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THE CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN POST-COLONIAL AFRICAN STATES: A REVIEW OF ADAMU USMAN’S SIEGED

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Solomon Adedokun Edebor*

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses and contributes to debates on the critical governance challenges faced by post-colonial African states such as bribery and corruption, lack of democratic and participatory governance, insecurity, lack of justice and equality before the law, and illiteracy as some of the impediments to sustainable development in Africa. These issues have been variously discussed by literary scholars with an attempt to portray and expose them. One such excellent attempt is Adamu Usman’s Sieged. This paper analyses some of the fundamental threads in Usman’s submissions on how lack of good governance and purposeful leadership remain the bane of African states. It then takes the analyses further by showing that no meaningful social, economic, political or environmental development can take place in Africa until African masses demand for good governance and engage in ideology-based social revolution in ending the reins of corrupt leadership.

Keywords: post-colonialism, politics, corruption, sustainable development, independence.

* Solomon Adedokun Edebor is of the Department of English and Literary Studies, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, (ABUAD), Ekiti State, Nigeria.

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UNQUENCHED THIRST: THE NEED FOR A CONSTITUTIONALLY RECOGNIZED RIGHT TO WATER IN GHANA

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Tia Crosby*

ABSTRACT

The practice of privatizing water is often discussed as the leading method for improving access to adequate water in developing countries. Notably, this method has a cost that frequently impedes access to water in the developing world, while exploiting the profitability of a natural resource that is vital to human life. In Ghana, the failure of water privatization initiatives and the growing scarcity of adequate water have caused a public health crisis that necessitates a quick and efficient solution. As demonstrated in South Africa, the codification of the right to water in its constitution has improved access to adequate water, sparked government concern and action on water and sanitation issues, and provided citizens with various avenues to compel government adherence to the constitutional right. Is constitutional recognition of the right to water an adequate alternative to privatization of water? If so, can such recognition solve Ghana’s water woes? This paper examines how constitutional recognition of the right to water in Ghana can successfully encourage the substantive realization of access to adequate water to all Ghanaians and an efficient procedural process that assures government accountability in water governance.

* BA (University of North Carolina, NC, USA), JD (Florida A&M School of Law, USA), Certificate in International Human Rights Law and Global Justice Studies; Human Rights Fellow (2014), Florida A&M University College of Law, Orlando, USA.

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INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE: LESSONS FROM UNEA AND PERSPECTIVES ON THE POST-2015 ERA

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Joseph Nyangon*

ABSTRACT

The inaugural meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) held in June 2014 in Nairobi, was a culmination of more than four decades of environmental governance since the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established in 1972 in Stockholm. The meeting addressed weighty and contentious issues including strengthening of UNEP’s role in promoting environmental governance and enhancing science-policy interface. Yet despite the historical significance of the meeting following universalization of the governing body of UNEP and current debates on the post-2015 development agenda, questions persist about the role of UNEP, its establishment, performance, and fragmentation of programmes and secretariats of the multilateral environmental agreements associated with it. This paper reviews the outcome of the inaugural UNEA session, while developing a political economy account of institutional arrangements of international environmental governance to clarify the potential for, and barriers to effective environmental reform. Multilaterally, international environmental governance continues to exhibit elements of complexity, fragmentation, lack of coordination as well as redundancy. In more critical terms, lack of policy integration between environmental regimes is a concern of environmental governance that the new UNEA should address as a matter of priority. Furthermore, incoherent policy objectives in international environmental law often characterised as a governance patchwork have been criticized for their economic orthodoxies that only serve to marginalize and delegitimize alternative modes of environmental governance. In this regard, a core part of UNEA’s institutional legitimacy depends on its success in coevolving to keep up with environmental challenges as they themselves change, as well as enhancing consensus-based stakeholder engagement, perspectives, and participation on environmental governance. This will be its true litmus test on how it responds coherently and effectively to international environmental governance in a post-2015 development world.

Keywords: International environmental governance, institutional arrangements, UNEA, political economy, fragmentation, SDGs, post-2015 goals

* Joseph Nyangon, Ph.D. Researcher, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy (CEEP), University of Delaware, U.S.A., jnyangon@udel.edu.

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BUYING BACK THE RIGHT TO HEALTH: LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR FACILITATING ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL MEDICINES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

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Tanvi Mani*

ABSTRACT

The concept of public healthcare has perennially involved the institution of measures that are necessary for the prevention of large scale epidemics. This preventive approach embodies principles of sanitation, water purification and more recently vaccination. However, the advent of new strains of viruses and an unprecedented increase in the susceptible population has expanded the ambit of primary healthcare to include effective treatment. Especially in developing countries, treatment through affordable medicines is considered fundamental to the achievement of public health goals. Thus, there exists a humanitarian obligation on the international community and the respective governments of nations, to provide effective medication to those who cannot afford it, in the larger interest of maintaining a sense of equity in the sustenance of human life. This paper analyses relevant international treaties and domestic judicial interventions that could effectuate positive change in the formulation of international trade and intellectual property policies, with regard to healthcare, at national as well as an supranational levels. The paper argues for the transfer of the decision making powers, with regard to the distribution of drugs, from the private pharmaceutical industry to the governments of countries. This, it argues, would result in a shift in prioritization from profit making motives, to the universal realization of the right to health.

Keywords: Healthcare, intellectual property, human rights

* Tanvi Mani is of the School of Law, The WB National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkota, India. Email: tanvi2493@gmail.com, Tel: +91 8420285425.

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AS THE WORLD WELCOMES ITS SEVEN BILLIONTH HUMAN: REFLECTIONS ON POPULATION, LAW, AND THE ENVIRONMENT

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Robert Hardaway*

ABSTRACT

Twenty years ago, Praeger Publications of Westport Connecticut published this author’s book “Population, Law and the Environment”,1 in which the case was made for identifying human population expansion as the key environmental issue of our times. This case rested in large part on linking together cultural and legal issues, which theretofore had not always been considered to be related to environmental protection, such as abortion, the rights of women, contraception, immigration, family planning, and policies of economic growth. There have been considerable developments in these areas which have spurred this author to update his book, this time in the form of this article which both condenses the content of his previously published book where apposite (including passages which are incorporated verbatim from his previous work), and updates the most recent data supporting its original premise. The case is renewed herein for linking those areas which continue to be widely ignored or rejected as relevant to environmentalism, while at the same time urging that the environmental movement and the law that supports it expand its current narrow focus on the “A” and “T” factors of Holdren’s2 brilliantly conceived equation (I=PAT), and recognize the more critical “P” component, which in turn is a reflection of how both domestic and international law promulgates and enforces law in the areas identified in this article. The name that the author has adopted for this proposed change of focus is “Environmental Malthusianism.”3 Keywords: Population, Environment, Law, Climate Change

* Professor of Law at the Sturm College of Law, University of Denver, Colorado, United States. This article is reprinted with permission from Sustainable Development Law and Policy, (2014) Volume XIV, Issue 1, American University Washington College of Law.

1. Praeger Publications is now a part of the publishing house of ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, California.

2 Although Holdren’s name is used herein to describe the equation, the equation has been recognized as a joint effort of John Holdren, Barry Commoner, and Paul Ehrlich.

3 Although the author has not found any usage of this term in other literature, he claims no credit for its coinage given that it seems such an obvious term to describe the linkage of population to the environment.

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CONSTRUCTING THE LEGAL SAFEGUARD FOR CHINA’S CARBON TAXATION

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Haifeng Deng * and Anna Wang **

ABSTRACT

Environmental protection practices of developed countries prove carbon taxation is an effective tool to reduce greenhouse effect, and China has already put it into official agenda. Based on Chinese environmental law system, the enforcement of carbon tax mainly faces four key challenges, contradiction with the existing taxes items; conflict with carbon trade system; adjustment of carbon tax collection and administrative structure; and coordination with international trade rules. In order to solve those problems, it is high time to build a legal protection system for carbon taxation. The essence of the legal protection system includes at least three aspects: Firstly, adjusting the existing environment tax rates. Secondly, coordinating with carbon trade system and make tax reduction policy for enterprises which have achieved reduction goals. Thirdly, constructing a dynamic balance administrative system and a comprehensive database system for carbon taxation.

Keywords: Carbon Tax; Legal protection; Function; Construction

* Haifeng Deng, Associate Professor of Law School, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing, China,100084, email: denghaifeng@126.com.

** Anna Wang, PhD Candidate of Law School, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing, China,100084.

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IMPOSITION OF A COPYRIGHT LEVY IN NIGERIA: LEGAL JUSTIFICATIONS AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

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Ifeoluwa A. Olubiyi*

ABSTRACT

Copyright owners have the exclusive right to control the reproduction of their works. Since the advent of recording and copying technology, reproducing copyright works has become easier. Cases such as Sony Corp of America v. University City Studios, Inc indicate that copyright owners cannot stop technological advancements since they have both infringing and non-infringing uses. The reality is that private copying/reproduction is damaging to the right of owners and the entire copyright industry. One of the ways this situation is addressed is the imposition of copyright/private copying levies in some jurisdictions. Different rationales have been advanced for the imposition of this levy such as harm/compensation rationale and the statutory licence rationale. Nigeria is joining other jurisdictions in imposing this levy as the Copyright Levy Order 2012 was recently signed into law. This paper discusses the origin and justifications for the imposition of copyright levies. This practice is examined particularly in the light of the ‘fair dealing for private use’ exception under the Nigerian copyright law and in other jurisdictions such as the European Union, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States. It provides a detailed understanding of ‘fair dealing for private use’ and also a justification for the Nigerian Copyright Levy Order under the Nigerian legal system.

Keywords: copyright levy, fair use, fair dealing, private use

* Intellectual Property Law Lecturer, Department of Private and Business Law, College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria; LL.M [IPLKM] (Maastricht), B.L (NLS, Abuja), LL.B (OAU, Ife). E-mail: ifejemilugba@gmail.com.

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THE PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES OF THE PROPOSED CARBON TAX REGIME IN SOUTH AFRICA: LESSONS FROM THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

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Gbenga Akinwande*

ABSTRACT One of the policy instruments canvassed for the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is carbon tax. Carbon tax- an economic instrument which levies taxes on the carbon content of goods and services, is increasingly getting popular among policy makers worldwide. South Africa is one of the countries with advanced plans to adopt carbon tax as a way of reducing and discouraging the emission of GHGs. This paper analyses the proposed carbon tax in the light of South Africa’s commitment under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). What lessons can South Africa learn from a similar environmental tax regime previously adopted in Nigeria?

Keywords: Carbon Tax, South Africa, Nigeria, GHGs, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

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GOVERNANCE AND THE CHALLENGE OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

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Patrick Oluwole, Ojo Friday Aworawo, and IfedayoTolu Elizabeth*

ABSTRACT

Various factors are said to be responsible for Nigeria’s current status as an underdeveloped country. These range from historical colonial experience, political instability, the monoculture nature of the national economy, and the persistent lack of commitment to focused development strategies on the part of the political elites. The most popular among the prescriptions for tackling the phenomenon of underdevelopment emphasized macroeconomic policies, economic diversification, transparency and accountability in governance and even direct distribution of resource proceeds to the general population. These solutions have not been able to adequately address Nigeria’s development challenges. However, the crucial role of the regulatory institutions, especially their oversight functions, has arguably been the missing link in establishing the complimentary relationship between governance and development in Nigeria. This paper discusses the importance of governance institutions as a fundamental determinant of robust and sustainable social and economic development in Nigeria.

Keywords: Democracy, Corruption, Governance, Socio-economic development

* Department of Political Science and International Studies , Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti.

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THE RIGHT TO A HEALTHFUL ENVIRONMENT IN NIGERIA: A REVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS TO ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN NIGERIA

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Abdulkadir Bolaji Abdulkadir, Ph.D*

ABSTRACT

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria includes in its Chapter Two on “Fundamental Objectives and Directives Principles of State Policy” provisions on the protection of the environment. However, these provisions are made unjusticiable by other provisions in the Constitution that oust the jurisdiction of the court to entertain any matter related to the enforceability of the provisions of chapter two of the Constitution, which includes the protection of environment. These ouster provisions have led to an explosion of scholarly views on the question of how best environmental rights could be constitutionally derived and protected in Nigeria. This paper aims to contribute to these debates. The paper explores how the right to a healthful environment can be derived and secured using other enforceable provisions in the Nigerian Constitution, and through other domesticated international instruments in Nigeria, to enhance access to environmental justice in Nigeria.

Keywords: Constitution, Environment, Health

* LLB (Unilorin), B.L (Abuja), LLM (Unilorin) PhD (IIUM, Malaysia), Lecturer, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Nigeria.

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THE RIGHT TO LIFE OR THE RIGHT TO COMPENSATION UPON DEATH: PERSPECTIVES ON AN INCLUSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE IN NIGERIA

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Amos O. Enabulele*

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the right to life in its most inclusive sense. It argues that the right to life cannot be seen only in the light of the deprivation of life, but more importantly, in the light of the sustenance of life. Accordingly, that the right to life should be broadly interpreted to encompass all its components and that some of its important components are contained in the non-justiciable provisions of our Constitution. The paper further argues that by assimilating the provisions which the Constitution declares non-justiciable with the right to life, such provisions become justiciable without disturbing the their otherwise non-justiciable character since they are not enforced on their own force but on the force of the justiciable right to life provisions of the Constitution.

Keywords: Right, Compensation, Life, Death, Constitution

* LLM, PhD (Lond.) BL, Chair, Committee on the Teaching of International Law, International Law Association, Nigerian Branch and Senior Lecturer, Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Benin, Nigeria. email: amos.enabulele@uniben.edu.ng

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CHALLENGES OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA

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Hakeem Ijaiya, Ph.D*

ABSTRACT

The Niger Delta Region of Nigeria produces a significant portion of the aggregate oil wealth of Nigeria. Since 1956 when oil was first struck in Oloibiri in Southern Nigeria, the Niger Delta region has accounted for over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s oil income. However, the region has perennially suffered from environmental neglect, crumbling infrastructures and services, high unemployment, social deprivation, abject poverty and endemic conflict. This has led to calls for oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to demonstrate the value of their investments to Nigeria by undertaking increased community development initiatives that provide direct social benefits such as local employment, new infrastructure, schools, and improved health care delivery. This paper examines the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that is, how companies manage their oil exploration and business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. It reviews the evolution and growth of the CSR concept under international law and the key institutions that have spearheaded this growth. Since the emergence of the CSR concept in Nigeria, it has been espoused mainly as an optional and non-obligatory responsibility for oil companies. There is currently no national law in the area of CSR. More so, many of the International Corporate Responsibility Instruments, such as, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; United Nations (UN) Global Compact and the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work are soft law instruments with less binding status in international law and by extension in Nigeria. This paper examines the need for a more coherent and binding recognition of the CSR principle in Nigeria. In a country such as Nigeria, where the principles and benefits of democratic governance are still fragile, there is a need for a dynamic and step-wise approach through which the CSR concept could be continually mainstreamed into national laws and policies. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Niger Delta, Environment

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VESSEL-SOURCED POLLUTION: A SECURITY THREAT IN MALAYSIAN WATERS

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Abdulkadir O.Abdulrazaq* and Sharifah Zubaidah Syed Abdul Kader**

ABSTRACT

Vessel- sourced pollution is one of the major sources of marine pollution and it encompasses accidental discharge of oil, intentional discharge of oil (like discharge from ballast tanks), chemicals, dumping, etc. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982 and some other conventions make provisions concerning protection of marine environment and this has the support of many other regional, national and global institutions. In Malaysia, the consent of the relevant authority is required for a discharge of oil that is above the quantity allowed under the law. However, despite the fact that there have been enormous regulations on the pollution of the marine in Malaysia, it appears that pollution by vessels is still on the increase. The legal framework stipulating conditions for discharge of oil at seas are well founded in many jurisdictions like Malaysia but some of the legal regulation appears to be inadequate, thereby threatening sea’s environment and causing the irreparable damage to marine resources and human safety. This paper considers the number of ships that traverse the straits of Malacca and the implications of pollution arising therefrom. It recommends for consent of the appropriate authority and a stiffer penalty for every discharge of oil by vessel in order to avert hazardous damage arising from pollution by ships.

Keywords: Vessel-Sourced, Pollution, Security, Threat, Malaysian, Waters.

* Ph.D (IIUM, Malaysia) LL.M, (O.A.U, Ile-Ife, Nigeria), LL.B (Ilorin, Nigeria), Lecturer, Department of Private and Property Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. Email-kor181law@gmail.com.

** SJD, (Bond, Australia), MCL, LL.B, Associate Professor of Law, AIKOL, International Islamic University Malaysia.

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LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA FOR BIOFUELS

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Evgenia Pavlovskaia*

ABSTRACT

This paper provides a legal analysis and review of the European Union (EU) sustainability criteria for biofuels, presented in Directive 2009/28/EC. The paper discusses the EU sustainability criteria as a tool that could be efficiently utilized to operationalize and implement the concepts of sustainable development and sustainability in an industrial setting. The results of the analysis highlight that to safeguard the sustainable quality of biofuels and their production, the list of the EU sustainability criteria should be elaborated further. Other criteria that regulate various aspects of environmental, social and economic sustainability need be added. For example, there is a need for further elaboration of the sustainable agricultural practices and tolerable use of water resources. Furthermore, as long as the EU requirements to fulfill the sustainability criteria have global impacts, the perspective of the involved actors from other regions and countries should be taken into account. Practical possibilities of the involved actors, their costs for the implementation of the sustainability criteria and regional differences should also be considered. More generally, the paper suggests that the list of sustainability criteria, incorporated in a legal framework, should neither be too long, nor too short. A long list is not easy to implement. For a short list, as illustrated by the EU, it could be difficult to guarantee sustainability. Consequently, to the extent possible, the legislated list of sustainability criteria should be complemented by non-binding recommendations, explanations and guidelines. Furthermore, before making the suggested sustainability criteria legally binding, possible conflicts between different interests and contradictions with the already existing regulations from neighboring spheres of law should be investigated as a matter of necessity. Keywords: Sustainability, Sustainability criteria, Biofuels, Directive 2009/28/EC.

* Evgenia Pavlovskaia, Ph.D. Candidate, Faculty of Law, Lund University, Sweden, evgenia. pavlovskaia@jur.lu.se.

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BIO PROSPECTING IN NIGERIA: EVALUATING THE ADEQUACY OF LAWS AND PRACTICES AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

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Chris Chijioke Ohuruogu* and Chukwudumebi Okoye-Asoh**

ABSTRACT

Bio-prospecting is a subject of interest especially as to its utility in environmental protection. It is the purposeful evaluation of wild biological materials in search of valuable new products and involves the application of advanced technologies to develop new pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, cosmetics, flavorings, fragrance, industrial-enzymes and other products from biodiversity. On the face of it, bio-prospecting is a major threat to the continuous flow of genetic resources. However when substituted with other consumption patterns or when properly regulated such that benefits derived from it are invested in technologies geared towards conserving the databank of the bio resources, or the provision of the needs of the local peoples whose practices mount undue pressure on the resources, it becomes a viable tool for resource conservation. This paper examines the regulatory regime of bio-prospecting in Nigeria from international and national perspectives to evaluate their adequacy. It also examines the environmental implications of the state of affairs and recommends the protection of the local peoples’ interest, and their involvement in strategic planning and policy formulation on bio prospecting, amongst others as a way of bio conservation to profit bio-prospecting.

Keywords: Bio-prospecting, environment, biodiversity

* Professor of Law, Department of Public and International Law, College of Law Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. Correspondence email: ccoh2008@googlemail.com.

** Legal Consultant, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

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SAFE DISPOSAL OF MUNICIPAL WASTES IN NIGERIA: PERSPECTIVES ON A RIGHTS BASED APPROACH

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Nnamdi Ikpeze*

ABSTRACT

The safe disposal of municipal waste is imperative for the realisation of several fundamental human rights, most especially the right to life and the right to a healthy environment. Nigeria is a signatory to and has ratified the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR). Ratification of the ACHPR comes with the attendant responsibility of maintaining a healthy environment. The entitlement to a healthy environment is also a constitutional right in Nigeria, albeit in a non-justifiable form. However challenges abound in the area of municipal waste management which negate the realisation, protection and fulfilment of the right to a healthy environment as enshrined in both the Constitution and the ACHPR. While rudimentary frameworks for waste disposal exist especially in the form of municipal and environmental laws and judicial remedies, poor funding, lack of modern scientific methods of waste management, treatment and disposal, the non-enforcement cum non-justiciability of laws and poor access to judicial remedies have resulted in the near-total failure of responsible municipal authorities to execute their mandate thus leading to an appalling state of affairs in the management of municipal solid waste in most parts of Nigeria. It may seem that the municipal authorities have contributed largely to the failure of the system by not improving capacity to meet with contemporary responsibilities. Furthermore, the prevailing piecemeal approach of treating safe disposal of wastes as an “add on” arguably demonstrates an institutional failure and inadequate understanding by authorities that without proper waste management, the realisation, protection and fulfilment of a number of social and economic human right in Nigeria will remain illusory. This paper discusses the need for a more human rights based understanding of the need for proper management and safe disposal of municipal wastes in Nigeria. This paper analyzes the existing legal framework on waste management in Nigeria and elaborates on relevant provisions of law, judicial decisions and legislative interventions that support a rights-based understanding of waste management and disposal in Nigeria; and concludes by recommending positive actions and reforms that could give impetus to a more robust and efficient waste management system in Nigeria.

Keywords: Nigeria, municipal, waste disposal, environment, environmental rights.

* LL.B, LL.M, B.L, ACI.Arb. Lecturer, College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Research Fellow at the OGEES Institute, ABUAD, Doctoral candidate at the Department of Public and Private Law, Faculty of Law, Nnamdi Azikiwe Universtiy, Awka, Anambra E-mail 1: pioneer183@yahoo.co.uk, E-mail 2: nikpeze@ogeesinstitute.edu.ng

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WORKABILITY OF THE NORMS OF TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY AGAINST CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA

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Simeon Igbinedion*

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the workability of the existing norms of transparency and accountability in the battle against corruption in Nigeria. Incontrovertibly, high level corruption pervades every nook and cranny of the country to the detriment of its citizens. Although anti-corruption norms exist in the Nigerian legal order, high profile corruption remains endemic, suggesting that the norms are unworkable. This paper argues that the unworkability of transparency and accountability norms in Nigeria is largely attributable to the contradictions, inconsistencies or deficiencies inherent therein. Consequently, the paper suggests ways of putting the norms to work against corruption in Nigeria.

Keywords: Corruption, Governance, Sustainable Development

* LL.B, B.L, LL.M, Ph.D: Lecturer, Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos; E-mail: sigbinedion@unilag.edu.ng. I am grateful to the two anonymous referees who reviewed and offered useful comments on the earlier draft of this article.

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INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT: LEGAL AND THEORETICAL BASIS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION IN NIGERIA

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Oyeniyi Ajigboye*

ABSTRACT

One of the primordial aims of international law is to foster international co-operation, peace, security and amicable relations among nations of the world. Internal conflicts, however, continue to pose threat to the international order and development globally. Consequently, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle has recently gained recognition as an emerging norm of international law that enjoins the international community to intervene when countries fail to protect their populations from mass atrocity crimes namely: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing. One of the key foundations of the emerging R2P norm is the principle of intervention which allows international action whenever it is necessary and justifiable to reduce or resolve internal conflict among the constituent States of the world. Despite the growing application of the norms of intervention in international law, its practical implementation and effects have been received with mixed feelings. There are especially, questions whether interventions really aid or hinder international peace and security, although it may be functional to avert apparent helpless situations. This paper examines the imperatives of intervention in internal conflicts and its continued relevance in international law. It also comments on the applicability and desirability of international intervention in Nigeria in response to the Boko Haram conundrum. It argues that although intervention is appropriate as it were to protect Nigerian citizens from Boko Haram in the apparent failure of the Nigerian government so to do, international intervention should be properly regulated to ensure that it is not used as a tool to jeopardize sustainable development in Nigeria as well as in other developing countries.

Keywords: Intervention, R2P, Internal conflicts, and International Law

* LL.M (Ibadan), B.L (NLS, Abuja), ACIArb.UK; Email: oyeajigboye@gmail.com.

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A REVIEW OF THE KEY PROVISIONS OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY BILL AND THE IMPLICATIONS ON DEREGULATION

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Olutumbi Abiodun Babayomi*

ABSTRACT

For many years, Nigeria has been classified globally as a fitting illustration of a nation suffering from the resource curse problem. This is because after decades of oil production, many parts of Nigeria have little or nothing to show in terms of social, environmental and economic development. In a bid to break loose from the resource curse classification, attempts have been made to upgrade the Nigerian oil and gas legal framework in order to boost real growth and development. The proposed legislation, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), is currently under legislative consideration and represents the most comprehensive review of the legal framework for the oil and gas sector in Nigeria since the industry began commercial operations in the 1960s. It could signal the dawn of a new era; an era in which restructuring and transformation could address many of the issues that have dominated the oil and gas industry in Sub-saharan Africa’s second-biggest economy. However, despite its radical promises, the PIB has constantly met a brick wall at the National Assembly. It then comes to question the reasons for this delay. If the proposed bill will do more harm than good to the country, why then has it been ingloriously delayed? This paper x-rays and reviews the potential contributions and key provisions of the PIB amongst other things for the stability and growth of the Nigerian oil and gas industry. It also comments on why the current brick wall facing the PIB must be rapidly addressed.

Keywords: Oil, Gas, Petroleum Industry Bill, Deregulation

* Final Year Law Student (LL.B Candidate), College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria.

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ARE WE THERE YET? A LEGAL ASSESSMENT AND REVIEW OF THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

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Evgenia Pavlovskaia*

ABSTRACT

Some of the most consistently utilized terms in international environmental law are “sustainable development” and “sustainability”. Sustainable development is mentioned in virtually every domestic, regional and international laws on environment, energy and natural resources. This has led to the contentions by some scholars that the concept of sustainable development has matured into customary international law, or at least has become a general principle of international environmental law. Many researchers, however, argue that the idea of sustainable development is vague, elusive and does not add much to the efficient implementation of international environmental law. This article aims to examine and discuss these views. In this paper, the content of the widely used concepts “sustainability” and “sustainable development” are studied from the perspective of their implementation in different parts of the world. The article examines the status of the concept of sustainable development under international law, its implementation across sectors, its key contributions to international law and how its practical actualization can be further strengthened. The article sets out with a broad inter-disciplinary review of the existing definitions of the concepts “sustainability” and “sustainable development”. The article will then examine examples of how “sustainability” and “sustainable development” are incorporated in contemporary environmental law, in order to highlight its current status under international law and its overall influence on different spheres of our life. Major difficulties and challenges associated with implementing and enforcing sustainability are also examined. It is suggested that market systems should be supplemented by political processes and legal regulations that include special mechanisms and tools to protect and control the health of the environment. Growing awareness of sustainability, primarily environmental, among produces is viewed in the article as a very positive trend. It is welcomed that more and more industries are engaged in sustainable production throughout the entire product life cycle. The use of such tools as sustainability criteria, sustainability standards and eco-labels must also be promoted.

Keywords: sustainability, sustainable development, implementing sustainability, industrial sustainability.

∗ Evgenia Pavlovskaia, PH.D Student, Law Faculty, Lund University, Sweden, email: evgenia.pavlovskaia@jur.lu.se