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Environmental Law I Law 321 NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA SCHOOL OF LAW COURSE CODE: LAW 321 COURSE TITLE: ENVIRONMENTAL LAW I 1 Environmental Law I Law 321 COURSE CODE: LAW 321 COURSE TITLE: ENVIRONMENTAL LAW I COURSE WRITER/DEVELOPER: MR. ADEMOLA A. TAIWO, MA/LLM, BL COURSE EDITOR: PROFESOR L. ATSEGBUA AG. DEAN: IFIDON OYAKHIROMEN, PHD, BC COURSE COORDINATOR: MR. A. IGE, LLM. BL 2 Environmental Law I Law 321 MODULE 1 UNIT 1 CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Objectives 3.0 Main Content 3.1 Concept of Environmental Law 4.0 Summary 5.0 Conclusion 6.0 Tutor-marked Assignment 7.0 References/Further Readings 1.0 Introduction In this unit, students/readers will be introduced to the basic concept of Environmental law. Governmental participation by all tiers is inevitable if measures designed to protect the environment is to be effective. At this juncture, law has a key role to play regardless of technological or scientific design or devices. The main objective of preservation, conservation and maintenance of purify environment can only be achieved only if the law can be mobilized to operate in partnership with science and technology. 2.0 Objectives At the end of this Unit, students and readers alike should be able to know: (i) The meaning of Concept of Environmental Law in Nigeria (ii) Its dynamism and (iii) Development in the recent years. 3.0 Main Topic 3.1 The Concept of Environmental Law Environmental Law, no doubt, as a course, is the youngest course of study in any of the Nigerian Law Faculty’s Curriculum in any tertiary institutions, either Colleges, Universities, or/College or University of Technology. The issue of environmental law world over cannot be discussed in isolation of the key concept known as Envir onment. This word is the main core of this study and law comes in as an inevitable 3 Environmental Law I Law 321 concomitant to protect the environment by way of regulating and regularizing it against mis-use and abuse by the human elements (who are the anchors and beneficiaries of environment). Hitherto, the term ‘concept’ means ‘the idea underlying a class of things or the general notion of that thing in discussing the concept of environmental law, therefore, it suppl y means the general ideas/principles, rules and regulations, policies and programmes, the legal basis that lent credence to the need and eventual development of what we known today as Environmental Law. The essence of this course was described by one of the prominent legal luminaries at the Bar and Bench in well lucid way since its advent. It is no any other person than Honourable Justice Belgore JSc. Where he was expressing his joy in a seminar on environmental law posited as follows: “This gathering wi ll discuss the problem of the survival of this earth in relation to man made destructive things, nay, you are going to discuss the whole legal ramification of the environment in Nigeria, but you may discover you are thinking of life on the earth most of the time” In a similar vein, a former member of International Court of Justice (I.C.J), Honourable Prince Bola Ajibola corroborated the afore said opinion, that, it is the policy of the administration to vigourously pursue the protection of the Nigerian environment in order to preserve the quality of life of all citizens and conserve the resources for the benefit of future generations of Nigerians” The concept of environmental issue has taken a serious dimension worldwide and Nigeria is not excepted in the new horizon of not mere control, protection and management of environmental health problems but with legal policing. “The reason for this rapid paradigm shift in Nigeria in recent years may not be divorced from the dumping of harmful toxic waste materials in Koko in the Delta State (formerly part of Bendel State) in June, 1988 and the need to redefine our hinterto concept of the environment”. Although in 1970, the environment was described as ‘the issue of the year internationally” with this assertion, Nigerian national government was not gingered into action until the event of widely published Koko saga in 1988 tagged “Koko Toxic Waste Dump”. As if this was the only impetus awaited by the Nigerian government to spark off her action. Since 1988 national focus on the Nigerian environment and environmental programmes and policies cannot be over-emphasized. This fact was supported by late Chief F.R.A Williams (SAN) when he stated that “prior to 1988, legal and administrative measures covered mainly protective and preventive measures 4
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