Why environmental impact assessment fail in Nigeria – Expert
An environmentalist, Dr Kabari Sam of the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) has given reasons why environmental impact assessments fail in Nigeria and called for the amendment of the existing Act.
Dr. Sam, who is the centre’s head of environment and conservation gave the reasons on Friday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, during the a sensitization meeting for government agencies which drew participants from the state Ministries of Environment, Energy and Natural Resources as well as from HYPREP, NOSDRA and others.
In an interview with newsmen shortly after the sensitization meet, he said that “we’ve reviewed the existing EIA laws in Nigeria and have come to the conclusion that they’re not comprehensive and robust to cater for the different aspects of the environmental impacts when considering projects in the Niger Delta and Nigeria as a whole.
“And so, we’ve also compared what’s happening in Nigeria and what’s happening elsewhere in the world and we’ve seen that the impact assessments being conducted in Nigeria are very narrow and lean.
“What makes it leaner is because they’re not considering other aspects that are being impacted like human rights, gender and several others. And so,we’re advocating that the scope of EIAs in Nigeria should be increased to consider social, human rights and gender impacts assessments.
“So,instead of having just the environmental impacts assessments, we’re saying that what will be comprehensive for us as a nation is environmental, social, health, human rights and gender impacts assessments.”
He further disclosed that his organization and others pushed for a review of the existing Act to incorporate their suggestions, but couldn’t get it passed by the eighth National Assembly after public hearing had been conducted and that they hope to resurrect it again with the ninth National Assembly.
“We’ve the EIA Act enacted in 2002 and reviewed in 2014 or thereabout. Now, we’re requesting that that law; we started the process at the national level where we said that it should be broadened and name of the law changed to consider other aspects,” he stated.
