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Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (Volume 12, No.1, 2010)
ISSN: 1520-5509
Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Clarion, Pennsylvania
URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
By: Adedeji Daramola & Eziyi O. Ibem
ABSTRACT
Nigerian cities are witnessing high rate of environmental deterioration and are rated among urban areas
with the lowest livability index in the world. It is estimated that between 20 percent and 30 percent of
the urban population enjoy decent urban life in the country. Although studies have identified various
environmental problems in Nigeria, little attention has been given to their implications for sustainable
development in literature. This paper therefore examined the causes and implications of increasing
environmental deterioration for sustainable development in the country. Relying on archival records and
observations, this paper identified colonial antecedents of Nigerian cities, rapid urbanization and poor
psychological orientation of residents as being responsible for the current situation. The paper
highlighted the three –fold effects on the human health, the economy and ecological system and
suggested that the application of planning, economic, legal, institutional as well as educational tools will
address the situation.
Keywords: Urban areas; environmental problems; population; urbanization; sustainable development;
Nigeria
Introduction
The world’s population is put at about 6.572 billion people out of whom the United Nations data
indicated that about 3 billion people (50 percent) live in urban areas (UNCHS, 2007). Whereas about 66
percent of the entire world’s population lived in the countryside in the early 1950s (World Bank, 2000;
IMF, 2006), current estimates show that by 2030, about 61 percent of the total population in the world
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will be living in cities; and that all the world’s increase in population in the next three decades will occur
in low and middle income countries (Peters, 2000:2; UNFPA, 2007). In view of the implications of the
increasing urban population for sustainable development in low and middle-income countries, the 2002
Johannesburg’s World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) called on all governments to
address the overwhelming challenge of provision of urban basic services especially decent houses, water
and sanitation for the teeming people in slums where the quality of life is appalling. While continents
like Europe and the Americas have stabilised their population growth and economy to a large extent,
most countries in African, Asia and Latin America have in the last few decades not been able to deliver
on their promises of alleviating the precarious state of living environment of their citizens (UN-
HABITAT, 2003).
Within the global context, Africa is generally assessed as a rural and the least urbanized continent with
the antecedent high rate of slum development, crime, underdevelopment as well as overpopulation.
However, in most recent time, current trends suggested that Africa’s rate of urbanization is two times
faster than Latin America and Asia (Tannerfeldt, 1995; UNCHS, 2007). Globally, rapid urbanization is a
major public health challenge for the twenty-first century and in Africa urbanization appears not to
have translated to proportionate economic growth and better welfare for the citizens (Kjellstrom and
Mercado, 2008). For instance, out of the twenty countries identified by the United Nations as possessing
the lowest human development index (HDI) in 2005, about 19 representing 95 percent are in Africa.
Within the sub-Saharan Africa for an example, there are well over 166 million urban slum dwellers,
which also represent about 71.9 percent of its total urban population, and thus there is increasing urban
poverty and low life expectancy in the region (UN-HABITAT, 2005a).
Conservative estimates indicated that within the next two decades, 87 percent of the population growth
in Africa will take place in urban areas out of which about 55 percent would be living in urban areas. In
view of the increasing environmental deterioration as a result of rapidly growing urban population
without proportionate economic growth, seven African cities were selected for the start up of the New
Partnerships for African Development (NEPAD) Cities Programme to address the situation. The cities
are Rabat in Northern Africa, Bamako and Lagos in West Africa, Durban in South Africa, Lusaka in
Southern Africa, Douala in Central Africa and Nairobi in East Africa.
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In Nigeria, Mba et al (eds) (2004) identified several types of environmental problems classified as
ecological, poaching and habitat loss, increasing desertification and soil erosion. These are further
subdivided into pollution, deforestation, global warming and slum development, etc. Nigeria’s coastal
regions are currently experiencing widespread contamination from petroleum exploration (gas flaring,
oil spillage) while the general poor living conditions in urban areas in the country constitutes an affront
to human dignity. However, Mba et al (eds.) (2004) were of the opinion that pollution from oil activities
should probably be given only a moderate priority in the light of Nigeria's other severe environmental
problems. They identified deforestation resulting from road projects, subsistence activities, logging,
mining, and dam construction as constituting the greatest threat to environmental sustainability in the
country.
In view of the above, this paper examines the adverse effects of environmental problems on sustainable
development in Nigeria. It addresses the causes of urban environmental problems and their effects on
humans and the surrounding ecological system. This paper hopes to explore the implications of the
increasing environmental problems spurred up by human activities for sustainable development. This is
with a view to making recommendations that might provide the road map to addressing the situation. It
is the opinion of the paper that the attainment of sustainable development will remain a mirage in
developing countries in general and Nigeria in particular if the current rate of urban population growth
and increasing environmental decay are not matched with proportionate economic growth and
environmentally friendly development practices.
Conceptual Framework
The concept of environment (Singh, 2003) has been viewed from diverse perspectives and defined in
various ways. The variety of definitions and conceptions of environment is closely linked to the fact that
the study of environment is multi-disciplinary, and thus each discipline tended to develop and adopt
definition(s) in line with its interest. This multiplicity of definitions, concepts and usage of the term in
various disciplines was clearly captured by Porteous (1977:139) when he stated that:
“the multiplicity of the usage and concept of the term environment have resulted in a
variety of adjectival forms which include social environment, molar environment,
physical environment home environment, psychological environment, behavioral
environment geographical environment” (Porteous, 1977:139).
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For instance, Bain, a sociologist defined environment as all the external and non personal conditions and
influences that affect the welfare of a people in a given area (Bain, 1973:9). Hagget, a geographer, on
the other hand, defined environment as “the sum total of all conditions that surround man at any point on
the earth’s surface” (Efobi, 1994:1), while the Federal Environmental Protection Agency in Nigeria
(FEPA) stated that the environment includes water, air, land, plants, animals, and human beings living
therein, and the inter-relationships that exist among them (FEPA, 1989). However, a more
comprehensive and all embracing definition was offered by Keller who defined the environment as:
“total set of circumstances that surrounds an individual or a community, these
circumstances are made up of physical conditions such as air, water, and climate
and landforms; the social and cultural aspects such as ethics, economics, aesthetics
and such circumstances which affects the behaviour of an individual or a community”
(Efobi, 1994:1)
From these definitions, environment can be viewed as all physical, non physical, external, living and
non living situations surrounding an organism or groups of organisms that determine the existence,
development and survival of organism(s) at a particular time. It encompasses constantly interacting sets
of physical (natural and man made) elements and non-physical, living and non-living (e.g. social,
cultural, religious, political, economic) systems which determine the characteristic features, growth and
sustainability of both the component elements of the environment and the environment itself (Johnson,
1992; Muoghalu, 2004).
Sustainability in this context relates to the ability of the environment to meet the basic requirements for
the sustenance of the living and non- living components of the ecological, economic and socio-cultural
systems in a manner that does not limit the possibility of meeting the present and future needs of the
various components and aspects of the environment. It can also be viewed as the carrying capacity of the
supporting ecosystems (Marcuse, 1998:105). Evidences suggested that the prevailing global
environmental degradation poses serious threat to sustenance of carrying capacity of the ecosystem
(Marcuse, 1998; Peters, 2000); hence environmental sustainability have taken priority position in
housing, infrastructure provision, planning, land use and urban development among others (Salama &
Alshawaikhat, 2005; Aribigbola, 2008). Although, Marcuse (1998) was of the view that sustainability
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should not be considered as goal for housing or urban programmes on the account that many of bad
housing or urban programmes are sustainable. However, recent development indicated that
environmental sustainability is interwoven with urban development and housing programmes (Peters,
2000; Aribigbola, 2008).
According to the Bruntland Report, sustainable development is “the development that meets of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs need
development” (WCED, 1987:43). This suggest that the principal goal of sustainable development is
meeting present human needs in such as way that will not jeopardize the potential of posterity to meet
their needs . Viewed from a holistic perspective, Wiedenhoeft (1981) and Padisson (2001) noted that
sustainable development entails the attainment of equilibrium among three contending sub-systems
(economic, social-cultural, environmental).
Urban areas as centres of arts, culture, education, entertainment, technological innovations, providers of
specializes services and “economic engines” (Udeh, 1992; Okeke, 2002; Kadir, 2006; Kjellstrom and
Mercado, 2008) are products of urbanization which come with far reaching economic, socio-spatial and
health implications (Acho,1998; Marmot, 2006). Adedeji (2005:126) noted that sustainable development
as applied to urban areas is the ability of the urban areas and their regions to continue to function at
levels of desired quality of life by communities without limiting the options available to the present and
future generations and resulting to adverse impacts within and outside their boundaries. However, Peters
(2000:1) noted that the ecological and sociological “footprint” of cities has spread over ever-wider area
and that fewer places on the planet earth are unaffected by this phenomenon. Changes in the ecology of
urban environment occasioned by increasing population, overcrowded habitations and uncontrolled
exploitation of natural resources may accounted for this wide ecological footprint of urban areas which
is not peculiar to developing countries (Stoel, 1999; Hales, 2000). Hales, (2000:11) however, observed
that the pace and scale of growth have outstripped the capacity to maintain acceptable standards of
public health, environmental safety and sustainable economic growth in urban areas in less developed
nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
In Nigeria, for instance, several studies (Rashid, 1982; NEST, 1991; World Bank, 1992; Anih, 2004;
Muoghalu & Okonkwo, 2004; Ijioma & Agaze, 2004; Nduka, 2004; Mba, 2004; Bulama, 2005;
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Ojeshina, 2005; UN-HABITAT, 2005b) have identified many of the environmental problems (Table 1)
as having serious adverse socio-economic and ecological implications. A majority of these problems, it
is argued are traceable to a number of factors. These include the colonial antecedent of most Nigerian
cities (Ogbazi, 1992: 13; Ikya, 1993), the high rate of urbanization (Figure 1; NEEDS, 2004), the bad
psychological orientation of urban residents on the environment as well as poor environmental
management practices (Meale, 1991; Agukoronye, 2004). Agbola and Agbola (1997) and Areola (2001)
clearly indicated that the spatial structure of Nigerian cities evolved before, during and after the colonial
rule in the country made the introduction of modern infrastructural facilities very difficult and expensive
especially when dealing with areas having the bulk of ancestral homes of indigenous people. It is also
suggested by demographic experts that the high rate of urbanization put at 5.3 percent in Nigeria which
is among the highest in the world has the tendency of spurring up environmental degradation (Goldstein,
1990). Closely related to this is the fact that most urban areas in Nigeria have grown beyond their
environmental carrying capacities and existing infrastructure (National Population Commission, NPC,
1998). For instance, the 2006 National population census data (FRN, 2007) revealed that most of the
urban areas in Nigeria with small land mass have their capacity to take further population increase
already exhausted or extremely limited. With a population figure of more than 140 million and land
mass of about 924,000 Km2, current estimates indicated that 10 percent of the land area accommodated
28 percent of the country’s total population (Taylor, 2000). The implication of this is that there is
disequilibrium between the population and the environment, and this has adversely affected the carrying
capacity of the urban areas in the country; hence the increasing poor quality of the living conditions and
the low livability index of urban areas in Nigeria.
Generally, environmental problems are mostly due to developmental processes and are of local, regional
and global effects. These effects are viewed as consequences of human activities, and are most often
harmful on human beings, livelihoods, animal and plant lives presently or transferred to posterity
(Simond, 1994; Acho, 1998; Danish International Development Agency, 2000; Kjellstrom and Mercado,
2008). This has far reaching implications on sustainable development, most especially in the face of
declining economic fortunes. Therefore, urban environmental issues will continue to dominant
sustainable development agenda in developing nations in particular and the world in general in the next
few decades.
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Methodological Approach
The bulk of the data used in this paper was derived from archival sources (Nwabughuogu, 1984) and
content analysis of different research findings (Okewole, 1999) in relation to environmental problems
due to impacts of human production and consumption activities in major urban centres in Nigeria. Also
a good proportion of the data were those complied through observations in the course of involvement in
physical development as architects, as well as teacher–student interactions in urban settings in Nigeria in
which the authors have been involved over the years.
Sources and Effects of Urban Environmental Problems in Nigeria
Nigeria is a predominantly urban country. About 50 percent of the population already lives in urban
areas. The prevalent environmental problems identified in this paper to be associated with human
activities which constitute serious threat to sustainable development in urban areas in the country are as
indicated in Table 1.
Table 1: Sources and Effects of Environmental Problems
Environmental
Problems Sources Effects
Slums and Squatter
Developments Rapid urbanization due to rural-
urban migration and natural
population increase (Abiodun,
1985); inadequate housing and
infrastructure; legal dualism in land
administration and control. Lack of
proper monitoring of physical
development activities in urban
areas
Enhances rapid deterioration of physical
environment and provide breeding ground
for prostitutes, criminals and social
miscreants. They constitute affront for
human dignity with associated adverse
health implications on residents, and thus
negate the goal of environmental
sustainability.
Urban Sprawl Absence of updated master plans;
uncoordinated spatial urban
growth; decay of inner cities; land
speculation and rapidly growing
urban population
Depletion of green areas and open spaces
resulting in the loss of biodiversity, air
pollution and traffic congestion due to
increasing use of private automobiles.
There is also the issue of incompatible land
use due to lack of planning and haphazard
developments.
Pollution (land, air
water) Inefficient waste management
systems, emissions from
automobiles, industrial plant and
power generating sets; gas flaring
Pollution general poses health risks to
humans, terrestrial and aquatic lives. Land
pollution through indiscriminate disposal
of solid wastes provides breeding grounds
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(Figures 2 & 3); bush and refuse
burning; solid and liquid minerals
extraction activities and agro-
chemicals. Weak institutional and
regulatory framework for enforcing
appropriate legislations
for infectious disease vectors, while air
pollution results in acid rains which
destroy buildings and infrastructure. Oil
spillage is a threat to the livelihood of oil
producing communities. While air
pollution contributes to global warming by
depleting the ozone layer
Urban Flooding Absence of efficient storm water
discharge system; ocean surge due
to rise in sea level, extensive use of
hard landscape elements;
reclamation of swamps and natural
storm water swales for building
construction. Physical development
on natural flood plains and non
adherence to physical development
regulations result to flooding in low
lying cities like Lagos and Port
Harcourt
Destruction of human lives, properties and
means of livelihood as well as public
infrastructure, leading economic losses.
Destroys plants and animal lives, and thus
leading to destabilization of the ecosystem
which comes with adverse consequences.
Erosion Indiscriminate destruction of
vegetations for fuel and
construction materials.
Construction, installation of
infrastructure, agriculture and
mining activities
Threat to human lives, means of
livelihoods and infrastructure as well as
loss of land areas and reduction in
biodiversity.
Sources: (Omiunu, 1981; Rashid, 1982; Olarinan, 1983; Odemerrho, 1988; NEST, 1991; World Bank, 1992; Anih, 2004;
Muoghalu and Okonwo, 2004; Ijioma and Agaze, 2004; Nduka, 2004; Mba, 2004; Bulama, 2005; Ojeshina, 2005;
UNHABITAT, 2005b)
Key Environmental Issues and Challenges in Achieving Sustainable Development
Urban environmental problems in Nigeria are multi-faceted and are associated with the colonial
antecedents of Nigerian cities, urbanization and issues that come with developmental challenges, urban
production and consumption patterns and psychological orientation of urban residents as well as
institutional failures (Table 1). These problems pose serious environmental, economic and social
challenges to achieving sustainable development in the country.
From all indications, various administrations in Nigeria-colonial, military and civilian placed very little
importance on environmental issues. The essence of sustainable management of environmental
resources and their harmonious relation with nature have been not been given adequate attention for
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decades. The lack of political will within the public sector to address environmental problems remains
one of most intricate problems in the country. A typical example of this can be seen in the issue of end
to gas flaring and oil spillage in the Niger Delta Region, where environmental problems due to oil
exploration have inflicted tremendous damage on the ecosystem, health and livelihood of the people of
this region.
In the face of increasing urban population, there is inadequate supply of housing and infrastructure for
the teeming population, as a result, the existing infrastructure and housing are overstressed, while
unsanitary living conditions characterized by filthy environment, unclean ambient air, stinky and
garbage filled streets and sub-standard houses continue to dominate the urban landscape in Nigeria.
The concentration of more people in urban areas of the country has brought more pressure on the land
space for the production of food, infrastructure, housing and industrialization. This affects the carrying
capacity of the environment as each additional person increases the demand on the infrastructure and
natural system and as result creating ecological imbalance which comes with adverse environmental
consequences such as hazards and disaster. In this circumstance, attempts to address the situation are
difficult and capital intensive, because rapidly growing population does not provide ample room for the
introduction of new and innovative approaches to tackling the problems. This paper does not argue
against population growth rather its concern is that there should be a corresponding socio-economic
growth. The graph in Figure 1 represents appraisal of six countries with growing population. India and
China have astronomical population increase; they are followed by the USA, Pakistan, Indonesia and
Nigeria in that order. While China’s population is growing, there are corresponding growths in their
economy. This has brought about a balanced social growth in the country. This also goes for the United
States of America. But, growing population in Nigeria is associated with negative economic growth,
and this requires special attention.
As vast majority of urban residents in Nigeria suffer from severe deficiencies in the supply of basic
infrastructure and housing, industrial, mining and domestic activities generate dangerous level of air,
land and water pollution, endangering human lives and causing serious damage to the ecosystem.
Statistics show that a majority of urban residents in the country fall within the low-income group. This
income class is the most vulnerable group to prevalent environmental problems such as diseases
associated with lack of access natural to resources and basic urban services and pollution. They also
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suffer the consequences of absence of inappropriate urban planning and management systems, and thus
live in disaster prone areas of the cities. These ultimately impacts on their quality of life, health, and
consequently reduce their productivity and economic development capacity.
In the of loss of biodiversity, the World Fact Book 2005 for instance, identified Nigeria as one of the
countries with the highest rates of forest loss (3.3 percent) in the world. Since 1990, the country has lost
some 6.1 million hectares or 35.7 percent of its forest covers. The record also indicated that Nigeria's
most biodiversity ecosystems are fast depleted at an unbelievable rate. For an example, between 1990
and 2005, the country lost a staggering 79 percent of these forests and since 2000 Nigeria has
consistently been losing an average of 11 percent of its primary forests per year. These constitute serious
challenge to environmental sustainability. The various species of plants and animals that are required to
establish and sustain the various food webs and chains as well as natural cycles are systematically being
depleted and thus resulting in ecological imbalance and threatening the survival of man in the
environment.
In the social context, environmental problems pose serious threats to the social well being of a majority
of urban residents in Nigeria. Apart from general health implications of environmental problems, there
are tendencies of the problems affecting the psyche of the people. For instance, residents of urban slums
are known to show deviance attitudes, apathy to government programmes and anti-social values (e.g.
prostitution, crimes, and juvenile delinquency). Most importantly, social indicators in Nigeria are
something of a paradox. The country is rich in natural endowments but the people are living in abject
poverty. This paradox is especially evident because the vast resources and windfall of oil wealth have
not translated to enhance quality of life. Statistics indicated that in 2003, on the highest scale of 1.0,
Nigeria had Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.453 as compared to that of other oil producing
nations such as United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Libya, Venezuela, and Indonesia which had the HDI
values of 0.800, 0.844, 0.799, 0.772 and 0.697, respectively (UNDP, 2006). This is an indication of the
poverty level and low life expectancy in the country.
Furthermore, environmental problems are inimical to social equity and welfare with respect to
accessibility to social infrastructure and job opportunities. It is argued that urban poverty in Nigeria has
strong links with underdevelopment and environmental degradation. Environmental problems have for
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instance in the Niger Delta Region resulted in loss of job opportunities, increased poverty level, social
exclusion and loss in cultural heritage. Many agricultural lands and fishing waters have been polluted,
and the people are denied means of livelihood. As a result, a majority of the people feels reluctant to
participate in economic development activities; instead they have chosen the part of militancy in the
quest for resource control.
The inability of Nigerian cities to cope with increasing environmental challenges has also shown
manifestation in poor economic growth and development. Rapid growth of cities due to urbanization has
led to the emergence of low-income informal settlements both in the inner-city and on the outskirts. This
development accounted for the over bloated informal sector. The domination of the national economy by
the informal sector that is characterized by subsistence economic activities known for low productivity
and income, operating in unregulated and uncompetitive markets outside government approved
guidelines has far-reaching implications for sustainable economic development. A large proportion of
businesses operating in informal settlements in urban areas in Nigeria hardly pay tax, have no financial
records, do not form part of government statistical records, and have limited or no access to formal
credit facilities . Coupled with an inefficient infrastructure network and unwholesome operating
environment, industrial production is low, while manufacturing continues to contribute less than 15
percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria. Consequently, Nigeria’s major development
challenges which have to do with acceleration of economic growth , reduction of the level of poverty
and improvement of environmental quality continue to grow unabated, and thus achieving the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and beyond in the country is a mirage.
Urban and rural population will be increasingly interdependent for their economic, social and
environmental well being in Nigeria. By 2015, more than half of the country’s population is expected to
live in urban centers. With an urbanization rate of about 5.5 percent per annum (Nwaka, 2005), it is
anticipated that the urban population would have reached 65 percent of the total population. Therefore,
unless appropriate actions are taken, environmental decay is set to rise, and this poses serious threat to
sustainable development because Nigeria’s economy and society largely depends on its ecology for food
production, power generation and source of raw materials for industrial activities.
Recommendations
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The NEPAD initiatives, National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS) and
Vision 2020 have gradually embraced a new concept of sustainable development in the face of rapid
urbanization and increasing environmental problems in Nigeria. These strategies embrace relationship
between all human settlements, from small urban centres to metropolises, and between towns and cities
and their surrounding rural areas. As intractable these approaches may appear, they are potent, dynamic
and desirable forces for development. For these initiatives to produce the desired impact in Nigeria, they
must adopt strategies that would make significant impact on problems and issue related to urbanization,
attitudinal orientation and lapses in legal and institutional frameworks in environmental management.
Based on these, this paper offers the following suggestions in addressing these issues.
• Rural –Urban migration remains one of the major contributors to the ever increasing urban
population growth in Nigeria; this is probably due to the perceived wide gap between the urban
and rural areas in terms of job opportunities and availability of basic infrastructural facilities.
This infrastructure gap has to be bridged through comprehensive rural infrastructure provision.
There is urgent need for the government to enter into partnerships with Community-Based
Organizations in rural infrastructure provision. This will promote the establishment of agro-
based industries, provide incentives for younger people to go into agricultural activities and
make life worth living in rural areas. These will eventually reduce the number of immigrants to
the urban areas and consequently cut down on the rate of urban population growth.
• Similarly, increasing the environmental carrying capacity is necessary for enhancing the
livability of urban areas in Nigeria. Massive rehabilitation and expansion of urban infrastructure
stock in the country should be taken more seriously. Collaborative efforts among of all
stakeholders in taking advantage of the existing economies of scale in our urban areas in
improving the infrastructure stock are inevitable. The concept of Public-Private Partnerships
(PPPs) in the provision of urban infrastructure should be adopted. Slum areas in urban areas in
the country should be revitalized, or remodeled through the introduction of basic infrastructure
services and incorporation of mix-use development to enhance property values, and thus
checking further deterioration of such areas.
• Remodeling of urban transport system from automobile -based to pedestrian, bicycle and mass
transit (e.g. intra-city and inter-city) systems is a worthwhile venture. This will reduce the level
of dependence on single passenger automobiles, and consequently reduce the problems of air
pollution, traffic congestion and high energy consumption (See Figures 2 and 3) .The
136
imposition of special tax on private cars in certain parts of cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt,
Abuja, Kano, Ibadan, Enugu and other major cities at various times will definitely help to
achieve this objective. Furthermore, appropriate legislations should be put in place to check
indiscriminate discharge of industrial wastes (gas, liquid, solid), while the relevant regulatory
institutions and agencies should be empowered to monitor the level of compliance and mete out
appropriate sanctions to offenders.
• The provision of both closed storm water drainage (curbs, gutters, catch basins, underground
pipes, culverts, inclined channels) and open drain systems (swales, filter strips) as adequate
monitoring of physical developments will check perennial urban flooding in Nigerian cities.
Development along flood plains, drainage channels infrastructure easements and flood prone
areas should be avoided. Development Control Authorities (e.g. Town Planning and Capital City
Development Authorities) should enter into partnerships with the private sector to ensure that
physical development legislations are strictly adhered to by developers.
• Plants have been found to be beneficial to man not only as food but also as natural source of
oxygen. In addition, they provide shades from sun, beautify the environment and protect the soil
from erosion. To maximize these benefits, there is need to increase the level of the green areas
and open spaces in urban areas by encouraging the preservation of green areas and open spaces.
For these reasons, the annual tree planting exercise, agro forestry, and community-based
conservation schemes should be taken more seriously, and people should be encouraged to plant
trees, ornamental plants and establish horticulture gardens around their buildings. While the use
of hard landscaping element around buildings, bush burning and illegal mining activities should
be discouraged.
• Going by the level of construction activities that go on in this country, there is need for effective
monitoring by the relevant authorities of every construction activity to make sure that such does
not have adverse effects on the environment within, around or distance from the construction site
.The relevant provisions dealing with this issue in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
Act 86 of 1992 should be strictly enforced. Also, the construction industry need to imbibe the
concept of “green/eco-construction” in devising new methods and develop new materials that are
not injurious to the environment and does not constitute health hazards.
• Solid waste management in urban areas seems to have engaged the attention of government at
all levels in Nigeria. Despite the establishment of waste management agencies, the problem of
137
solid waste management persists in urban areas in the country. Therefore, Public- Private
Partnership or out right privatization of urban waste management activities should be explored.
By this arrangement, the private organizations should be involved in house –to-collection and
disposal of refuse at the expense of the households. The establishment of waste treatment or
recycling plants and the use of the products for agricultural purposes should be looked into.
• It is argued that Nigeria never lacked good policies, legislations and institutional frameworks
but good implementation has always been the crux of the matter. The failure of existing laws and
institutions to make significant impacts in protecting and preserving the environment may be
have been due to poor legal frameworks, poor funding and lack of adequate manpower.
Therefore, the reorganization of environmental management institutions has become most
expedient. This to ensure horizontal and vertical coordination among the institutions. Similarly,
all legal ambiguity, lack of qualified personnel, inadequate funding should be addressed. The
private sector should be encouraged to make significant contributions in capacity building in
environmental management institutions. This will enhance the capacity of the institutions to
enforce environmental laws and physical development regulations, and thus reducing the rate of
illegal developments, contravention of planning laws, street trading and indiscriminate dumping
of refuse in unauthorized places.
• The psychological re-orientation of the people toward proper environmental management
practices is central in developing environmental consciousness in individuals. To this end,
environmental education such as public enlightenment campaigns in the mass and print media,
churches, mosques, and community-based organizations is highly needed. Similarly, the
introduction of environmental studies into the curriculum of the educational system at all levels
will most likely contribute to creating the desired environmental awareness, and thus reducing
unfriendly environmental practices (e.g. indiscriminate dumping of refuse on the roads, drains
and unauthorized locations, defecating in the open field) in Nigerian cities.
• Built environment professionals (e.g. architects, urban planners, estate managers, builders,
engineers, etc) have a role to play in creating environment that does not jeopardize peoples’
health and well being. They should accept the responsibility of being the “watch dog” over the
environment in making sure that they use their professional expertise to protect the environment
for the present and future generations. Through appropriate design, construction and
138
management solutions, significant result in environmental sustainability and by extension
sustainable development can be achieved.
Conclusion
Urban environmental problems are of different dimensions and are mostly due to geologic, climatic and
cultural factors. However, the cultural factors seems to be more pronounced in the Nigerian context
because most of the identified urban environmental issues are so much associated with the way of life
of the people either as reactions to urbanization or their spatial heritage. Their effects are far reaching
on efforts to attain sustainable development in the country. Since no section of the country’s urban
environment is immune to environmental effects, there is urgent need to seek workable solutions by the
application of planning, economic, legal, institutional and educational tools as have been suggested here.
It is hoped that if these tools are properly adopted it will result in the enculturation of the right
environmental management practices that would prevent the further deterioration of our physical urban
environment; hence the possibility of achieving sustainable development in Nigeria in the nearest is
assured.
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Fig 1: Population Development of the Largest Countries from 1950 to 2050
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Figure 2: Carbon Emission in 2001
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Figure 3: Nigeria Fuel Energy Consumption, 2001
Source: World EIA Report (2003)
