The paper focuses on fusion of traditional and modern environmental models and laws in Nigeria: a needful climate for investment. Nigeria is enveloped with solid waste in the drains, open spaces fronting public and private property, business offices, restaurant, food-is-ready etc. with attendant public health challenges.

1. FUSION OF TRADITIONAL AND MODERN
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MODELS
AND LAWS IN NIGERIA: A NEEDFUL
CLIMATE FOR INVESTMENT.
BY
Macaulay J. D. Akpan, L.L.B. (Hons) B. L.
(Hons) LL.M and Ph.D-Law (Ongoing)
Department of Accountancy , Akwa Ibom State
Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua and Facilitator, NOUN,
Uyo Study Centre.
•

2. ABSTRACT
The paper focuses on fusion of traditional and modern environmental
models and laws in Nigeria: a needful climate for investment. Nigeria is
enveloped with solid waste in the drains, open spaces fronting public and
private property, business offices, restaurant, food-is-ready etc. with
attendant public health challenges. This paper finds that the relevant legal
and regulatory frameworks currently in place have proved inadequate to
curb abuses to the human and natural environment in Nigeria. Also, the
paper finds that modern environmental model like Sustainability Science
does not recognize local knowledge in its quest to bring all stakeholders,
disciplines and professions together beyond the usual stereo-type social
science exclusivity, in order to find a more sustainable solution to emerging
environmental challenges like solid waste management in cities and rural
areas. This paper therefore recommends, among other things, the fusion of
both traditional and modern environmental models and laws in Nigeria, with
a view to rekindling environmental protection equity and stewardship
between the government and local people whose activities impinge against
good and friendly use of the environment.
KEYWORDS : Environment, Traditional and modern model, sustainiability
Science and local knowledge.
•
•

3. Introduction
• Traditional environmental protection model is based on and
relates to local knowledge of indigenous people and rural people
in Nigeria and other countries of the world .
• This local knowledge is a living law, and is customary law, which
is not only an inheritance but it is also inheritable from
generation to generation in the traditional settings.
• Nevertheless, education, religion and agricultural science of the
West have influenced to a greater extent the local knowledge in
several ways (both positive and negative) but have not been able
to erase it since the living law is arguably immutable.

4. Introduction contd.
• In this connection, modern environmental protection
model, which emphasizes sustainable utilisation of
environmental resources for the progress and health of
the present and future generations can be successful
and deepened if local knowledge of environmental
protection is integrated deliberately into the new
sustainability science model of environmental protection.

5. Aims and objectives
 This paper examines briefly, the traditional and modern solid waste
management practices and also appraises the Lagos and Akwa
Ibom States Waste Management Laws as case study.
 This work also examines the impacts of road designs and drainage
regulations in Nigeria on solid waste management in rural and
urban areas in Nigeria.
 Finally, this paper provides a proposal for legislative reform which
is premised on the principles of environmental responsibility, buy
back arrangement (just like the recall process whereby chemical
and plant industry reward individuals who return empty used plastic
containers) and sanctioning in the form of fines in order to curb
environmental impunity and thereby enthrone a clean and healthy
environment and also create investment climate in waste to wealth
culture in Nigeria - just like in Sweden.

6. Fusion of Traditional and Modern Solid Waste
Management in Nigeria
 In the olden days, waste which has severally been defined as
unused or discarded materials except with improvements for
further use, was relatively low and disposal of such waste or
refuse did not pose any significant challenge to both the
environment and human health.
 The rate of growth in population, economic activities, packaged
food and consumption generally was low vis-à-vis enough
available land for waste disposal.
 According to oral interview and transect, people in rural areas
traditionally practice solid waste management in form of
manure, burying and burning methods. For example, the rural
people also use cow dung and goat manure to plaster their mud
houses and as manure instead of allowing it to litter the
environment.

7.  From the discussion above on the role of traditional and modern
environmental protection models relating to solid waste
management in Nigeria, this work found out that there is a
disconnect between States environmental protection laws,
regulations, policy and regulatory bodies and the local people and
local knowledge in solid waste management policy formulation and
implementation across the States in Nigeria.
 The modern environmental protection laws, regulations and
policy need to incorporate local knowledge of environmental
protection responsibility on the one hand and the current
sanctioning or penalties provisions and buy back principle
currently adopted in extended producer responsibility (EPR) in
the EEE and UEEE arrangements in Nigeria.
 The inclusion of such initiatives or mechanisms will
ultimately create and promote, not only public private
partnership (PPP) but will also make the citizenry part of
the entire solid waste management value chain in all the
States in Nigeria, with the result that all waste will become
wealth and human and the environment in Nigeria will
become clean and healthy.

8. Lagos Waste Management and Authority Law (LAWMA)
 This law has twenty nine sections with one schedule only. This law
establishes an “Authority” called ‘the Waste Management Authority’
and saddles it with specific environmental functions.
 The Authority’s functions are supervised by a Governing Board
established under this law.
 This law contains some relative laudable and innovative provisions
which could drive and positively impact the Lagos State
environment, public health and the economy of the State.
 An examination of some provisions of this law will bring to fore the
relevance or otherwise of this law inspite of its revolutionary
posture against the provision of the Constitution.

9.  Section six of this law clothes the board established under this law –
whose functions include the supervision of the Waste Management
Authority created under this law, with the power to make regulations,
subject to the approval of the Governor, for the efficient
implementation of this law.
 The matters covered by such regulations are outlined in paragraphs
“A TO F” of this section. The section under review creates financial
provisions for waste removal, collection and other services to be
provided by the Authority in the State.
 These financial provisions contain terms, conditions and penalties
such as fines, price for the removal and collection of wastes by the
Authority or its agents, amount for issuance and renewal of licenses.
 The provision of this section has a mixed bag of utilities and
adverse impact on the State and the environment on the one hand
and on the residents in the State on the other hand.
 For instance, under this law, Lagos State Government will no
longer provide dustbins for public use in the cities, towns and
villages as this responsibility shall be assumed by owners or
occupiers of tenements in the State

10. Akwa Ibom State Environmental Protection and Waste
Management Agency
 This law has forty nine sections and two schedules respectively. In
terms of its provisions, this law deals with relative profound,
diverse, relevant and contemporary environmental waste
management matters in the State. In terms of governance structure,
unlike the LAWMA Law’s Authority which is supervised by an
independent Governing Board, the Akwa Ibom State counterpart
which is called an Agency is located within the Governor’s office
for control and supervision.
 The law creating the board provides for the composition of the
board’s Agency to include three representatives of Local
Government Councils who shall be nominated by the Conference of
Local Government Chairmen in the State.
 However, it is silent under this law whether the three chairmen may
also be drawn from the three senatorial districts in the State just
like in the case of LAWMA Law.
 Nevertheless, this law has excellent and laudable provisions which
if properly implemented could enthrone a clean, healthy and
sustainable environment in the State.

11. Impacts of Road Construction and Drainage Designs
Regulations in Nigeria
 Road serves as one of the various means of movement of vehicles and people from
one destination to another. Road is defined, however, as “a hard surface built for
vehicles to travel on”.
 In Nigeria, road construction is usually undertaken by the Federal, State and Local
Governments but as Federal trunk roads, and State Government roads. There is,
however, no provision for State roads under the Nigerian Constitution but Local
Government roads and streets.
 Generally, the sizes of drainage are determined by the area of the land and geological
or geographic information system (GIS). There is generally no specific size or
universal drainage size for rural township roads or highways due to differentiated
terrains information and data.
 However, there is a reprehensible attitude among most Nigerian citizens in both
rural and urban areas across the States and FCT, whereby people dump their
biodegradable and non-degradable waste in the drainages fronting their
residences, business places, developed and undeveloped-unoccupied property,
with attendant blockage of water passage in such drainages.
 This untoward practice constantly causes water to overflow from these
drainages across the roads into farmlands, residences and business places
and damaging human lives, property and the environment

12. Legislative Reforms/Concluding Remarks
 There are evidently intractable solid waste management
challenges across the States and FCT in Nigeria, with high
health, economic and social implications.
 This situation has remained damning in spite of the prevalence of
various efforts and laws on environmental protection to tackle
this menace.
 This calls for renewed effort by the governments at Federal, State
and Local levels in Nigeria, whose primary responsibility is the
maintenance of security and welfare of the people and ensuring
also the participation by all people in their government to carry
out reforms in the existing environmental laws on waste
management.
 These reforms focus essentially on the following critical areas:
 Solid waste generation, collection and recycling including
provision of dumpsites for certain wastes.
 Imposition of special environmental protection levy and fines on
individuals and body corporate for failure to clear blocked
drainages in front of private property with an order of court.

13.  Establishment of a joint state local councils and village heads environmental monitoring
committee.
 Amendment of traditional rulers’ law to vest in the traditional rulers in council the functions of
ensuring environmental protection among their subjects in each village.
 The evacuation of solid waste removed from the drainage regularly by the State Environmental
Protection and Waste Management Board or Agency as the case may be.
 The basic challenge of solid waste management in Nigeria, however, has to do with the waste
management governance as it affects or relates to inter-governmental relations among the three
tiers of government in Nigeria. For example, the National Environmental Standards Regulations
and Enforcement Agency (NESREA) established by the Federal Government through an Act of the
National Assembly, has under its statutory functions in the Act made 33 National Environmental
Regulations and one of which is to regulate waste disposal across the country.
 Also, the Constitution C23 LFN 2004, 4th schedule S. 1 vests waste collection and disposal in the
cities in the 774 Local Governments in Nigeria.
 The situation presently is that the Local Governments do not even have the financial wherewithal
to handle solid waste management, for example. This is so because the revenue accruing to them
is usually channelled through the “State Local Government Joint Account” provided in S. 162 of
the Constitution (supra) and the Governors of States in Nigeria have waylaid such fund to the
detriment of the Local Council.
 The Local Councils are therefore helpless because it is the Governors who are constitutionally
expected to handle the election of their officers into various offices. Therefore, there is a need to
take advantage of the ongoing constitutional review by the National Assembly to streamline such a
role as it affects waste management in the country in order to remove the current conflicts and
thereby create a climate conducive for waste investment in Nigeria.

14. THANKS
FOR
LISTENING