DRAFT
CONCEPTUAL OUTLINE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Prepared by
Edna Eguh Udobong
International Scholar
International Practice Specialist
Admitted: New York (USA) and Supreme Court of Nigeria
2739 Saint Augustine Trail
Marietta, Georgia 30067
USA
Phone: 770‑916‑1614
Mobile: 770‑309‑0853
Fax: 770‑916‑1614
BACKGROUND:
The
Environmental Policy and Development Program is an outgrowth of a consultancy
undertaken in 1996 through the Transfer of Knowledge by Expertriate Nationals
(TOKTEN) program of the United Nations.
The idea was conceived through research and investigations into the
implementation and enforcement of various environmental laws and regulations of
the Lagos State Government of Nigeria.
During my consultancy for the United Nations part of my observation was
that environmental laws and regulations were not adequately enforced for
several reasons including the lack of knowledge and participation by the
citizens of the need for enforcement.
I had as a result made certain recommendations in my preliminary report
for the purpose of developing sustainable environmental policies in the country
as a whole. The recommendations
include:
*
Strengthening
institutional capacity building of the federal, state and local government
agencies through personnel training of both the judiciary and environmental
agencies in the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations;
*
Citizen empowerment
through extensive environmental education, awareness and training programs;
access to information and community participation;
*
Participation of Non‑Governmental Organizations (NGOs) / the media in the
implementation of environmental projects;
*
Provision of technical
assistance through the academic community and governmental institutions;
*
The harmonization of
environmental laws and regulations and their continued development through
legal reform.
In order to successfully accomplish these
recommendations, a multimedia / multi disciplinary approach was recommended as
useful tools for the development of sustainable environmental policies. The recommendations made in that report
recognize the need for a uniform and cooperative engagement of both the federal,
state and local governments in the management of environmental enforcement
issues.
This paper has been developed through further research
and studies of the existing environmental situation in Nigeria. While several other studies have been
carried out by other organizations, the extent of environmental challenges
facing both urban and rural areas in particular remain exceedingly high with
very limited resources to address the degrading state of the environment.
INTRODUCTION:
The
vigorous and creative processes of cultural change and transformation in Africa
during this era of second independence has yielded a number of unprecedented
paradoxes. Countries such as
Nigeria and Ghana, for example, have constructed new constitutions and legal reforms
in response to rising demands for democratization and environmental
protection. Nigeria is a country
with a population of about 100 million people and diverse cultural and social
traditions but rich with natural resources that could sustain the people for many
generations. While Nigeria
currently suffers from mounting political instability, repression and a lag gap
between the rich and the poor, there continues to be hope for the possibility
of an environment that is healthy and can sustain the economic future
development for generations to come.
Issues concerning the environment have become part of national
concern. The Koko incident of 1988
raised the initial awareness of the government and the people to the importance
of protecting the environment.
After an Italian company dumped about 2,000 tons of hazardous wastes in
Koko land, the federal government saw an urgent need to pass legislation and
establish an Environmental Protection Agency in the country. It was an incident that drew
international attention.
While
the health impact of Koko is still felt among the Koko people, other minorities
such as the Ogoni people of Nigeria are struggling to preserve their ethnic
identity and protect their physical environment which sustains their
traditional means of subsistence.
The lack of environmental awareness and education in the urban and local
communities in particular create a challenge to the many environmental concerns
that exist within the country. The
waive of environmental legislation and growth of environmental organizations is
evidence of the desire of the people to be part of the international community
working toward national addressing environmental needs. The 21st century is about the creation
of ideas that would completely eradicate the scourge of poverty. One way of achieving this global
concern is getting questions of popular participation to the grassroots levels
and making local communities part of the nation building process.
The
program proposed in this paper provide certain strategies for sustainable
environmental management and policy development. Major issues to be covered in this program include
environmental education / environmental justice and advocacy, the dissemination
of information on the state of the environment and the impact of environmental
pollution, research based studies on the impact of environmental pollution on
health, food production, social distribution, urban development, housing
planning, and population growth and movements, empowerment of the people
through participation and the right‑to‑know programs, and support for the people through
capacity building.
PROJECT STRATEGIC GOALS AND AREAS OF CONCENTRATION:
The
strategic goals and areas of concentration of the program are:
*
To promote environmental
advocacy / awareness and education programs that will promote community
involvement' and environmental justice issues;
*
To provide training and
information sharing programs that will bring public interest attorneys, active
or interested in environmental justice issues together with government,
industry and agency officials to discuss ways to more effectively involve
affected communities in the enforcement process;
*
To help communities
identify and assess pollution sources, implement environmental awareness and
training programs for affected communities and work with local stakeholders
(community‑based organizations, academia, industry, local
governments) to devise strategies for environmental improvements;
*
To promote partnerships
with stakeholders and establish more meaningful dialogue at the state, local,
industry, and tribal levels through activities that are structured around
conflict resolution and management, identification of common ground negotiation
skills necessary to minimize destructive conflicts with a focus on development;
*
To promote through the
initiation of projects sustainable economic growth locally, and nationally by
addressing environmental, economic and developmental practices which impede
development and are sustainable in accordance with Agenda 21 of the United
Nations Conference on the Environment and Development.
*
To strengthen public
policies and institutional capacities at both the national and local government
levels through academic institutions, state and local agencies to ensure that
projects and program‑related investments are environmentally sound.
*
To evaluate and monitor
project progress through the implementation strategies that have been adopted
and to make necessary changes for improved environmental policy reform;
*
To act as a network and
resource center for academic institutions, environmental NGOs as well as
governmental agencies in the continued development and implementation of
sustainable environmental programs.
Environmental education and
environmental justice operations are important tools that would carry the
people into development with a focus on prevention. They provide control strategies that make it possible for
the people to have a voice in the implementation of governmental programs aimed
at reducing the impact of environmental hazards on human lives. It is also through extensive
environmental education program that the necessary legal reforms and changes
can be effectively made with the people participating in the decision-making process as a result of their understanding in dealing with major
issues of concern.
The provision of information
to the people enables them to relate and to get involved in matters that
concern their survival as individuals and as a community. Awareness of environmental issues is
very crucial to understanding and solving environmental problems. It was reported in a Nigerian Newspaper
in 1996 that a community turned down the request of an oil company to dump
waste in a minority area on the ground that the community is not aware of the
environmental hazards of such an action in spite of promises by the company to
build hospitals and roads for the community. This is a clear case of lack of informed consent which the
community had genuinely expressed.
Communities are made to guess the implications of industry actions
keeping in mind incidents such as Koko, Ogoni to mention a few. It is therefore of paramount importance
that environmental problems that threaten health and development be identified
through the mobilization of communities and education of the people on the
subject of environmental management and development. Thus environmental education as well as citizen involvement
in the development of viable environmental policies continue to be of immense
priority in the movement toward democracy in Nigeria. It is therefore important for the people to change their
attitude and traditional orientation and move toward a new trend of regulating
themselves to see the environment as an important part of their lives.
In addition, the program will
investigate and integrate gender issues, the role of women and girls education
in environmental policy management.
The education of women and girls in areas that concern national
development have been universally accepted as a necessary area of focus. This program recognizes this important
need and will involve the active participation of women, girls and members of
minority groups in achieving its goals.
Improving education for women and girls may be one of the most
effective, long‑term environmental policies for the country and in
fact other developing countries.
OPERATIONAL APPROACH:
The operational approach
toward the implementation of the project's goals will be achieved through the
Environmental Learning, Education and Development (LEAD) program with a view to
pursuing issues outlined in Agenda 21 and the guidelines of the United Nations
Conference on the Environment and Development 1992. This pilot program will be designed to provide and
establish:
*
Community‑based environmental advocacy and development
initiatives;
*
research issues on the
management and development of natural resources for sustainable development;
*
environmental education
and training programs at the state and local government levels to educate and
build the capacity of communities on environmental awareness;
*
information sharing
mechanism between urban and rural communities that would enhance the level of
understanding of the environmental impact of natural resources management
within communities ‑
a bridge building initiative;
*
activities that will
promote revenue‑income and revenue sharing for community initiatives.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION:
To determine the success and
progress of the LEAD initiative, a monitoring device will be established and
carried out within the community groups participating in the program. The objectives of the monitoring and
evaluation process will be to develop sustainable information system to
evaluate program implementation progress with a view to identifying methods
that are relevant to program activities as well as the performance structure of
the communities involved. It will
also provide data for assessment of program impact at all levels of
participation.
CONCEPTUAL OUTLINE:
The projects proposed in this paper will be
implemented by the Environmental Law, Justice and Resource Development
Institute, an action research center studying environmental law and as well as environmental advocacy and information
activities that are programmed toward the building of a democratic society with
a view to point of citizen participation in environmental policy
development. The Institute will be
established with an implementing office in Nigeria and a resource development
and network center in the United States.
The projects developed through the institute will involve the
participation of urban and rural local communities in Nigeria with the ultimate
goal of empowering these communities to assess their environment and be part of
the policy‑making process on their environment. The work of the institute will emphasize
the role of law and the judicial system in examining and reforming
environmental laws and regulations for effective enforcement. Environmental justice involves the
understanding of the people of how their natural resources are managed and how
they can effectively participate in the decision making process of developing
their economic resources.
STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION:
The program will be
implemented through The Environmental Law, Justice and Resource Development
Institute working through a project team of experts from within the academic
system in Nigeria, Africa and the United States, environmental activists, nongovernmental organizations and international organizations working in
the field of the environment. The
active involvement of community leadership is an important tool to the
implementation of established projects.
The program will receive institutional support from the Lagos State
University Center for Environment and Science Education, the affiliate for the
initial project establishment as well as technical support from national and
state environmental agencies. The
project team will constructively devise a practical approach and methodology
for the successful accomplishment of its goals. This can be done through a variety of education and
personnel training programs designed by experts from various disciplines,
consultations mechanisms with state and local government agencies and leaders,
coordinating and facilitating dialogue at both the national, state and local
community levels, and NGO consolidation on issues relating to the environment,
development and governance. While
there are several organizations attempting to sensitize the people on issues
concerning the environment and democracy in Nigeria, there is an apparent lack
of the required expertise and resources needed to effectively carry out these
functions. The learning, education
and development programs will be designed to broaden public understanding of
issues concerning the environment, encourage and facilitate increased public
participation in preparation for a democratic process. This will be achieved through extensive
research, writing, consultations, publications, seminars and workshops that
seek to develop and articulate series of policy recommendations, law reform
proposals, and suggest advocacy strategies for the active involvement of the
people at both the national, state and local government levels. The Institute will utilize the human
resources within the academic community as well as student participation to
build its research base. It will
collaborate with existing local environmental organizations, assist with
project developments, develop resources and extensive contacts in the United
States and other countries that will benefit local and community activities,
established a network of international environmental agencies and organizations
as well as a data collection / information sharing base to be utilized by
organizations working in Nigeria.
Biography
of Edna Eguh Udobong:
The programs initiated by the
institute will be coordinated and directed by Edna Eguh a research scholar specializing in
international law and international environmental law. She received her LL.B and LL.M. degrees
from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and obtained an LL.M degree from Harvard
Law School in June 1995 where she taught graduate students Comparative
Constitutional Law.
Ms. Eguh worked as a research
consultant for the American Society of International Law on a project involving
research in international environmental projects. As a consultant for the United Nations Development Program,
she has assisted the Lagos State Government of Nigeria in the review and
analysis on the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. She received the Reginald Lewis
fellowship award of Harvard Law School in June 1995 and was a Fellow at the
Carter Center at Emory University during the summer of 1995, where she
participated in the study of African governance, human rights and conflict
resolution matters. Her delegation
to the 43rd session of the United Nations General Assembly enabled her to
research and present statements to the General Assembly on the General
Agreement on Tariff and Trade and the International Law Commission. She has negotiated settlements between
British and German firms operating in Africa and participated in international
arbitration proceedings. As the
Legal Advisor from 1990‑1993, she negotiated agreements between the United
Nations Children's Fund and governments and advised on various legal
issues. Her LL.M. thesis at the
Harvard Law School on the trans-boundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes has been published by the Harvard Law
School library and a revised text has been approved for publication by the
African Journal on Comparative and International Law. She has supported the development of curriculum at the Lagos
State University, Nigeria through her participation at the First Annual
Scientific Meeting on Environment, Health and Information Activities for Africa
held in June 1996. As a visiting
scholar at the University of Georgia School of Law, Georgia State University
College of Law she has taught and given presentations to students in
international law and international environmental law issues.
She is currently working on
various environmental projects while teaching on the faculty of the Shorter
College School of Professional Programs.
She continues to research and write on environmental management and
development programs that are designed to improve enforcement and compliance of
environment laws and regulations in Nigeria.