Right to a clean environment: The case for the people of oil-producing communities in the Nigerian delta

Journal of African Law

Volumn 41, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 43-67

  Okonmah, Patrick D ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BENIN   (Nigeria)

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EID: 38349109219     PISSN: 00218553     EISSN: 14643731     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0021855300009979     Document Type: Article

References (167)

1. Cap. 120, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1958.
2. Y. Omorogbe, “The legal framework for the production of petroleum in Nigeria”, (1987) 15 Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law 273.
3. G. Etikerentse, Nigerian Petroleum Law, 1st ed., London, 1985, 1.
4. Omorogbe, Nigerian Petroleum Law, 274.
5. M.A. Ajomo, “Law and changing policy in Nigeria's oil industry”, in J.A. Omotola (ed.), Law and Development, Lagos, 1987, 86.
6. L.A. Atsegbua, Nigerian Petroleum Law: The Acquisition of Oil Rights in Nigeria, Benin City, 1993, 6.
7. Omorogbe, Nigerian Petroleum Law: The Acquisition of Oil Rights in Nigeria, 274.
8. L.H. Schatzl, Petroleum in Nigeria, Ibadan, 1969, 3
9. (quoted by Atsegbua, Petroleum in Nigeria, p 6).
10. By s. 2 of the Mineral Oils (Amendment) Act, 1958.
11. Ajomo, Petroleum in Nigeria, 86.
12. Atsegbua, Petroleum in Nigeria, 9.
13. The Nigerian government owns 58% of six joint ventures with multinational operators that produce nearly all of Nigeria's oil from proven reserves of 20 billion barrels (see Financial Times, 26 May, 1995, 8). Government participation in Shell is 80% following the nationalization of the shares held by British Petroleum in 1979
14. (see Omorogbe, Financial Times, 278).
15. See Decree No. 33 of 1977 which repealed the NNOC Act, No. 18 of 1971.
16. Ajomo, NNOC Act, 87.
17. O. Yerokun, Legal Aspects of Structural Adjustment Programme in Nigeria, Lagos, 1989, 47.
18. Etikerentse, Legal Aspects of Structural Adjustment Programme in Nigeria, 62.
19. M.P. Donaldson, “The Texas response to oil pollution: which law to apply”, (1994) 25 St. Mary's Law Journal 535.
20. The Guardian, 11 January, 1995.
21. A.E. Ogbuigwe, “Compensation and liability for oil pollution in Nigeria”, (1985) 3 Journal of Private & Property Law 23.
22. A. Ibidapo-Obe, “Criminal liability for damage caused by oil pollution”, in J.A. Omotola (ed.), Environmental Laws in Nigeria, Lagos, 1990, 247.
23. Environmental Laws in Nigeria.
24. Ogbuigwe, Environmental Laws in Nigeria, 23.
25. See the “neighbour principle” as stated by Lord Atkin in Donoghue v. Stevenson [1932] A.C. 562.
26. F.F. Skillern, Environmental Protection: Legal Framework, New York, 1981, 9.
27. R.L. Ottinger, “Legislation and the environment: individual rights and government accountability”, (1970) 55 Cornell Law Review 670.
28. K. Kassim-Mombdu, “Legal aspects of ownership of natural gas in Nigeria”, (1988) 6 Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law 273
29. K. Adeniji, “State participation in the Nigerian petroleum industry”, (1977) Journal of World Trade Law 156
30. S.K.B. Asante, “Restructuring transnational mineral agreements”, (1979) 73 The American Journal of International Law 349.
31. O. Adewale, “The Federal Environmental Protection Agency and the petroleum industry”, (1992) 16 J.P.P.L. 51.
32. Federal Environmental Protection Agency Decree No. 58 of 1988.
33. J.P.P.L. s. 4.
34. See The Harmful Wastes (Special Criminal Provisions etc.) Decree No. 42, 1988.
35. W.V.H. Rogers, Winfield and Jolowicz on Tort, 13th ed., London, 1989, 359.
36. J.F. Fekumo, “Civil liability for damages caused by oil pollution”, in Omotola, Environmental Laws in Nigeria, 256.
37. M. Brazier, Street on Tort, London, 1993, 70.
38. Fekumo, Street on Tort.
39. S.D. Lar v. Stirling Astaldi (Nig.) Ltd (1977) 11–12 SC, 53.
40. Per Eso, J.S.C.
41. in A.E. Ipadeola and Ano. v. Oshowole and Ano. (1987) 5 SC 376, at 389.
42. See s. 234(f) of the Criminal Code Act, Cap. 42, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1958
43. s. 7(m) of the Public Health Act, Cap. 165, 1958.
44. See also Bernie Ivan et al., Consumer Protection, Environmental Law and Corporate Power, Toronto, 1985, 169.
45. See also Jimoh Lawani and Ors v. The West African Portland Cement Co. Ltd. (1973) 3 UILR, 459.
46. The decision in these cases clearly ignored the dictum in Ballard v. Tomlinson (1885) 29 ChD 115, where the court held that “where the nuisance is an interference with a natural right incident to ownership then the liability is a strict one”, especially as the defendant “knows or reasonably ought to have foreseen” that the plaintiffs will be damaged if oil escapes into their close
47. (see Lord Goff in Cambridge Water v. Eastern Counties Leather (1994) 1 All ER, 53 at 69).
48. Lord Atkin in Donoghue v. Stevenson.
49. (1976) 4 SC 85.
50. (1974) 2 RSLR 1.
51. See also Anthony Atubin v. Shell-BP Suit No. UHC/48/73.
52. Rylands v. Fletcher (1866) LR 1 Ex. 265.
53. LR, at 279–280.
54. Scrutton, L.J., in Smith and Ors v. Schilling (1928) LTR 475, at 478.
55. (1868) LR 3 HL 330.
56. See O. Adewale, “Rylands v. Fletcher and the Nigerian Petroleum Industry”, (1987/1988) 8&9 Journal of Private & Property Law 38.
57. Lord Moulton highlighted one of these exceptions in Rickards v. Lothian (1913) AG 263 at 280 when he said “It is not every use to which land is put that brings into play that principle. It must be some special use bringing with it increased danger to others, and must not merely be the ordinary use of the land or such a use as is proper for the general benefit of the community.” This exception is used to rationalize the fact that the inconveniences suffered by victims of oil pollution in the Niger Delta is the price they must pay for “national development”. See also below.
58. (1973) MWSJ 61.
59. Cap. 77, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990.
60. See Yinka Omorogbe, “Law and investor protection in the Nigerian natural gas industry”, (1996) 14 Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law 17
61. see also M. Kassim-Momodu, “Gas reinjection and the Nigerian oil industry”, (1986/1987) 6&7 Journal of Private & Property Law 69.
62. Journal of Private & Property Law
63. see Kassim-Momodu, Journal of Private & Property Law, n. 28, 268.
64. Omorogbe, Journal of Private & Property Law, n. 3, 284.
65. Journal of Private & Property Law.
66. See report by Nick J. Ashtonjones of Pro-Nature International, August 1994, 2.
67. See generally Amnesty International Report on Nigeria, November 1994
68. The Guardian, 4 January, 1995.
69. One major procedural impediment is the erroneous belief in the subsistence of the doctrine of state immunity which prevents the sovereign from being impleaded for tortious acts. This doctrine was derived from the feudal principles that the Crown could do no wrong, nor could he be sued in his own courts (see S. De Smith and R. Brazier, Constitutional and Administrative Law, 7th ed., London 1994, 680).
70. Although this doctrine was changed by the Crown Proceedings Act, 1947, in England making it possible to impose tortious liability on the Crown and its servants, state immunity continued to be pleaded in Nigeria as a relic of the colonial laws which applied direcdy to Nigeria by virtue of s. 45(1) of the Supreme Court Ordinance, 1893.
71. The fact that Nigeria adopted a Presidential Constitution in 1979, s. 42 of which whittled down the strict rules of standing to sue, did not prevent the doctrine of state immunity from being successfully invoked in the case of Ransome-Kuti v. Attorney-General of the Federation (1986) 2 NWLR 78, where the court upheld the plea on the ground that the alleged tort was committed before the 1979 Constitution came into force.
72. See generally Tunde Ogowewo, “The problem with standing to sue in Nigeria”, (1995) 39 J.A.L. 1.
73. O. Akanle, “Pollution control regulation in the Nigerian oil industry”, in Omotola, J.A.L, n. 6,2.
74. R. Desgagne, “Integrating environmental values into the European Convention on Human Rights”, (1995) 89 A.J.I.L 266, 267, 269.
75. So held the European Commission on Human Rights in Association X v. United Kingdom 14 Eur. Coram. HR Dec. & Rep. 31, 32 (1979).
76. F.Z. Ksentini, Human Rights and the Environment, preliminary Report, UN ESCOR, Hum. Rts. Coram., UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/9, 44
77. Art. 3
78. Art. 4
79. Art. 2(1)
80. Art. 4(1)
81. Art. 4
82. Michelle L. Schwartz, “International legal protection for victims of environmental abuse”, (1993) 18 Yale Journal of International Law 355.
83. Ksentini, Yale Journal of International Law, 45.
84. E. Hutchful, “Oil companies and environmental pollution in Nigeria”, in Claude Ake (ed.), Political Economy of Nigeria, London, 1985, 116.
85. Ogbuigwe, Political Economy of Nigeria, 23.
86. See also William A Shutkin, “International human rights law and the earth: the protection of indigenous peoples and the environment”, (1991) 31 Virginia Journal of International Law 478–479.
87. Hutchful, Virginia Journal of International Law, 126.
88. See ss. 34 and 35 of the Nigerian Constitution, 1979.
89. See Forward Nigeria, June 1996, 6.
90. Art. 16.
91. Ksentini, Art, 46.
92. See background paper prepared for the Commission on Sustainable Development, WHO March 1994, 1.
93. See UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 6 June, 1992, UN DocA/CONF. 151/5
94. (reproduced in P. Sands, et al. (eds.), Documents in International Environmental Law, Manchester, 1994, 50.
95. Brenda J. Nordenstam et al., “Right-to-know: implications of risk communication research for regulatory policy”, (1990) 23 University of California, Davis L.J. 334.
96. K. Webb, “Taking matters into their own hands”, (1991) 36 McGill L.J. 771
97. see also M.A. Schofield, “Access to justice and the right to a healthful environment in Canada: public participation in environmental decision making”, (1994) 3 RECEIL 232.
98. Hutchful, RECEIL, 125–128.
99. A. Uchegbu, “Economic rights-the African Charter on Human Rights”, in Omotola, RECEIL, n. 6, 161.
100. Rawls, in fact, elevates individual human rights over those of society, arguing that the individual rights being inviolable cannot give way to those of the public. C.F. Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Oxford, 1971, 3.
101. See “The relation of the individual to the state in the era of human rights”, (1989) 24 Texas International Law Journal 8.
102. A. Cassese, Human Rights in a Changing World, Cambridge, 1994, 25.
103. J. Feinberg, Social Philosophy, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1973, 70.
104. Hutchful, Social Philosophy, 114.
105. Social Philosophy, 117.
106. Social Philosophy, 115.
107. Hutchful, Social Philosophy, 119.
108. Ward & Duffield, Natural Resources Damages: Law and Economics, New York, 1992, 572.
109. Etikerentse, Natural Resources Damages: Law and Economics, 62.
110. “The public trust doctrine in natural resources law: effective jurisdictional interpretation”, (1970) 68 Michigan Law Review 479.
111. B.A. Weisbrod, “Problems of enhancing die public interest: towards a model of government failures”, in Public Interest Law, Berkeley, 1978, 31.
112. See generally Hurst Hannum, “Contemporary development in the international protection of the rights of minorities”, (1991) 66 Notre Dame Law Review 1446.
113. See the reports of Amnesty International, above
114. also Ksentini, reports of Amnesty International at 17.
115. E. Richardson, “Prospects for the 1992 Conference on the Environment and Development: a new world order”, (1991) 25 John Marshall LT, 1.
116. Robert R. Lohrmann, “The environmental lawsuit: traditional doctrines and evolving theories to control pollution”, (1970) 16 Wayne L.R. 1085
117. A.M. Sinjela, “Developing countries' perceptions of environmental protection and economic development”, (1984) 24 Indian Journal of International Law 489.
118. Note the views of Alfred Beckerman, “Economic development and the environment: a false Dilemma”
119. quoted in “Economic development and the environment: a false Dilemma”.
120. Quoted in “Economic development and the environment: a false Dilemma”., 493.
121. J. Donnally, “Third generation rights”, in C. Brolmann et al. (eds.), Peoples and Minorities in International Law, Martinus Nijhoff, 1993, 136
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123. “Human rights and the environment: common ground”, (1993) 18 Yale Journal of International Law, 227.
124. D. Shelton, “Human rights, environmental rights, and the right to environment”, (1991) 28 Stanford Journal of International Law 133.
125. Stanford Journal of International Law., 133–134.
126. Hereafter Stockholm Declaration, 1972.
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128. reproduced in Sands, Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Environment and Development, 50.
129. World Commission on Environment and Development (hereafter Brunddand's Report), 1987
130. quoted in P. Sands, Principles of International Environmental Law, Manchester, 1995, 198.
131. Sands, Principles of International Environmental Law, 199.
132. E.B. Weiss, “Our rights and obligations to future generations for the environment”, (1990) 84 A.J.I.L. 198
133. see also Principle 1 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration and the Philippines' case of Re: Minor Oposa v. Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (1994) 33 ILM 173.
134. Sands, ILM, n. 127, 199.
135. Principle 4 of Rio Declaration, 1992.
136. B.B. Conable, “Development and the environment: a global balance”, (1990) 5 Am. University Journal of International Law and Policy 235.
137. Lord Wedderburn, “The social responsibility of companies”, (1985) 15 Melbourne University Law Review 4.
138. A. Guobadia, “Defining corporate social responsibility for Nigeria's oil and gas sector”, (1991) 3 RADIC 473.
139. RADIC, at 474.
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141. Per Oputa, J.S.C.
142. in Nosiru Bella v. Attorney-General of Oyo State (1986) 5 NWLR 828.
143. Case No. 7615, Inter-Am. C.H.R. 24, 28, 33, OEA/Ser.L/V/11.66, doc. 10 rev.l (1985).
144. See E.H.P. v. Canada No. 67/1980.
145. See the Constitution Drafting Committee Report, 1978, vi.
146. A.V. Dicey, An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, London, 445–446.
147. J.I. Sax, “The search for environmental rights”, (1990) 6 Journal of Land Use & Envtl. Law 93
148. Greve, “The private enforcement of environmental law”, (1990) 65 Tulane Law Review 339.
149. Ottinger, Tulane Law Review, 670.
150. Banwasi Seva Ashram v. State of U.P. AIR 1987 SC 374.
151. E.F. Roberts, “The right to a decent environment; E = MC2: environment equals man times courts redoubling their efforts”, (1970) 55 Cornell Law Review 682.
152. (1951) AIR SC 226.
153. See also Mohammed Quareshi v. Bihav (1959) AIR SC 731
154. Chandra Bhavan v. Mysore (1970) AIR SC 2042
155. Minerva Mills Ltd. v. Union of India (1980) AIR SC 1789
156. the Nigerian case of Archbishop Okojie & ors. v. Attorney-General of Lagos State (1981) 1 NCLR 218.
157. See M.C. Mehla & ano. v. Union of India (1987) 1 SCR 819.
158. See Allen Tom, “Commonwealth Constitutions and Implied Social and Economic Rights”, (1994) 6 RADIC, p. 567.
159. (1987) LRC (Const) 351 (Ind. SC) at 368.
160. S. 16, Art. II of the Philippines Constitution, 1987
161. Art. 79 of the Colombian Constitution, 1991.
162. (See A.F. Aguilar, “Enforcing the right to a healthy environment in Latin America”, (1994) 3,4 RECIEL 215, for a list of Latin American countries with similar provisions in their constitutions.)
163. See also Ksentini, RECIEL, 81.
164. See the preamble to the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights, 1992.
165. Art. 24.
166. See T. Abayomi, “Continuities and changes in the development of civil liberties litigation in Nigeria”, (1991) 22 The University of Toledo Law Review 1035.
167. “Control of air pollution through the assertion of private rights”, (1967) Duke L.J. 1126.