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Improving Access to Environmental Justice under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The Roles of NGOs in Nigeria

Improving Access to Environmental Justice under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights:... I. INTRODUCTION Nigeria is a signatory to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (`African Charter'). The African Charter was domesticated into Nigerian law via the instrumentality of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Enforcement and Ratification) Act 1983.1 The abundance of case law in Nigeria on the African Charter suggests that the domestication of the charter has broadened the domestic enforcement rights. Accordingly, the charter has both international and human rights ramifications for environmental justice in Nigeria. Despite the importance of the charter to human rights enforcement, environmental justice is still very much a pipe dream in Nigeria. The reasons for this conundrum include the weak regulatory regime in the oil and gas industry, the lack of political will by regulatory agencies to enforce oil and gas laws and regulations, the endemic corruption and judicial obstacles amongst others. This paper will focus on the various strategies used by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to improve access to environmental justice by stakeholders via the instrumentality of the African Charter. Furthermore, it will provide a critique of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria where environmental injustice or degradation arising mainly from the activities of the oil multinational http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png African Journal of International and Comparative Law Edinburgh University Press

Improving Access to Environmental Justice under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The Roles of NGOs in Nigeria

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Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Copyright
© Edinburgh University Press 2014
Subject
Articles; African Studies
ISSN
0954-8890
eISSN
1755-1609
DOI
10.3366/ajicl.2014.0080
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

I. INTRODUCTION Nigeria is a signatory to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (`African Charter'). The African Charter was domesticated into Nigerian law via the instrumentality of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Enforcement and Ratification) Act 1983.1 The abundance of case law in Nigeria on the African Charter suggests that the domestication of the charter has broadened the domestic enforcement rights. Accordingly, the charter has both international and human rights ramifications for environmental justice in Nigeria. Despite the importance of the charter to human rights enforcement, environmental justice is still very much a pipe dream in Nigeria. The reasons for this conundrum include the weak regulatory regime in the oil and gas industry, the lack of political will by regulatory agencies to enforce oil and gas laws and regulations, the endemic corruption and judicial obstacles amongst others. This paper will focus on the various strategies used by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to improve access to environmental justice by stakeholders via the instrumentality of the African Charter. Furthermore, it will provide a critique of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria where environmental injustice or degradation arising mainly from the activities of the oil multinational

Journal

African Journal of International and Comparative Law – Edinburgh University Press

Published: Feb 1, 2014

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