Evaluation of the Role of Smart Alternatives in Pollution Control and Management in the Gulf of Guinea (Published)

Article Author: Ujunwa L. Odinkonigbo, Emeka B. Ogbuene, and Hillary I. Eze

In the Gulf of Guinea, marine pollution has received scant attention from the people and their governments. It is only recently that few Gulf of Guinea countries started to show concern to the dangers of pollution to the environment. The adverse impacts of marine pollution on marine ecosystems and the environment, at large, are becoming clear to all. These negative externalities have grave implications on the productivity of the ecosystem as well as the health and livelihoods of people dependant on it. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the difficulties associated with the use of command and control as a standalone approach to solving the environmental challenges facing Gulf of Guinea. It is canvassed in this paper that the wide use of command and control (CAC) approach/design in national marine regulations as a standalone mode of regulation has not been able to solve the problems of marine pollution in the Gulf of Guinea. Indeed, it is argued that CAC seems to be very ineffective and inefficient in regulating or controlling marine pollution. This is partly because of the problems of compliance and implementation facing it (CAC). As a result, other approaches considered complementary (“smart alternative”) to CAC – such as economic instruments and voluntary agreements between industries and governments – are canvassed to be used alongside the CAC for effective control and management of marine pollution in Gulf of Guinea.