The Nigerian Constitution provides for environmental protection in its chapter on Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy – Chapter II. Although provisions in that chapter are not justiciable, there are a number of statutes that can achieve the objective of environmental protection effectively if properly enforced. Also, the judiciary may ‘create’ an enforceable right to a clean environment from other existing rights. While waiting for the government to respond to calls for a constitutional amendment in favour of a guaranteed environmental right, it has become imperative to be pragmatic about the effective implementation of existing environmental provisions. This paper discusses the challenges and the opportunities of constitutional environmental protection in Nigeria. It will reveal the two major challenges plaguing environmental constitutionalism in Nigeria to be (a) the non-justiciability provision of the Constitution - section 6(6)(c); and (b) lack of political will due to prioritization of economic development over environmental protection. There are however opportunities in the same constitution that allow for the circumvention of the above challenges, namely, (a) the ‘harmonious construction’ of the fundamental rights to life and dignity; and (b) accessing environmental justice through the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure (FREP) Rules 2009.