Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Environmental Laws in Nigeria and Occurrence of Some Geohazards: A Review

I. E. Osumgborogwu, C. N. Chibo

Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology · pp. 1–12 · Published 6 Jul 2017

10.9734/AJEE/2017/34045

Abstract

Nigeria as a country is blessed with an abundance of both human and natural resources. Exploitation of natural resources in Nigeria over the years with little or no regard for the environment has increased susceptibility of parts of the country to identified geohazards. A suite of environmental laws exist in Nigeria, all these aimed at protecting both the environment and its inhabitants. The aim of this paper is to review existing environmental laws in Nigeria, and occurrence of identified geohazards as a result of absence or non-implementation of these laws. Data for this study were obtained primarily from secondary sources. They are published government reports, journal articles, books, as well as other resources on the environment of Nigeria. Results show that Nigeria as a country has suitable existing and well-meaning environmental laws. The country also has many agencies charged with the responsibilities of implementing these environmental laws and policies. However, the non-implementation and non-existence of identified environmental laws and policies has increased both exposure and vulnerability of parts of the country to geohazards. The effects of these include; loss of means of livelihood, environmental degradation leading to Badlands in parts of the country, as well as death in extreme cases. It is recommended in this paper that adherence to existing environmental laws and policies as a panacea to mitigating identified geohzards is important. It is further recommended that amendment of already existing environmental laws to capture contemporary realities be made. This paper concluded by calling for more investment in the use of remote sensing and GIS tools such as LiDAR technology in the study of geohazards.  

Environmental laws and policies geohazards environmental degradation Nigeria

References (43)

  1. 1 Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing
  2. 2 Landslide occurrence as a response to land use change: a review of evidence from New Zealand [DOI]
  3. 3 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE CHARACTERISTICS AND MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA
  4. 4 Electronic waste (e-waste): Material flows and management practices in Nigeria [DOI]
  5. 5 The Human Impact on the Natural Environment [DOI]
  6. 6 Using LiDAR data to map gullies and headwater streams under forest canopy: South Carolina, USA [DOI]
  7. 7 The human health implications of crude oil spills in the Niger delta, Nigeria: An interpretation of published studies [DOI]
  8. 8 High resolution quantification of gully erosion in upland peatlands at the landscape scale [DOI]
  9. 9 Channel head location and characteristics using digital elevation models [DOI]
  10. 10 A decision support system using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for the optimal environmental reclamation of an open-pit mine [DOI]
  11. 11 From hazard to impact: flood damage assessment tools for mega cities [DOI]
  12. 12 Landslide Risk Assessment [DOI]
  13. 13 Improving flood damage assessment models in Italy [DOI]
  14. 14 Assessment of Waste Management Practices among Residents of Owerri Municipal Imo State Nigeria [DOI]
  15. 15 Geospatial Techniques for the Assessment and Analysis of Flood Risk along the Niger-Benue Basin in Nigeria [DOI]
  16. 16 Flood risk management, an approach to managing cross-border hazards [DOI]
  17. 17 Erosion processes and their control in New Zealand [DOI]
  18. 18 Review of Gully Erosion in Nigeria: Causes, Impacts and Possible Solutions [DOI]
  19. 19 A spatial decision support system for the optimal environmental reclamation of open-pit coal mines in Greece [DOI]
  20. 20 Implications of a Century of Anthropogenic Erosion for Future Land Use in the Gisborne‐East Coast Region of New Zealand [DOI]
  21. 21 The impact of petroleum on economic growth in Nigeria
  22. 22 The hydrogeological and geotechnical parameters as agents for gully-type erosion in the Rain-Forest Belt of Nigeria [DOI]
  23. 23 Resolving the gully erosion problem in Southeastern Nigeria: Innovation through public awareness and community-based approaches [DOI]
  24. 24 An Assessment and Mapping of Gully Erosion Hazards in Abia State: A GIS Approach [DOI]
  25. 25 An assessment of flood vulnerability on physical development along drainage channels in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria [DOI]
  26. 26 Solid waste management in Minna, North Central Nigeria: present practices and future challenges [DOI]
  27. 27 AIRBORNE LASER PROFILE DATA FOR MEASURING EPHEMERAL GULLY EROSION
  28. 28 Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) in Nigeria and the Reality of Climate Change - A Review [DOI]
  29. 29 The Effect of Unplanned Exploitation of Environmental Resources: The Nigeria’s Experience [DOI]
  30. 30 Effect Of Oil Spillage On Cassava Production In Niger Delta Region Of Nigeria [DOI]
  31. 31 The hazardousness of high-magnitude floods [DOI]
  32. 32 Measuring channel and gully cross‐sections with an airborne laser altimeter [DOI]
  33. 33 Assessment of environmental hazards: Linking borrow pits, gully erosion, and road failure [DOI]
  34. 34 Solid Waste Management in Minna, North Central Nigeria: Present Practices and Future Challenges [DOI]
  35. 35 GEOINFORMATION IN GULLY EROSION STUDIES IN TAITA HILLS, SE-KENYA, PRELIMINARY RESULTS
  36. 36 A compromise programming model for site selection of borrow pits [DOI]
  37. 37 Quantifying the Impact of Deepwater Geohazards [DOI]
  38. 38 Flood Prediction using Rainfall – Runoff Spatial Variation: An Overview of Flood Prediction Models [DOI]
  39. 39 Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union [DOI]
  40. 40 Earth Surface Processes and Landforms [DOI]
  41. 41 Journal of Soil Science and Environmental Management [DOI]
  42. 42 American Journal of Experimental Agriculture [DOI]
  43. 43 Journal of Civil Engineering and Construction Technology [DOI]

Cited by 7

Measuring Exposure and Vulnerability to Nigeria’s 2012 Floods: Views from the Ground and Views from the Sky

M. Bangalore, Thomas K. J. McDermott, Pierre E. Biscaye · Spatial Demography · 2026

National laws for enhancing flood resilience in the context of climate change: potential and shortcomings

Sara Mehryar, S. Surminski · Climate Policy · 2020

Analyzing Land Use and Change Detection in Eastern Nigeria Using GIS and Remote Sensing

E. Merem, Y. Twumasi, J. Wesley · American Journal of Geographic Information System · 2019

A study of optimal utilization of wood resource through alternative use of wood waste in fish smoking

A. Ibrahim, S. Olayimika, J. Oyero · 2015

Scopes for Use of Nigerian Agriculture Wastes in Soil Stabilisation

Arya Assadi-Langroudi, Emmanuel Rotimi Olafisoye, Arash Esmatkhah Irani · Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering · 2024

Estimating impacts of Nigeria’s 2012 floods: Views from the ground and views from the sky

Mook Bangalore, Thomas K.J. McDermott, Pierre E. Biscaye · 2026

Showing 6 of 7 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

31

Page views

0

PDF downloads

3

Outbound clicks

7

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.