Federalism and the Pursuit of Environmental Justice: A Case Study, Nigeria
Keywords:
Environment, Environmental Justice, Federalism, Federal Government, PollutionAbstract
This paper examined the impact of federalism on environmental sustainability, especially environmental justice. To achieve this, the paper did a comparative and systemic study of federalism and the quest for environmental justice in the United States of America and Canada. The paper further juxtaposed the trend with the situation in Nigeria. The study revealed that in the United States of America and Canadian federalist system of governments, there exist cooperative federalism between the center and the federating units on environmental matters, coupled with the act of acceding more powers to the federating units and provinces, respectively. This implies that powers are shared by the national and sub-national units in accordance with the provisions of the constitution in order to avoid autonomy of powers by the federal government. The aim is to protect the environmental rights of its citizens, achieve sustainability and economic growth. The paper further revealed that federalism as practiced in Nigeria, is a system, standing on its head, and has failed to serve the goals of environmental justice because states are not given powers over environmental issues. Environmental issues in Nigeria are of serious and diverse nature. The environmental hazards emanating from oil exploration and exploitation activities, industrial waste and other harmful activities are problematic. To worsen matters, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 in Section 6(6)(c), expressly ousts or denies the judiciary which is the last hope of the common man, the power to make pronouncements on matters of public policy. The doctrinal approach was used for collection of data, which were analyzed to reach conclusions. The paper recommended the practice of true federalism in Nigeria, especially the devolution of extensive powers on environmental matters to the states and the repeal of Section 6 (6)(c) under Chapter 11 of the Constitution. The paper further proposed that there should be cooperative federalism between the federal government and the states in matters of environmental management, and environmental justice, in particular.
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