Abstract
Nigeria as a country is blessed with an abundance of both human and natural resources. Exploitation of natural resources in Nigeria over the years with little or no regard for the environment has increased susceptibility of parts of the country to identified geohazards. A suite of environmental laws exist in Nigeria, all these aimed at protecting both the environment and its inhabitants. The aim of this paper is to review existing environmental laws in Nigeria, and occurrence of identified geohazards as a result of absence or non-implementation of these laws. Data for this study were obtained primarily from secondary sources. They are published government reports, journal articles, books, as well as other resources on the environment of Nigeria. Results show that Nigeria as a country has suitable existing and well-meaning environmental laws. The country also has many agencies charged with the responsibilities of implementing these environmental laws and policies. However, the non-implementation and non-existence of identified environmental laws and policies has increased both exposure and vulnerability of parts of the country to geohazards. The effects of these include; loss of means of livelihood, environmental degradation leading to Badlands in parts of the country, as well as death in extreme cases. It is recommended in this paper that adherence to existing environmental laws and policies as a panacea to mitigating identified geohzards is important. It is further recommended that amendment of already existing environmental laws to capture contemporary realities be made. This paper concluded by calling for more investment in the use of remote sensing and GIS tools such as LiDAR technology in the study of geohazards.
Highlights
It is often said that the environment can exist without humans but humans can barely exist without the environment
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND REGULATIONS IN NIGERIA. Environmental policies are those guidelines, laws, and regulations governing the relationship between humans and the environment
Due to the environmental degradation often associated with oil spillage, scientists have studied their effects on almost all branches of life. [41] adopted the twin tools of GIS and Remote Sensing in an assessment of the physical impact of oil spillage in Jesse Town of Delta State. They found that oil spillage was increasing unabated in the study area. With this increase in the occurrence of oil spillage comes a commensurate increase in the degradation of agricultural lands thereby turning hitherto productive areas into waste lands. [39] documented health hazards accruing from oil spillage
Summary
It is often said that the environment can exist without humans but humans can barely exist without the environment. A set of environmental laws and policies aimed at protecting the environment and its inhabitants exist in Nigeria They include: the national policy on environment, the national forest policy, the national drought and desertification policy, national policy guidelines on solid waste management, national environmental (mining and processing of coal, ores and industrial minerals) regulations, and national environmental (soil erosion and flood control) regulations among others. Damage to the environment is usually seen as an unavoidable consequence of maintaining national development [2] This condition has led to near-total neglect of environmental laws in Nigeria at the pursuit of wealth and many parts of the country bear the brunt of this neglect as evidenced in their susceptibility to a variety of geohazards. This is important for it is likely that exposure and vulnerability to identified geohazards would be reduced were there implementation of stipulated laws and regulations protecting the environment and its inhabitants
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
