Abstract
This paper examined the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in Nigeria. It argued that although the Constitution of the Federal of Nigeria 1999 as amended, (CFRN) does not explicitly recognise the right to a clean and healthy environment, there are other provisions contained in the CFRN, case law and other statutory instruments that support this right. The article argued that the environmental right is evolving as a human right as legal instruments at both global, regional and domestic levels have begun to recognise and enforce it. The article specifically discussed the United Nations resolutions that recognise the right to a clean and healthy environment as a human right and then narrowed the discussion down to the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 1981 and its domestication in Nigeria. The authors also discussed the impediments to environmental rights in Nigeria and argued that these impediments weaken the efficacy of environmental protection in Nigeria. The paper also drew inspiration from the provisions of the Kenyan Constitution 2010 on substantive and procedural environmental rights and how these measures contribute to environmental jurisprudence in Kenya. It was concluded that the lack of explicit recognition of environmental rights in Nigeria contributes to environmental degradation in the country. It recommended the inclusion of substantive and procedural environmental rights in Chapter IV of the CFRN as well as the establishment of a specialised environmental court for quick and efficient enforcement of environmental rights in Nigeria.
Billion Promise Agunia, Mary Ademiluyi, Ebubechukwu Chukwunonso Okolo
pp. 164 – 171
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