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20 See Legrand “The impossibility”, above at note 5 at 115.

21 G Teubner “Societal constitutionalism: Background, theory, debates” (2021) 15/4 International Constitutional Law Journal 357 at 360.

22 Id at 365.

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26 G Ajani “By chance and prestige: Legal transplants in Russia and Eastern Europe” (1995) 43/1 The American Journal of Comparative Law 93.

27 J Husa “Developing legal system, legal transplants, and path dependence: Reflections on the rule of law” (2018) 6/2 The Chinese Journal of Comparative Law 129; JW Cairns “Watson, Walton and the history of legal transplants” (2012–13) 41 Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law 638; N Garoupa and A Ogus “A strategic interpretation of legal transplants” (2006) 35/2 The Journal of Legal Studies 339.

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29 J Gillespie “Globalisation and legal transplantation: Lessons from the past” (2001) 6/2 Deakin Law Review 286 at 295.

30 JM Miller “A typology of legal transplants: Using sociology, legal history, and Argentine examples to explain the transplant” (2003) 51/4 The American Journal of Comparative Law 839.

31 SJ Heim “Predicting legal transplants: The case of servitudes in the Russian Federation (1996) 6 Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems 187 at 191.

32 JB Wiener “Something borrowed for something blue: Legal transplants and the evolution of global environmental law” (2000) 27 Ecology Law Quarterly 1295 at 1297.

33 C Alkon “Plea bargaining as a legal transplant: A good idea for troubled criminal justice systems” (2010) 19 Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems 355.

34 B Schafer “Legal transplants and legal downloads” (2001) 15/3 International Review of Law, Computers & Technology 301 at 311.

35 See Liljeblad “The nature of the disciplinary system” above at note 14 at 187.

36 OE Khalil and A Seleim “Culture and knowledge transfer capacity: A cross-national study” (2010) 6/4 International Journal of Knowledge Management 60.

37 MO Nwalutu “The dictum, Igbo enwe eze (Igbo has no king): Socio-cultural underpinnings for understanding the current Igbo peoples’ political dilemma” (2018) 9/1 Sociology Mind 86 at 90.

38 BA Adeyeye “African indigenous knowledge and practices and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals: Exploring its uniqueness for quality knowledge sharing” (2019) 1/4 Journal of Humanities and Education Development 147 at 149.

39 See id at 151.

40 JO Leke and EN Leke “Environmental sustainability and development in Nigeria: Beyond the rhetoric of governance” (2019) 14/1 International Journal of Development and Management Review 25 at 32.

41 B Archibong “Explaining divergence in the long-term effects of precolonial centralization on access to public infrastructure services in Nigeria” (2019) 121 World Development 123 at 127.

42 YA Collins et al “Plotting the coloniality of conservation” (2021) 28/1 Journal of Political Ecology, available at: <https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/180709/3/Collinsetal_2021_Plottingthecolonialityofconservation_Proof_V2.pdf> (last assessed 12 September 2023).

43 C Müller-Crepon “Continuity or change? (In) direct rule in British and French colonial Africa” (2020) 74/4 International Organization 707 at 712.

44 UJ Akpan “Economic diplomacy in Ibibioland: The pre-colonial perspective” (2019) 12/1 International Journal of Social Sciences 1 at 10.

45 Id at 15.

46 GE Odok “Commodification of forestlands and assault on indigenous knowledge within forest-dependent communities of Cross River State, Nigeria” (2019) 74/2 Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 126 at 129.

47 Id at 128.

48 SS Ibrahim, H Ozdeser and B Cavusoglu “Testing the impact of environmental hazards and violent conflicts on sustainable pastoral development: Micro-level evidence from Nigeria” (2020) 22/5 Environment, Development and Sustainability 4169 at 4171.

49 FU Asikhia Festus “Nigeria: The anatomy of her existence”, available at: <https://cutt.ly/8MMIXqo> (last accessed 12 September 2023).

50 I Bassey and CE Ekpo “Evaluating the place of the Ekpe traditional institution as a tool for nation-building in pre-colonial Cross River region” (2019) 4 Historical Research Letter 8 at 12.

51 S Ocheni and BC Nwankwo “Analysis of colonialism and its impact in Africa” (2012) 8/3 Cross Cultural Communication 46 at 55.

52 Id at 52.

53 O Nwodim and RU Adah “Colonial policies and post-independence development in Nigeria” (2021) 4/4 International Journal of Social Science and Human Research 795 at 799–801.

54 Ibid.

55 A Ogunba “An appraisal of the evolution of environmental legislation in Nigeria” (2016) 40 Vermont Law Review 673 at 675–78.

56 KC Nnadozie “Pollution control in Nigeria: The legal framework”, cited in Ogunba, id at 676.

57 SG Ogbodo “Environmental protection in Nigeria: Two decades after the Koko Incident” (2009) 15/1 Annual Survey of International & Comparative Law, available at: <https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/annlsurvey/vol15/iss1/2> (last assessed 12 September 2023).

58 BB Orubebe “Soil governance and sustainable land use system in Nigeria: The paradox of inequalities, natural resource conflict and ecological diversity in a federal system” in H Yahyah et al (eds) Legal Instruments for Sustainable Soil Management in Africa. International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy (2020, Springer) 97 at 101–03.

59 R Home “From cantonments to townships: Lugard's influence upon British colonial urban governance in Africa” (2019) 34/1 Planning Perspectives 43 at 50.

60 See Ogunba “An appraisal of the evolution”, above at note 55 at 677.

61 Now cited as cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004.

62 Id, sec 243.

63 Id, secs 244–45.

64 Ibid.

65 Id, sec 247.

66 N Cornelius, O Amujo and E Pezet “British ‘colonial governmentality’: Slave, forced and waged worker policies in colonial Nigeria, 1896–1930” (2019) 14/1 Management & Organizational History 10 at 25.

67 M Gandy “Planning, anti-planning and the infrastructure crisis facing metropolitan Lagos” (2006) 43 Urban Studies 371 at 375–78.

68 Ibid.

69 See Cornelius, Amujo and Pezet “British ‘colonial governmentality’”, above at note 66 at 28.

70 ON Njoku “Towards building Nigeria into a nation” (2019) 28 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 1 at 13–14.

71 E Akpotor “Crude oil exploration and exploitation in Niger Delta: A Christian concern” (2019) 7/2 International Journal of Innovative Development and Policy Studies 38 at 40.

72 A Nwozor “Depoliticizing environmental degradation: Revisiting the UNEP environmental assessment of Ogoniland in Nigeria's Niger Delta region” (2020) 85/3 GeoJournal 883 at 885–86.

73 T Bodo and BG Gimah “Oil crisis in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: Genesis and extent” (2019) 15/36 European Scientific Journal 141 at 149.

74 Now cited as cap 07, LFN 2004.

75 Id, preamble.

76 Emphasis added.

77 Oil Pipelines Act, sec 5(1).

78 Usman, Y “Green criminology and degradation of the environment by activities of multinational oil companies in Nigeria's Niger Delta” (2021) 9/12 Open Journal of Social Sciences 317 at 320CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

79 Now cited as cap H1 7, LFN 2004.

80 Id, sec 1.

81 Id, sec 13.

82 Id, sec 10.

83 Izoukumor, NA “A critical assessment of the pollution prevention laws and regulations of Nigeria: Why they failed to protect the environment of Nigeria” (2019) 87 Journal of Law Policy and Globalization 47 at 50Google Scholar.

84 Now cited as cap P10, LFN 2004.

85 Petroleum Act 1969, sec 1.

86 The Petroleum Products and Distribution (Anti-Sabotage) Act 1975, sec 2.

87 Cap L5, LFN 2004.

88 Cap R9, LFN 2004.

89 Cap E9, LFN 2004.

90 See Ogbodo “Environmental protection”, above at note 57 at 24.

91 The National Policy on the Environment has been revised a number of times, most recently in 2016.

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94 EC Enoguanbhor et al “Key challenges for land use planning and its environmental assessments in the Abuja city-region, Nigeria” (2021) 10/5 Land 443 at 445–46.

95 The roadmap to creating an environmentally conscious constitution in Nigeria began with the 1979 constitution. Although this constitution did not contain intuitive provisions on the environment or natural resource use, its specific provisions on refuse clearance and solid and liquid waste management may have set the pace for environmental management in Nigeria. However, with heightened environmental awareness and the environment becoming more of a political priority, it became imperative for the Nigerian apex law to reflect in definite terms its environmental consciousness.

96 The Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo 1992, sec 42 guarantees every citizen the right to a satisfactory and sustainable healthy environment with a duty to defend it. It further provides that the state shall regulate the use, protection and conservation of natural resources. The South African Constitution 1996, sec 24 not only covers a right to a healthy environment but one protected for the benefit of both present and future generations through legislative means. This constitution's reflection of sustainable natural resource use also stipulates the policy direction that these legislative means must take to guarantee a healthy environment for all. Any environmental legislation must first forestall pollution and ecological degradation, aggrandize conservation and, most importantly, secure the sustainable use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.

97 The section provides: “The judicial powers vested per the foregoing provisions of this section shall not except as otherwise provided by this Constitution, extend to any issue or question as to whether any act or omission by any authority or person or as to whether any law or any judicial decision conforms with the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy set out in Chapter II of this Constitution.”

98 It is important to note that, despite the restrictions placed on the justiciability of sec 20 by the reading it in combination with sec 6(6)(C), a number of judicial decisions are beginning to establish the importance of sustainable natural resource use. Two such cases are Jonah Gbemre v Shell (2005) AHRLR 151 and Centre for Oil Pollution Watch v Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [2019] 5 NWLR (pt 1666). These decisions are certainly laudable, but a significant impact is yet to be felt across the overall spectrum of sustained natural resource use in Nigeria.

99 Nwauzi, LO “How fundamental are the fundamental objectives and directive principles under chapter II of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999” (2017) 3/3 Donnish Journal of Law and Conflict Resolution 29 at 31–32Google Scholar.

100 Since 2007 when NESREA came into force, 35 sets of regulations have been made: National Environmental (Wetlands, River Banks and Lake Shores) Regs, SI No 26, 2009; National Environmental (Watershed, Mountainous, Hilly and Catchments Areas) Regs, SI No 27, 2009; National Environmental (Sanitation and Wastes Control) Regs, SI No 28, 2009; National Environmental (Permitting and Licensing System) Regs, SI No 29, 2009; National Environmental (Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing) Regs, SI No 30, 2009; National Environmental (Mining and Processing of Coal, Ores and Industrial Minerals) Regs, SI No 31, 2009; National Environmental (Ozone Layer Protection) Regs, SI No 65, 2022; National Environmental (Food, Beverages and Tobacco Sector) Regs, SI No 33, 2009; National Environmental (Textile, Wearing Apparel, Leather and Footwear Industry) Regs, SI No 34, 2009; National Environmental (Noise Standards and Control) Regs, SI No 35, 2009; National Environmental (Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Soap and Detergent Manufacturing Industries) Regs, SI No 36, 2009; National Environmental (Standards for Telecommunications / Broadcasting Facilities) Regs, SI No 11, 2011; National Environmental (Soil Erosion and Flood Control) Regs, SI No 12, 2011; National Environmental (Desertification Control and Drought Mitigation) Regs, SI No 13, 2011; National Environmental (Base Metals, Iron and Steel Manufacturing / Recycling Industries) Regs, SI No 14, 2011; National Environmental (Control of Bush / Forest Fire and Open Burning) Regs, SI No 15, 2011; National Environmental (Protection of Endangered Species in International Trade) Regs, SI No 16, 2011; National Environmental (Domestic and Industrial Plastic, Rubber and Foam Sector) Regs, SI No 17, 2011; National Environmental (Coastal and Marine Area Protection) Regs, SI No 18, 2011; National Environmental (Construction Sector) Regs, SI No 19, 2011; National Environmental (Control of Vehicular Emissions from Petrol and Diesel Engines) Regs, SI No 20, 2011; National Environmental (Non-Metallic Minerals Manufacturing Industries Sector) Regs, SI No 21, 2011; National Environmental (Surface and Groundwater Quality Control) Regs, SI No 22, 2011; National Environmental (Electrical / Electronic Sector) Regs, SI No 79, 2022; National Environmental (Quarrying and Blasting Operations) Regs, SI No 33, 2013; National Environmental (Control of Alien and Invasive Species) Regs, SI No 32, 2013; National Environmental (Pulp and Paper, Wood and Wood Products) Regs, SI No 34, 2013; National Environmental (Motor Vehicle and Miscellaneous Assembly) Regs, SI No 35, 2013; National Environmental (Air Quality Control) Regs, SI No 88, 2021 (amended); National Environmental (Control of Charcoal Production and Export) Regs, SI No 62, 2014; National Environmental (Dams and Reservoirs) Regs, SI No 66, 2014; National Environmental (Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides) Regs, SI No 65, 2014; National Environmental (Energy Sector) Regs, SI No 63, 2014; National Environmental (Healthcare Waste Control) Regs, B 2565–92, 2021; and National Environmental (Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PBCs) Control and Disposal) Regs 2020 B249–98. For further information, see the NESREA website at: <www.nesrea.gov.ng> (last assessed 12 September 2023).

101 Cap 164, LFN 2004. This act represented the first major initiative by a duly elected legislature to enact versatile environmental legislation to give effect to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, sec 20. It established NESREA to serve as the nation's lead agency on environmental protection.

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110 3 PLR/2010/59 (CA). See further Ogiale v Shell (1976) 4 NWLR (pt 445) 657; Agbara & Others v Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited & Others unreported suit no FHC/ASB/CS/231/2001; and Elf Nigeria Limited v Opere Sillo [1994] 6 NWLR (pt 350) 258.

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