1975), cited in Anijah – Obi (2001), environment refers to the “sum total of all conditions that surround man at any point in time on the earths surface”. According to Miller (1975), the term „environment‟ could be perceived as “the aggregate of external conditions that influence the life of an individual or population, specifically the life of man and other living organisms on the earth‟s surface”. The Federal Environmental protection Agency (FEPA) Act of 1990, under section 38 also gave a very lucid definition of environment, thus;

Environment includes water, air, land and all plants and human beings and/or animals living there in and the inter-relationships which exist among these or any of them.

From the above definitions, the term „environment‟ comprises land, air, water and all the physical structures surrounding us. In this paper therefore, the concept „environment‟ refers to the „totality of space, time and socio-cultural settings of man and other living organisms therein.

Pollution: the term pollution is a derivation of the word pollute-which means, to make something dirty or no longer pure, especially by adding harmful or unpleasant substances to it.

In another development; the committee on pollution of the United States National Research Council (1965) defined pollution as;

an undesirable change in physical, chemical or biological characteristics of our air, land and water that may or will harmfully affect human life or that of other desirable species, our industrial processes, living conditions cultural assets that may or will waste or deteriorate our raw material resources.

Pollution according to the above definition is a disorder within an environment and is a by-product of energy conversion and the use of resources. Ekuri and Eze (1999) accordingly, defined pollution as “a contamination, a defilement, mischief, perturbation and reduction in the value of an object or thing”. Relatedly, Jande (2005:4) describes the term – Pollution‟ to mean “to make something dirty or no longer pure, especially by adding harmful or unpleasant substances to it”. In this paper therefore, the concept, “Pollution‟ is used to refer to a situation where waste-materials and/or harmful substances which can deplete, wear/tear away and affect the entire environment and cause disorderliness to all living organisms.

CONSEQUENCES OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IN NIGERIA

Environmental pollution is a challenge in most developed societies of the world; contemporary societies of Africa and Nigeria in particular also grapple with and or/tackle this menace in recent times. Our analysis of the negative impact of environmental pollution in contemporary Nigeria society would focus specifically on; agricultural and Hunting activities of the agrarian people, industrial activities of the urban based, Noise pollution, Housing, conflict and warfare.

AGRICULTURAL AND HUNTING ACTIVITIES

The agricultural and hunting activities of farmers in Nigeria have far reaching effects on the environment and human health. The farmers do this by altering the lithospheric and atmospheric pathways of the hydrologic cycle, thus impacting negatively on the air, soil and water substances mostly used by man/biodiversity. Empirical evidence has shown that primitive farmers use fire to clear parcels of farm land, modify the soil by ploughing, alter the drainage by irrigation and introduce or breed new animals and crops. These activities no doubt alter the natural vegetation of the environment. Kelvin and Lewis (1994) posit that “in recent times, humans have destroyed enormous tracts of natural vegetation, excavated large areas of land, greatly modified the landscape, and even created new lands. The economic importance of vegetation to mankind can not be under estimated.

INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES

Just as Gbehe (2004) pointed out, the causes of most environmental challenges take their origins in the developmental process or in its failure and inadequacies. As human societies continue to change from traditionalism to modernism with rapid technological advancement and increasing industrial production to satisfy growing human needs and comforts to improve civilization, new life styles and increased production activities have created unexpected industrial pollution.

The environment is highly polluted in the process of execution, processing and disposal of minerals. Mining is a process which involves the selective recovery of specific minerals from the earth crust for the benefit of mankind. Two basic methods are used.

NOISE POLLUTION

Noise pollution can best be described as unwanted sound caused by human activities in our societies. Simply put; noise could be any loud sound. It becomes a pollutant when it is unpleasant, and could be disturbing to humans and the public. In contemporary times, industrial activities of people in construction industries, recording studios, air and sea ports, transportation firms, in towns and cities specifically-Makurdi, Jos, Kaduna, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Benin, Ibadan etc have not just caused noise pollution but have worsened the bad case of the already polluted environment in affected areas.

HOUSING

Housing is one of the basic needs of humans. Like food and clothing, housing is a basic human requirement, (Onokerhoraye & Omuta, 1994). These scholars have accordingly, stated that the provision of good housing not only have profound influence on the health, efficiency and well being of members of a community and/or society but the entire community and society at large. It has been observed therefore that unplanned housing projects with inadequate sewage system constitute a major source of water pollution in Nigeria, especially in urban environments. Emphasis is on urban areas because, urban centres have a greater concentration of people in one area. Gbehe (2004:6), citing Inyang (1978) stated that “the greater the concentration of people, the greater the amount of pollution; and the greater the sophistication of a society the more intricate and poignant its pollution”.

CONFLICTS, WARS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

War and conflict, impact negatively on the environment because they both cause a lot of destruction to lives and property. The production of goods and services is usually thwarted in situations of war and conflict. It also disrupt peace and security which are the basic components of democracy and good governance (Tyav, 2012). Moreover in localities where the environment is highly polluted as a result of industrial waste, pollution and the emition of gases into the air, the dumping of drilling muds/laterilitic sand and oil soaked waste etc farm land/the soil is equally polluted and thus, become a scarce commodity especially in agrarian societies where farming activities predominate.

SOLUTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION IN NIGERIA

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS

 To solve the problem of undue controversies between the three tiers of government, an amendment to the contentious item 1(b) to the 4^th schedule of the 1999 constitution is advocated so that local government councils hands off from environmental management. The reason is that environmental management entails experts from various related disciplines which the local government with their lean resources cannot recruit and remunerate adequately The Law Reform Commission and Federal Ministry of Justice in conjunction with the States, environmental NGOs and interested groups and companies should develop an integrated, co-ordinated and comprehensive legislation on the environment, removing rivalries, bureaucratic bottlenecks and areas of overlapping, duplication and confusion. The office of the Minister of Environment should be kept away from politicians. It should not be seen as a way to compensate political allies. The Minister of Environment must be an industry expert with sound background in environmental protection and management. Emphasis is placed on an industry expert as he will be able to block all the loopholes which industries exploit to pollute the environment.

SPEEDY PASSAGE OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY BILL

The passage of the petroleum industry bill will bring sanity to the petroleum industry in the area of environmental protection. Oil companies in Nigeria will be compelled to abide by world environmental standards as they carry out their business.. Also, the Nigerian government should also impress upon oil companies to become very responsive when spills occur to restore the pipes.

LIBERALIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Environmental protection should be liberalized by the courts to enable private individual participation in the enforcement of environmental protection legislation. Hortatory provisions should be expunged from Nigerian environmental legislation and operators should be made accountable for any pollution caused by their operations. Apart from cleanup operations, they should pay adequate compensation to all Those affected by their operations. As a first remedial measure, a purely penal approach should be adopted to control environmental degradation presently experienced in the Nigerian environment caused by oil operators. A

Case in point is the BP oil spill in which the American government mandated the polluter, British Petroleum, to clean up the entire spill.

COOPERATION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE LOCALS

Cooperation among the government, operators and the inhabitants can reduce or prevent the problems of sabotage of oil producing communities. The government should be willing to share a reasonable percentage of oil revenue with the people in oil producing areas. This may take the form of essential social services, such as potable water, electricity, schools and hospitals. The oil operators should also employ skilled and unskilled workers from these areas and make prompt payment of compensation to affected people. Oil companies should provide the public, especially in oil producing areas with proper training materials, seminars/workshops, public enlightenment programs and other expert services for abating and controlling oil spills and other environmental problems associated with the industry

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

norms established by the capitalist educational system and society at large. Nevertheless, in dependent capitalist societies such as Nigeria, creating environmental awareness to the teeming rural based population with low literacy levels is the best option to curbing problems of environmental pollution. This will be achieved by mounting and organizing workshops, conferences, seminars etc to educate the public on how to manage, and improve on the relationship between human society and the environment in an integrated and sustainable manner. Emphasis should be laid on why we need to sustain the environment. Pointing out too that human existence is predicated and as well, supported by the environment. It is a two way approach, as we fail to sustain the environment, the environment too will not sustain us.

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