ABSTRACT
This study was intended to evaluate the effect
environmental pollution in Nigeria: there issues and solutions. This study was
guided by the following objectives; To identify the issues of environmental
pollution in Nigeria, To analyze the impact of environmental pollution in
Nigeria, To determine the solutions to the challenges of environmental
pollution in Nigeria.
The
study employed the explanatory design; questionnaires in addition to library
research were applied in order to collect data. Primary and secondary data
sources were used and data was analyzed using the chi-square statistical tool
at 5% level of significance which was presented in frequency tables and percentage.
The respondents under the study were 60 staff of Lagos state ministry of
environment. The study findings revealed that there are several issues of
environmental pollution in Nigeria. The impact of environmental pollution is
high. Environmental pollution is a major challenge in Nigeria. Environmental
pollution is hazardous to health.
The outcome of this research will educate the
general public on the issues and the adverse effect of environmental pollution
in Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Nigeria,
located in West Africa, has a total land area of 983,213 square kilometres.
Presently, its estimated population is over 150 million people (World Bank
Population figures) yielding an average density of more than120persons per
square kilometres. Industrial activities, in its modern forms, are relatively
recent in the history of Nigeria’s economic development. During the
pre-colonial period, Nigeria featured considerable craft industry as modern
factory activity was then not known. With the advent of the Second World War
and its aftermath, the economy of Nigeria changed tremendously and there were
demands from Europe for industrial raw materials. With time, due to the low
technological base, industrial development took on the assembly-type pattern of
import substitution (Wikipedia, 2015). However, political self determination
since 1960 did provide the opportunity for improving on its import substitution
strategy as well as developing its potentials for real industrial take off
through capital goods industry. Prior to the discovery of crude oil in
Oloibiri, Rivers State in 1956,agriculture (before 1970) was the mainstay of
the Nigerian economy. The oil boom witnessed in the 1970s led to a tremendous
increase in industrial activities. With financial resources available from oil
and no development policy, unguided urbanization and industrialization took
place. As desirable and necessary as this development was, it became an
albatross not of itself but because of the lack of appropriate environmental
protection policies to guide it. The result was the indiscriminate siting of
industries, deforestation and desertification, disregarding the need for
environmental concern. The process technology of some of these industries often
resulted in unacceptable levels of toxic and dangerous industrial wastes and
effluent emissions. These culminated in the degradation of the environment and devastating
ecological and human disasters. As a result of these, the need to combine
industrial development and environmental protection arose. Acts of legislation
for environmental protection, known as environmental laws, were then enacted. However,
the researcher is seeking to provide an highlights on the various issues of
environmental pollution and the challenges encountered in establishing an effective
environmental enforcement programme and the solutions proffered by the
government in tackling these problems (Wikipedia, 2015).