Environmental Justice and Women as Vulnerable Group: Advocating for the Environmental Rights of Women in The Niger Delta of Nigeria (Published)
The discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the Niger Delta region in the 1950’s ushered in a new era of revenue generation and brought hope of economic and infrastructural growth in the region for not only the government but also persons living within oil producing communities. Unfortunately, with the passing of time, the activities of multinational oil corporations in the Niger Delta region seem to have done more harm than good to residents in the region, with oil producing communities experiencing varying consequences arising from oil exploitation activities. Over the years’ studies have revealed that women, suffer the most from the consequences of oil exploitation in the Niger Delta region. Despite these undue consequences women in the Niger Delta region face, they are often marginalized in the fight for the protection of their environmental rights in the region due to the patriarchal nature of their society. This article therefore seeks to critically evaluate the concept of environmental justice vis-à-vis the marginalization of the environmental rights of women in the Niger Delta region. Consequently, this research revealed the role of women in the protection of the environment, their environmental rights as well as the factors affecting the protection of their environmental rights in the Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large. This study therefore recommended amongst other suggestions, that the Government should make special efforts to ensure women are represented or given an equitable amount of representatives in decision making bodies on matters concerning the protection of the environment.
Keywords: Environment, Environmental Justice, Niger-Delta, Women, environmental rights, oil exploitation
The Legal Challenges of Combating Oil Spillage in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria (Published)
The Niger Delta region of Nigeria grapples with persistent challenges related to oil spillages posing significant environmental, social, and economical risks. Despite numerous efforts to address this issue, various legal hurdles impede the effective combating of oil spills in the region. The problem of this research, therefore, is, why is that oil spillage in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has continued unabated despite the numerous legal and institutional frameworks put in place for combating oil spillages in the Niger Delta. The aim of this research then is to examine the legal challenges of combating oil spillages in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. To achieve this, the researcher adopted the doctrinal research method. This method is the use of both primary and secondary resource materials in dealing with the subject matter under investigation. The researcher discovered that corruption and lack of transparency is one of the major reasons why oil spillage in the region continues unabated. It is therefore recommended that anti-corruption measures and enhanced transparency within regulatory agencies by adopting digital tracking systems for monitoring oil spill incidence should be established. This research has contributed to knowledge because it has affirmed that identification of jurisdictional complexities which impede the effectiveness of regulation and enforcement of oil activities in the Niger Delta region is a clog to the legal framework for combating oil spill in the region.
Keywords: Niger-Delta, Nigeria, Oil-spillage, legal challenges