Environmental deterioration and public policy in Nigeria

Nigeria, like many other countries, is increasingfy facing the problem of a deterio- rating environment. Formerly productive agricultural lands have become affected by erosion or threatened by desiccation because of misuse. Mining has left various imprints on the landscape while petroleum spillages have had considerable impact on the environment and hence the economy of the oil-producing areas. Although industrial wastes are becoming a problem in the urban centres, it is solid waste that is the major threat to the cities. In spite of these problems, apart from a few poorly executed policies dealing with specific problems, there was no articulate general environmental policy in Nigeria before 1981. The current policy aims at environmental protection, environmental assessment and environmental education. The emphasis on the legislative approach to the execution of the policy brings into focus the problem of the enforcement of environmental Laws that has plagued the individualistic policies of the past.

Introduction

The peculiar and potential dominance man has over his environment is usually expressed more through its destructive than its constructive forms. Perhaps this is not surprising for the physical environment has always been the source of man’s liveli- hood. However, the increasing ecological imbalance, and the various wastes which man’s interaction with the environment generate, are increasingly threatening the quality of human life. The situation looks particularly complex as all human environ- ments are in one way or another affected by various wastes. Thus, as Table 1 shows, waste initiated in a given environment may reach others through transfer processes, and because of the nature of water, aquatic environments are the most affected by this process of transfer (Table 1).

Nevertheless, the type of waste, and therefore the nature of environmental deterioration associated with any given region or country, depends to a large extent on the area’s level of development. Thus, whereas the problem of industrial wastes (both solid and gaseous) is more acute in the developed countries, land dereliction is a characteristic problem of the less developed world, where there is so much dependence on physical resources. The developing countries’ overwhelming and direct dependence on natural resources, with the consequent increasing depletion of their resources, seems to suggest that the environmental crisis faced by these countries derives from poverty, whilst that of the advanced countries is a result of affluence.

The reaction to the worsening environment has been an attempt by governments and org~~ations to monitor and manage the problem of wastes. Whereas the

or43-6228/83/~30?-14~3.00 0 1983 Butterworth 81 Co (Publishers) Ltd

304 Environmentul deterioration and public policy in Nigeria

Table 1. Major waste products and their receiving environments

Wastes

Gases and associated matter (e.g. SO?. CO,. CO. smoke, soot)

Photochemical compounds of exhaust gXCS

Urban/industrial solid wastes

Persistent inorganic residues, e.g. lead (Pb), mercury (Hg)

Pcrsistcnt organic compounds: oil organochlorine residues pharmaceutical wastes

Short-life wastes: sewapc

fertilizer residues with N,. P

detergent with P

Radio-activity

Land dereliction

Heat

Noise

Deliberate wasting-CBW e.g. defoliation

Environments into which wastes are discharged (X) or transferred (0)

Air Fresh w’lter ‘ Ocean\

0 0

0 ?

X

0 ox

x x0 X x 0

X X

0 0

x 0

0 x

x

0 0

I-and

0

0

X

X

0 X

Y

0

X

X

Clinical effects of

residues on humans?

Yes

Y?S

No

Ph-disputed Hg+Definitely

No Disputed Unknown

environmental movement is now deeply rooted in the industrialized countries, many of the less developed ones are only beginning to have well-defined environmental policies. This paper analyses the emerging policies in one such developing country- Nigeria. The study discusses not only the policies but also those problems within the environment that have necessitated them.

The nature of environmental stress in Nigeria

In a country like Nigeria, where a large proportion of the population is still engaged in agricultural activities using primitive methods, the strain on the land is consider- able, especially in densely settled areas. But it is not only agricultural activities that disturb the man-environment balance; other extractive activities like mining have created various problems. As Fig. 1 shows, apart from the environmental problems in the country’s urban areas, all the other stresses on the environment pertain specifically to man’s utilization of natural resources.

C. 0. ~kporukpo 305

Figure 1. Typical areas of environmental stress in Nigeria.

Agriculture, mining and land dereliction

Agriculture and mining activities, the mainstays of the nation’s economy, have a considerable effect on Nigeria’s land resources.* Shifting cultivation with bush fallowing is the main system of agriculture in many parts of the country. Whether this system works effectively or not usually depends largely on the land: ~pulation ratio, and therefore the length of time land is allowed to remain fallow. Because of the increasing pressure of population in much of the country, the land is readily exposed to the elements. The result is either soil desiccation or accelerated erosion. Although the former problem is restricted to the savanna zones, the latter is expressed in varying degrees in all parts of Nigeria.

One part of the country where soil erosion has assumed critical proportions is in the southeast, where population densities as high as over 600 persons per square kilometre are recorded in such districts as Orlu and Awka north of Owerri (com- pared to an average national population density of about 60 persons per square kilometre). Table 2 indicates that only about 30per cent of this region is erosion-free.

*Before 1969, agricultural products consistently contributed more than 50 per cent of the country’s export by value. Minerals, especially crude oil, are now the main foreign exchange earner. For instance, in 1975 agri~itural products accounted for only 4.5 per cent of exports by value while petroieum alone contributed about 94 per cent.

306 En~ironrne~~al de~eriorution and pu~i~~poIi~~ in Nigeria

Table 2. Extent and types of soil erosion in southeastern Nigeria

Type of erosion Area (km”) Percentage of total area

(a) Pluvial and sheet slight sheet erosion moderate sheet erosion severe sheet erosion

(b) Gully erosion

23 568 29-98 19 339 24X50 34 432 43w

incipient 786 140 active 448 0.57 inactive 39 0#5

Total: 78 612 100

Source: Ofomata (198 1: 95).

About 45 per cent of the land area is severely affected, and gullies cover about 1 per cent of the surface. Indeed, ‘soil erosion is one of the most striking features of the land surface’ of this region (Ofomata 1981:95). Erosion in this area is a result of the complex interplay of human and physical factors (Ofomata 1965, 1967). The nature of Iithology and relief creates an environment susceptible to erosion. For instance, the highly friable sandstones of the Enugu and Awgu escarpments and the Awka- Orlu uplands are especially prone to gully erosion. The agricultural practices of vegetation destruction by clearing and fire have exacerbated the problem. Other areas of the country affected by these gullies, albeit on a smaller scale, are around Zaria and on the Jos Plateau. For instance, soil loss averages about 100 Ooo tonnes per year from 7240 km of active gullies in the Jos Plateau (Jones 1975).

The problem of desiccation, which sometimes deteriorates into drought and famine (as was the case between 1969 and 1973: Kowal and Adeoye 1973; Mortimore 1973; Prothero 1974), is to a large extent the result of bad farming practices, both at present and in the past. This is not to say that the problem is entirely free from a physical component. However, the thesis that the threat of a southward-moving Sahara desert is the result of natural deterioration in the environment (Stebbing 1935, 1937) seems to have been disproved. An Anglo-French Forestry Commission investigation (1937) in northern Nigeria and the bordering areas of Niger showed beyond doubt that there had been no significant climatic change and attributed the environmental deterioration to man’s activities. Although climatic variability has been characteristic of this area (Oguntoyin~ 1981), the region is ‘an overfarmed area of degraded soils which are blown about in the dry season because of the absence of vegetable cover’ (Prothero 1962), rather than a naturally desiccated zone. Thus, in really dry years, the factors of increased population, intensification of land use and colonization of marginal lands aggravate the drought effect (Oguntoyinbo 1981).

Mining activities involving the construction of different sorts of pits and tunnels have resulted in varying impacts on the landscape. For instance, strip-mining, which is a common practice in the country, usually leaves behind an open cut indicating where materials were extracted to fill the trench made to recover the mineral. The process also hastens the weathering of the rock materials in such mining areas as the Jos Plateau. About 316 km* (i.e. 4 per cent of the Jos Plateau) is covered by tin-mining spoil, while the area disturbed through active mining is about 267 km* (Howard 1975). Similar impacts result from petroleum exploitation in the Niger Delta region to the extreme south (Fig. 1). The provision of embankments and

C. 0. Ikporukpo 307

diversions drastically alters the normal flow of several streams and ponds while the ~nst~ction of survey tracks entails the dest~~tion of various plants and therefore the exposure of rock materials.

In addition, the use of explosives drastically affects marine life, whilst the un- checked flaring of the gas released as a by-product of oil production creates a microclimate that adversely affects the productivity of soils. Nevertheless, the greatest threat from oil in the area is frequent spillage, a problem that is discussed in the next section.

The problem of pollution from crude oil

Oil spillages which result from errors and oversight in the production, storage and transportation processes create some of the most serious environmental problems in Nigeria. The often uncontrolled movement of spilled crude oil results in the pollution of rivers, creeks, ponds and farmland upon which the ~habitants of the oil-producing areas depend. The obvious consequence of this is a massive destruction of fish and crops through oil pollution. How severe such damages can be is borne out by an observer’s description of a recent spillage at Apoi North 20:

At the beginning fish floated dead on the surface of the river water and were washed up on the beaches. Now there are almost no fish (West Arch 1980: 427).

The financial losses resulting from such spillages are usually considerable. For instance, a study of one small area (Dere, Rivers State) affected by oil spillage indicates that the loss of crops in one year (1970) was as much as 815 OtM naira, that is about &652 000 (Oni et al. 1976). About 73 550 naira (f58 840)-worth of property was lost in another spillage affecting the village of Ogulagha (Ikporukpo 1982).

The longer-term effect of oil spills is usually a general disruption of economic activities. This is because rivers become depleted of fish while soils become less productive. Soils become less fertile because nutrients essential to plant growth become scarce while those that are toxic to plants become more available (Odu 1977a). One study in a part of Nigeria’s oil-producing area has shown that petroleum pollution reduces the productivity of economic plants such as cassava by as much as 74 per cent (Kinako 1981). This effect may persist for several years unless the soil is rehabilitated. The problem, however, is that the most effective and rapid method of rehabilitation-mechanical removal (Odu 1977b)-cannot be afforded by peasant farmers. The farmers are therefore forced to put up with the pollution problem, especially as there is little or no attempt at soil rehabilitation by the oil-prospecting companies.

In certain circumstances, fishermen and farmers are forced either to turn to some other occupation or to explore additional ways of making a living. A study by the author in two communities (Ogulagha and Odimodi) of the oil-producing area ilIustrates this point. The communities, located around the Forcados terminal (Fig. 2)) are traditional fishing villages. Only a few people here are farmers. The two settlements had, according to the 1963 census (the latest acceptable count), only about 1000 people each. Since the l%Os, when oil exploitation activities started in this area, the two villages have been affected by several oil spillages. The most significant of these spillages is that of 6 July 1979 which involved 570 000 barrels of crude oil.

All of the 132 fishermen interviewed had experienced a decline in well-being directly attributable to oil pollution. Despite the limited opportunities available to the peasant fishermen, about 15 per cent of the sample in Ogulagha and about 18 per

308 Environmental deterioration and public policy in Nigeria

i! C. w

cent in Gdimodi changed occupation (Table 3). In terms of those adding a supporting occupation, the corresponding percentages for the two villages are 37 and 28 respec- tively. About 44 per cent of farmers (represented only in Ogulagha) changed occupation whereas 13 per cent added a supporting occupation.

The fishermen and farmers who are unable to adjust usually migrate to nearby urban centres, such as Warri, in search of a livelihood. Such migration is particularly likely, for the inhabitants, who are predominantly illiterate, are unable to find employment with the oil firms operating locally. The implication of such movements is that the problems of sanitation and of unemployment are worsened in the nearby urban centres. Given this state of affairs, it is not surprising that all the fishermen in the sample in Odimodi and 65 per cent of those in Ugulagha report that the petroleum industry has created various problems in the area. About 67 per cent of farmers feel the same.

The oil pollution problem is made particularly compIex because of the frequency of spills and the nature of the drainage of the area liable to spillage. Table 4 shows that, in one decade (1970-1980), the country had 18 major oil spillages involving more than one million barrels of crude oil. In 1979 alone, there were eight incidents in which about 649 000 barrels were spilled. Figure 2 shows that these incidents are localized, with most of them restricted to the eastern parts of the Niger delta. Nevertheless, their effects are readily dispersed through a much wider area by the creeks and rivers. Thus, while the spillage at Isimiri affected only a single village, the Apai North 20 blow-out affected about 200 towns and vitlages with a total pollution of more than 250 000. In addition to such weIl-de~ned spillages, oil leaks (often undetected) also complicate the pollution problem.

The problem of how to dispose of the waste generated by man, though au issue in aII parts of Nigeria, is particularly significant in the urban centres experiencing rapid population growth (see Fig. 1). Effluent from the relatively few industries and automobile traffic is the main source of air pollution in the country. The most visible form of atmospheric pollutionin many cases (e.g. around cement factories) is smoke. Pollution by automobile exhaust emission is confined to urban centres. For instance, a study of the situation in Ibadan city and its surrounding rural areas showed that,

Table 3, Changes in tr~d~t~an~i occupationat patterns induced b~i damage from petraleum exploitation in twa ail-producing communities: Ugulagna [a) and Odimadi fb)

Occupation No. (pre-industry)

Actual changes

No. Per cent

Adding supporting occupation

No. Per cent

Fishing: (a) (b)

Farming: (a) (b)

Total: (a) (b)

Fishing Farming

81 12 51 9 16 7 _ 97 19 51 9

132 21 16 7

14.x 17.7 43-8

- 19-6 U-7 15.9 43-8

30 37.0 14 27-5 2 12-5

32 33-O

2 27.5 33.3 2 f2*5

310 Environmentul ~eten.~r~~~ any public policy in Nigeria

Table 4. The frequency and intensity of oil spillages in Nigeria, 1970-1980

Location Date Barrels spilled

Barrels recovered

Bomu II 19/7/70 Obagi 2 1 1972 Qua Ibo Terminal 3013172 Obirikom 1977 TNP near Idu Ekanya 317178 Etelebu Flow Station 16,‘9/78 SMB- 1 Bonny Offshore 20/10/78 Isimiri Flow Station 22i 11178 Opobo Manifold 27112178 TNP near Rumuokpe 16/3/79 Okan 1414179 Bomu Flow Station m/79 SBM-2 Bonny Offshore 616179 TNP at Ihuowo 1216179 SBM-2 Bonny Offshore 2016179 SBM-2 Bonny Offshore 2416179 Forcados Terminal 617179 Apoi North 20 171 II80

Not available Not available Not available Not available

20000 Not available Not available Not available

2ooo Not available 2000 loo0

66658 Nil 7(K1 700

6000 Nil hoOO0 3ooOO

900 Nil 7000 Not available 1973 Nil 6C!4 Nil 706 Nil

7 820 Nil 570000 20000 280000 Not available

Source: Annual Reports of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Rivers State (Nigeria) ~[~vernment Mem~~randum to the Presidentiat C~~mmissi~n on Revenue Allocation. Vol. 1. and Nigeria Newspapers.

whereas pollution levels in the city are higher than WHO long-term limits, those in the rural areas were not high enough to constitute any health hazard (Oluwande 1977).

It is in the area of solid wastes, however, that man’s role in the deterioration of Nigeria’s urban areas is brought into focus. The situation in Ibadan, the largest indigenous African city, is typical. An estimated 140 000 tonnes of solid wastes were generated in the city in 1970-1971. By 1979-1980 the figure had increased to about 180 000 tonnes. There is ample evidence that the disposal system does not cope with this amount of waste. For instance, only 112 131 tonnes (i.e. about 66 per cent of the solid wastes) were cleared in 1975 (Akintola 1978). The result is that heaps of refuse are a common sight, especially in the older parts of the town.

Whereas some of the heaps of waste commonly found in many large Nigerian towns result from the irregular clearance of refuse depots, others are due to the non-existence of waste disposal services in some parts of a given town. A survey involving 1099 households in the Lagos metropolis showed that only about 39 per cent of the households were covered by the city’s refuse collection system. As is evident from Table 5, only about 33 per cent of the remaining households make use of collection depots. The rest dump their refuse in unconventional places. The situation is even worse in a town like Calabar where not even a single household out of 500 covered in a survey uses depots. Only 123 households make use of dustbins. The remaining nearly three-quarters of the total sample dispose of refuse in open dumps such as street intersections, gutters and open spaces (Sule 1981). Such indiscriminate dumping of refuse, especially in streams and drainage systems, often contributes to flooding in many of the urban centres. A typical case is Ibadan, which

C. 0. Ikporukpo

Table 5. Methods of refuse disposal by residents of metropolitan Lagos.

311

Method No. of households Per cent

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11.

12.

Group collection depot 219 32.5 Open dumping, e.g. unclaimed land 150 22.5 Improvised street refuse bin 127 18.9 Incineration 71 10.6 Anywhere on the road 37 5.5 Into drains or gutters 17 2.5 Fill lowland or swampy area 16 2.4 Into the Lagoon 12 1.8 Around overfull refuse bin 11 1.6 By burial 10 1.5 Fill potholes Subtotal:

Cleared by the city council Total:

673

426 1099

10040

Source: Hunponu-Wusu (1977: 305).

has suffered many floods and where the Ogunpa stream has been turned into a refuse dump (Areola and Akintola 1980).

Similar environmental problems arise due to the inadequacy of the sewage disposal system. Table 6 shows that the percentage of dwellings in Nigeria’s main urban centres with flush toilets ranges from as low as 0.6 for Sokoto to only 30 for Lagos metropolis. Indeed, only six of these cities attain a percentage of more than 10, while only three cities have more than 20 per cent of dwellings with flush toilets. Even where pit latrines (dry boreholes in an enclosed area into which the untreated human waste is deposited) are included, many of the cities are still poorly serviced.

The result is that recourse is made to the ‘pail’ system, especially in the older parts of the urban centres. This system, involving the collection of untreated wastes in metal pails which are later buried or dumped in nearby rivers or lagoons, presents many obvious hazards, apart from the odour and unsightliness. The situation is worse where the waste is not swiftly washed away from dumps in lagoons and rivers. This accounts for the particularly bad pollution in the lagoon around the city of Lagos, into which as much as about 26 million litres of faeces were deposited in 1973 (Ekundayo 1977).

Government response to the environmental problem

An articulate environmental policy in Nigeria has emerged only in the current Fourth National Development Plan, 1981-1985. This relatively late development of such a policy is no doubt because of:

. . the overriding concern at the early stages of development for the quantitative aspects of human requirements, more food, more water, more energy, etc., as opposed to the qualitative aspects (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1981:357).

However, despite this, there were elements of an environmental policy in certain areas prior to the current plan. What follows is an analysis of the problem-specific policies and programmes and of the emerging general policy.

Table 6. Aspects of environmental sanitation in Nigeria‘s major urban centrcs

State Location Percentage of dwellings with city infrastructure services

Lagos Oyo Ondo Ogun Bendel Rivers Imo Anambra Cross River Benue Kwara Niger Sokoto Kaduna Kano Bauchi Plateau Borno Gongoia

Lagos metropolis Ihadan Akure Abeokuta Benin City Port Harcourt Owerri Enugu Calabar Makurdi Ilorin Minna Sokoto Kaduna Kano Bauchi Jos Maiduguri Yola (Jimeta)

In-house or in-compound water supply

Sewage disposal

Pit Flush latrine toilet

- 664) 334 23.x ‘5.3

2J.Y

734 63.3 154.9 I I.3 31.9 30.7 44.X 53 714 26% I 54

734 14-O 384

304 f6.9 57.1 254 Y5.0

0.4 3.1 545

5 I.6 18.2 334 XY4) Y5.1 77.7 76-Y

3x-x

-

Specific environmental policies and programmes

The approach towards the formulation of problem-specific environmental policies in the country has been legislative. There has long been definitive legislation dealing with control of erosion and desiccation, and the reclamation of mine land. As early as the 194Os, the extent of damage to the Jos Plateau area from tin mining was realized, making the introduction of a law on restoration necessary. The legislation required the draining, filling and levelling of open-cast mines by the mining companies before a surrender of their leases. The government, on the other hand, was given the responsibility of replacing the topsoil (Nigeria 1947).

Such legislation on despoilt land hardly applied to other mining areas. For instance, laws pertaining to the petroleum-producing region deal essentially with the problem of pollution from oil. The foundations of these laws are the Petroleum Control Decree of 1967 and the Petroleum Decree (Decree No. 51) of 1969 which, amongst other things, empowered the Commissioner in charge of petroleum to make regulations on the prevention of the pollution of water courses and the atmosphere. The only noteworthy law in this area to date is the Oil in Navigable Waters Decree (Decree No. 34) of 1968. This prohibits the discharging of crude oil, fuel oil, lubricating oil and heavy diesel oil into Nigeria’s territorial waters, including inland

C. 0. lkporukpo 313

waters. The current policy is one which requires all oil companies by law ‘to install necessary facilities for monitoring and controlling environmental pollution and for handling other petroleum-related accidents’ (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1981: 130). The national company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, is expected to spend 30 million naira (524 million) for monitoring and cleansing facilities, while other private companies with larger operations are supposed to implement bigger programmes.

In an attempt to tackle the menace of erosion and desiccation there have been various laws dealing with the protection of vegetation cover. These provide for the designation of protected areas such as forest reserves. Examples in the desiccated area are Zamfara and Gundumi, while Adoru and Udi are cases in the areas severely affected by erosion in the southeast. These reserves are, however, not restricted to these problem areas as any other region, if not properly protected, may be liable to one or the other of such menaces. Thus, some of the largest reserves-Upper Ogun and Okomu-are in the southwest. This is also not saying that the reason adduced here is the only one for the creation of these reserves. Erosion and desiccation, however, have probably received greater attention than any other environmental problem in the country. One reason for this may be the extensiveness of the areas involved. From the anti-erosion plantation at Udi started in 1928 through the Agugu soil conservation scheme of 1945 to date, some progress has been made at affores- tation. The policy of afforestation is a long-standing one but has recently been brought into sharper focus:

The recent drought in the arid zone of the North and the expanding areas of soil erosion in the Eastern States have increased the Government’s awareness to initiate a policy on the need for forestry to assist in controlling the environment (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1975: 113).

This is effected through the provision of a ground cover of plants/trees as shade and shelter and to stabilize the soil. For instance, whereas up to 1974 only 68 miles of shelter belt had been established in Kano State, as much as 42 miles were established in 1976 alone (see Enabor 1977).

In addition to this, the Fourth National Development Plan proposes the setting up of a unit for watershed management and erosion and flood control. The protection forestry programme involves the expenditure of about 91 million naira (f72.8 million). The Federal programme entails the raising of over 12 million seedlings annually for windbreaks, shelter belts and hedges while the states are expected to raise about 3.5 million seedlings annually for distribution to the public for planting.

In spite of these policies and programmes, the evidence is that there has been hardly any improvement in the environment. In fact continuing deterioration has forced the government to formulate definite policies in spite of the developmental need of the country. For instance, the frequency of spillages in the late 1970s led to the inclusion in the Fourth Plan, 1981-1985, of a policy to encourage the adoption of measures and methods of extraction that ensure the protection of the environment.

The failure of the country’s environmental policy to date is due largely to the weakness and looseness of the enabling legislations and the related government unwillingness (or inability) to enforce existing laws. The case of mineral exploitation is typical. How the law on land restoration in the Jos Plateau tin mines was to apply varied from one lease to another in order not to ‘impose conditions which would render mining operations uneconomic’. For this reason, the assigned responsibilities were seldom carried out. In the case of the Oil in Navigable Waters Decree, the provisions permitted for an acceptable defence were such that it was practically

314 Environmental deterioration and public policy in Nigeria

impossible to establish guilt. Additionally, the method of enforcement through the appointment of inspectors was subject to much abuse.

The problem of enforcement has also undermined the laws dealing with forest reserves. Despite these laws the gradual destruction of plants has continued. The same is true of the local government laws relating to environmental sanitation, especially in urban areas. In order to overcome this, the current (Fourth) Plan aims at establishing a sanitary inspectors’ department to enforce the laws. The success of the other policy objectives relating to the urban environment in the Plan may depend very much on the operation of the necessary institutional arrangement, especially the proper functioning of the Waste Disposal Boards.

The general policy framework

The basic principle underlying Nigeria’s environmental policy is:

. . the introduction of environmental consideration into the normal economic and social activities especially at the planning stage so that the environmentally adverse conse- quences of such activities can be anticipated and hedged against or minimised (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1981: 358).

The ways of ensuring this include a deliberate policy of environment protection, environmental assessment and environmental education.

The major approach to implementing the protection policy is through legislation. Particular objectives in this context include ensuring that, before any major project is embarked upon, a proper assessment of the likely impacts on the environment is made. Whereas such a legislative approach may be sound in theory, experience in the operation of laws in relation to specific environmental problems indicates that enforcement is a major difficulty. The basic issue is that even if the Federal Govern- ment pursues the environmental protection policy with all the necessary vigour, there is no guarantee that its efforts may not be stifled through actions by the state and local governments and by individuals. This is particularly likely because the appreciation of the need for environmental management measures by these tiers of government and the public has always been low. For instance, no state achieved more than a 2.5 per cent disposal rate for sewage or solid refuse and drainage during the last plan period (1975-1980). Indeed, only 14 per cent of the total plan allocation for all the states was disbursed (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1981: 335). At the individual level, the age-old way of life of the people means that the public is in certain cases resistant to innovations such as improvements in sanitation (see Faniran 1982). The problem is compounded by the absence of a proper monitoring system.

It is perhaps due to the realization of these problems that the general environ- mental policy also aims at a continuous assessment of the environment and educating the public. To overcome the lack of data, monitoring stations are being set up to collect relevant data on the behaviour of different environmental variables. The programme also entails the commissioning of various studies on the existing state and changing condition of the environment. Such studies, it is hoped, will facilitate the emergence of a better and more comprehensive policy on the environment.

Whereas the success of the environmental assessment progamme depends on the level of commitment of the operators, the policy of environmental education will inevitably encounter various difficulties due to the low literacy rate in the country. This problem is likely to be accentuated because the programme seems to rely mainly on the use of magazines and newsletters, though other media and methods may not be ruled out. The issue of education is perhaps the crux of the problem as it

C. 0. Ikporukpo 315

determines the extent to which the public is receptive to the various environmental management measures. The scale of this problem cannot be over-emphasized, for it involves certain cultural values that may be difficult to change.

Summary and conclusion

The inadequate attention paid to environmental issues is reflected in various ecologi- cal problems. Not only have past and present agricultural and mining practices left conspicuous scars on land surfaces but also misuse of agricultural land has, in certain circumstances, reinforced aridity. Waste disposal is also increasingly a problematic area in many of the country’s urban centres, while pollution from crude oil has created some of the greatest environmental problems in the petroleum-producing areas.

Attempts have been made to tackle these problems, especially those of erosion and desiccation. Such efforts have, however, been haphazard, based as they were on vague legislation which is not properly enforced. Although the current National Development Plan (1981-1985), recognizing the failure of the past, enunciates a general environmental policy which may provide the basis for a more integrated action, the dependence of the policy on the legislative process creates some compli- cations. There is no guarantee that the relevant laws will be properly enforced in a society that is not sensitive to environmental issues.

For instance, by-laws which legislate against the dumping of refuse in places other than official refuse dumps exist in several Nigerian cities. However, many city dwellers are unaware of the existence of these laws. Even where people are aware, such laws are violated at will because the violations are not usually challenged by others. In certain cases, because of the archaic nature of these by-laws, even those expected to enforce them have only a vague idea of their provision. The proper development of an environment-conscious people seems therefore the sine qua non for a more meaningful solution to the deteriorating Nigerian environment.

Hence environmental education needs to be emphasized in Nigeria. This may foster the development of a more efficient judicial approach to environmental management in place of the currently favoured legislative method. This is because an environment-conscious individual is more likely to challenge the environment- deteriorative actions of others.

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3 16 Environmental deterioration and public policy in Nigeriu

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(Revised manuscript received I7 March 1983)