SEO Riders:
– Environmental Defenders Network urges inclusion of enforceable environmental rights in constitution.
– EDEN proposes repeal of Land Use Act and moves to place environmental provisions on concurrent legislative list.
– Advocates call for creation of environmental courts and recognition of a right to a healthy environment.
At a hybrid forum in Benin City, the Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) and legal partners—including the Nigeria Chambers of the International Law Association and Chima Williams & Associates—called on Nigerians to leverage the ongoing constitutional amendment process to demand stronger environmental governance. They criticized provisions that centralize control over natural resources with the federal government, undermining local communities’ ability to hold polluting corporations accountable and limiting environmental justice.
EDEN proposals include introducing a constitutional right to a healthy environment, aligning Nigeria’s legal framework with international standards. They suggest repealing or expunging the Land Use Act from the constitution to enable more flexible land administration reforms. Additionally, they recommend moving environmental protection provisions to the concurrent legislative list and establishing environmental courts across states to expedite related cases. These demands build on Nigeria’s evolving legal jurisprudence that now considers environmental rights enforceable under constitutional and fundamental rights provisions.
