AN APPRAISAL OF HUMAN RIGHT AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION OF OGONI LAND IN NIGERIA

Thesis Abstract

The right to healthy environment is closely integrated in the basic concept of human right, namely the 'dignity inherent to all members of the human family‟ But an environment depredated by pollution and defaced by the destruction of all beauty and variety as in the case of Ogoni land in Nigeria ,is harmful to physical and moral health. There is of course an integrals link between the right to healthy environment and other human right in general. Oil development has been going on in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria since 1957 and it comes at certain cost to the oil communities, the magnitude of which remains highly debatable. The task of assessing the precise impact of oil development in the Niger Delta region is daunting and often an impossible one. For most of the studies done so far including the UNEP report commissioned August 2011 are highly controversial. As they appear to largely influenced. Thus a study undertaken by environmental or human rights, NGOS for example, will lump most of the social and environmental problems in the are on oil development, while report of the oil companies always insist that their operation are conducted with the highest environmental standard and that oil development is not responsible for most of the environmental problems. Another most popular factor for the inability to determine the impact of oil development in the area, are farming, fishing. forestry and other activities. These activities combined with oil and gas development and the fragile nature of Niger Delta environment, pose great environmental dangers to the area and which in turn affect the socio-economic life of the people, which affect the right to life, health, work, dignities of human person ,privacy of the home ,education, among other rights .however it is sad to know that the right to healthy environment is yet to be enforceable in Nigeria ,as well as some other jurisdictions. In this project the writer intend to show the inevitable interrelationship between the right to a healthy Environment, which in the broader sense includes the right to information ,right to participate in decision making by people likely to be affected by such decision and right to available and effective demostic remedies to victim (such right is not yet understood and entrenched in the Bill of right of many jurisdiction) the attainment of all the entrenched right ,such as right to life, dignity of human person, right to health etc, that may be expressly guaranteed under the Bill of right in some jurisdiction .It is intended to show that since 1972 Stockholm conference and all the conventions, protocol and treaties signed pursuant thereto. .It can be shown that not many jurisdiction have it entrenched in their bill of right, the courts have to a very large extend recognize and uphelp the right to a healthy environment as a basic fundamental human right without which all other right Cannot be enjoyed. The project examine the impact of non inclusion of right to environment in the fundamental right in section of the 1999 constitution as amended.