Introduction
The escalating rate of environmental degradation worldwide, particularly in Nigeria, has prompted grave concerns regarding environmental sustainability. Environmental governance in Nigeria has identified international institutions, the government, businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the general public as key actors. Environmental management in Nigeria has been centered on the National Environmental Policy, as well as a plethora of legislation, standards, guidelines, and regulations aimed at conserving natural resources and protecting human health. Consequently, the commitment of key actors to the development, enactment, and enforcement of environmental standards and norms, legislation, and regulations can be used to evaluate environmental governance, environmental policy formulation and implementation, national and local plans and programs development and implementation, establishment and operation of environmental organizations that monitor, execute, and supervise all aspects of the system, and the state’s commitment to environmental protection. The laws, standards, regulations, and administrations that have been put in place to regulate activities that have the potential to harm the environment are all included in what is referred to as the Nigerian environmental policy. Environmental laws have been enacted to address a wide range of environmental pollutants, such as toxic chemicals, noise, and so on; to regulate particular activities, such as mining and power generation, and so on; and to provide general guidelines for the protection of fundamental natural resources, such as air, land, and water. Environmental laws have also been enacted to address specific activities, such as mining and power generation (Eneh & Agbazue, 2011). But the environmental policies in Nigeria cannot handle the scale of the country’s environmental concerns as its challenging to implement them. In this article, the environmental challenges and its policies in Nigeria will be assessed.
Environmental Concerns in Nigeria
The GDP of Nigeria, a developing country with an open market economy, was $460.457 billion in 2017. The amount of GDP that was contributed by net foreign direct investment (FDI) in the same year was approximately 0.93 percent. The higher levels of energy consumption and GDP per capita both lead to an increase in CO2 emissions, which in turn causes environmental degradation. This suggests that increasing the level of economic growth in Nigeria will come at the expense of the social welfare of the country’s citizens. Because of this, the level of the nation’s overall productivity will decrease with time as a direct result of the poor quality of human capital (Ayobamiji & Kalmaz, 2020).
It is a common belief that the majority of foreign direct investment in Nigeria is put toward oil exploration; however, there is a negative correlation between foreign direct investment and carbon dioxide emissions, which disproves this belief. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) has been observed in Nigeria under the influence of carbon dioxide. Increases in the population density per unit area of Nigeria have led to neither a significant increase nor a decrease in the country’s overall carbon dioxide emissions. This suggests that Nigeria’s expanding population is still consuming a sufficient amount of carbon resources despite the country’s growing size (Egbetokun et al., 2019).
Despite Nigeria’s general commitment to curbing activities that contribute to global warming, the unsavory activities of oil companies within its borders pose a threat to the country’s people and environment. Unfortunately, due to the activities of oil companies in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria, acid rain, gas flaring, the contamination of farmland, and the destruction of aquatic environments occur daily in the country. In the pursuit of profit, oil multinational corporations have exploited this setback to continue wreaking havoc on the ecosystem of the Niger Delta. Therefore, the government must initiate a policy aimed at diversifying the economy. This is because economic diversification will broaden the state’s economic base and reduce its reliance on the oil industry. Moreover, it will increase the government’s ability to enforce laws against these oil giants (Edo, 2012).
The economic activities that take place in Nigeria have a greater demand placed on energy sources (non-renewable energy sources), and this is thought to be the cause of the ecological footprint that has a detrimental effect on the environment. The carbon emission is prime concern.
Analysis of the effective implementation of economic policies for environmental amelioration:
The current state of Nigerian politics is characterized by a general lack of accountability, which has encouraged corruption. This severely hinders the enforcement of environmental laws at all levels of government. Many hypotheses have been put forward to explain why there is not an efficient environmental enforcement program. The widespread corruption of public officials who are tasked with the responsibility of enforcing these laws is one of the reasons that is frequently cited. In Nigeria, corruption is a significant issue that can be found almost everywhere. Environmental officers, for instance, are rumored to be more interested in visiting economically lucrative regions. Infractions of environmental planning laws frequently go unpunished, with enforcement officers receiving minimal bribes. Although, Nigeria’s environmental legislation, which began in 1979, includes more than thirty environmental laws that regulate pollution control and prevention, ecological protection, and resource utilization (Ogunkan, 2022).
Due to a lack of direct or indirect citizen participation in the formulation and implementation of environmental policy guidelines, Nigeria’s environmental policy has performed poorly which can be corrected through education. However, the primary flaw in Nigeria’s environmental policy is a lack of implementation. Despite the National Policy on Environment’s aspirations for sustainability, management and governance have fallen short of the Policy’s ideals. This is primarily due to the lack of public participation in the policy’s development and implementation. In addition to a lack of modern technology, enforcing environmental laws in Nigeria in Nigeria is hampered by significant obstacles.
Policy recommendation
A carbon tax that reflects the social cost of carbon is regarded as a crucial policy instrument for limiting carbon emissions; high prices for carbon-emitting goods reduce their demand. Carbon taxes are environmental taxes imposed by governments on precise units of carbon (or a proxy) to reduce carbon emissions. Generally, the carbon tax is imposed on fossil fuels. Carbon taxes in developing nations range from $0 per ton to $15 per ton. Nigeria currently lacks both an explicit carbon tax and a CO2 emissions trading system. Additionally, there are no other specific taxes on energy consumption. Implementing a carbon pricing policy in Nigeria would be fraught with difficulty because it is not currently one of the country’s sustainable development strategies. A carbon tax of $1 per ton will be implemented in 2025 and increase to $10 per ton by 2050 (Dioha & Kumar, 2020). The Nigerian government could use a carbon tax as a veritable instrument to achieve positive results in its campaign for environmental safety. To achieve the goals of the proposed carbon tax, the targeted taxpayers must be the major contributors or causes of environmental pollution in Nigeria, so that regulating their conduct or activities will have a discernible impact. This could take the form of abstinence from activities that cause environmental pollution or the payment of monetary fines in the form of taxation that could be reinvested to mitigate the negative effects caused by taxpayers.
A larger portion of the national budget should be set aside for environmental protection. Implementation of a carbon tax can generate revenue. Besides, to achieve better results, implementation and monitoring agencies will need to undergo reorganization and reorientation. The agencies that deal with anti-corruption and law enforcement need to be reorganized. Education on environmental sustainability should be integrated into the curricula of schools and universities and raising awareness about environmental pollution should be treated with the seriousness that it warrants (Eneh & Agbazue, 2011). The government should formulate a policy that will encourage the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) towards investing in environmentally friendly energy technology, which paves the way for the country to receive the technological transfer. Foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness are two important channels for the transfer of technology.
Conclusion:
Nigeria is in dire need of sustainable development that ensures excellent economic and environmental performance. Explore policies involving a national strategy for sustainable development based on economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The objective should be a better practice that ensures the integration of the three dimensions to minimize the trade-off between economic growth and environmental quality. The environment should be given priority in any cost. The efficiency of policy implication should be improved with highly qualified agency. It is recommended that the government increase the amount of money that is set aside in its budget for environmental protection. The current economic downturn in the country, on the other hand, may prove to be a challenge. This indicates that Nigeria will be in need of the assistance and support of appropriate international, bilateral, and multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and the International Development Association. If there is an emphasis placed on good governance in Nigeria, the country’s system for managing the environment will be efficient, productive, and sustainable. Current policy implication has some shortcoming which can be sorted with right government intervention.
References
Dioha, M. O., & Kumar, A. (2020). Sustainable energy pathways for land transport in Nigeria. Utilities Policy, 64(February), 101034. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2020.101034
Edo, Z. O. (2012). THE CHALLENGES OF EFFECTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA. Ir-Library.Ku.Ac.Ke, 14(6), 277–291. http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/123456789/10608/The Impact of Group Based Training Approaches on Crop Yield.Nigat Bekele.pdf?sequence=1
Egbetokun, S., Osabuohien, E. S., Akinbobola, T., Onanuga, O., & Gershon, O. (2019). Environmental pollution, economic growth and institutional quality : Exploring the nexus in Nigeria.
Eneh, O. C., & Agbazue, V. C. (2011). Protection of Nigeria’s environment: A critical policy review. Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 4(5), 490–497. https://doi.org/10.3923/jest.2011.490.497
Ogunkan, D. V. (2022). Achieving sustainable environmental governance in Nigeria: A review for policy consideration. Urban Governance, May 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ugj.2022.04.004
