Improving Access to Environmental Justice under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The Roles of NGOs in Nigeria
| Pages | 63-79 |
| Author | Eghosa O. Ekhator |
| Date | 01 February 2014 |
| DOI | 10.3366/ajicl.2014.0080 |
| Published date | 01 February 2014 |
Nigeria is a signatory to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (‘African Charter’). The African Charter was domesticated into Nigerian law via the instrumentality of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Enforcement and Ratification) Act 1983.
Formerly Cap 10 LFN 1990 now Cap A9, LFN 2004 (African Charter Act).
The abundance of case law in Nigeria on the African Charter suggests that the domestication of the charter has broadened the domestic enforcement rights. Accordingly, the charter has both international and human rights ramifications for environmental justice in NigeriaDespite the importance of the charter to human rights enforcement, environmental justice is still very much a pipe dream in Nigeria. The reasons for this conundrum include the weak regulatory regime in the oil and gas industry, the lack of political will by regulatory agencies to enforce oil and gas laws and regulations, the endemic corruption and judicial obstacles amongst others.
This paper will focus on the various strategies used by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to improve access to environmental justice by stakeholders via the instrumentality of the African Charter. Furthermore, it will provide a critique of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria where environmental injustice or degradation arising mainly from the activities of the oil multinational corporations (oil MNCs) are localised.
Notwithstanding the institutional barriers to environmental justice in Nigeria, NGOs have utilised the provisions of the African Charter to improve access to environmental justice for victims of the activities of the oil and gas multinational corporations (oil MNCs) operating in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
This paper is divided into six sections. The first section is the introductory section. The second section traces the history of the environmental justice paradigm from the United States of America. The third section focuses on the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and the various laws that accentuate environmental injustice in the oil and gas industry. The fourth section focuses on the status of the African Charter in Nigeria. The fifth section focuses on litigation and other strategies used by NGOs in Nigeria to address environmental injustice in Nigeria. In conclusion, this paper highlights the challenges that NGOs may face in the future to access environmental justice before the African Court of Justice and Human Rights.
Environmental justice is a new paradigm for achieving a healthy and sustainable environment or communities and it is a culmination of more than 500 years of struggle by people of colour in the USA.
C. Lee, ‘Developing the Vision of Environmental Justice: A Paradigm for Achieving Healthy and Sustainable Communities’, 14
A. Obiora, ‘Symbolic Episodes in the Quest for Environmental Justice’,
Flowing from this premise, environmental justice emerged as a counter measure to the discontent and inherent racism entrenched in government policies in the Deep South of the USA in the 1960s and 1970s.
O. W. Pedersen, ‘Environmental Justice in the UK: Uncertainty, Ambiguity and the Law’,
See Lee,
These studies include General Accounting Office,
Pedersen,
The environmental justice doctrine has flourished and it has spread to all corners of the world, especially areas with a history of environmental abuse or degradation. Countries to which the doctrine has diffused include Nigeria, South Africa and India, amongst others. Thus, it can be argued that the environmental justice paradigm is now a global movement which is no longer localised to the experiences of the ethnic minorities in the USA.
The next part of the paper will focus on the contextual basis of environmental justice.
The significance of the doctrine varies depending on the context or the country in focus. For example, ‘environmental justice in Africa emphasizes access to natural resources, while in the USA and UK the focus is on maintaining the planet's well-being via active public participation’.
Ako,
In the African or developing country context, in which access to resources is paramount, Obiora defines environmental justice as ‘the equitable distribution of environmental amenities, the rectification and retribution of environmental abuses, the restoration of nature, and the fair exchange of resources’.
Obiora,
F. O. Adeola, ‘Cross-national Environmental Injustice and Human Rights Issues: A Review of Evidence from the Developing World’, 43
In essence, environmental justice is premised on right to a healthy and safe environment; an equitable share or allocation of natural resources; the right not to suffer disproportionately from environmental policies, regulations and laws; and reasonable access to environmental information coalesced with participation and environmental decision making.
Scottish Parliament, available at
Furthermore, environmental justice is akin to environmental rights; the concept of environmental rights has attained some level of international recognition and there is an international recognition of the concept of environmental rights.
O. Odigie, ‘Environmental Justice and Poverty Alleviation: Roadmap to Sustainable Development in Nigeria’, 1
O. Fagbohun, ‘Reappraising the Nigerian Constitution for Environmental Management’, 1(1)
R. T. Ako, ‘The Judicial Recognition and Enforcement of the Right to Environment: Differing Perspectives from Nigeria and India’, 3
G. Ogbodo, ‘Environmental Protection in Nigeria: Two Decades after the Koko Incident’, 15(1)
The gamut of economic, cultural and social (socio-economic) rights
Ebobrah defines socio-cultural rights as ‘the body of human rights that are essential for the promotion of conditions necessary for the advancement of economic...
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