Law and governance frameworks for oil spill response in Nigeria: towards an ecological restoration approach

Muzan, Menes Abinami ORCID: 0000-0003-3345-1011 (2025). Law and governance frameworks for oil spill response in Nigeria: towards an ecological restoration approach. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Much of the world’s ecosystems, including those vital to human well-being, have been destroyed despite ongoing nature conservation efforts. One of the best examples is the Niger Delta in Nigeria, which is also one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots: decades of cumulative crude oil pollution have devastated the region’s dense wetland ecosystems. Within the last century, crude oil production has tragically led to massive ecological changes, primarily due to repeated oil spills that have negatively impacted entire ecosystems, destroying biodiversity that provides essential ecosystem services. The ‘restoration’ of the damaged ecosystems has not been a high priority for Nigerian law and policy, emphasising the ‘prevention’ of future environmental harms. Instead, Nigeria’s law and governance frameworks regarding oil pollution only require remediating specific oil spill sites within limited spatial and temporal parameters while mainly ignoring the restoration of ecosystems destroyed by oil spills and unsuccessful remediation efforts over the years. This thesis examines the adequacy or otherwise of developing moves towards ecological restoration law in Nigeria by contrasting ecological restoration with environmental remediation law and creating a ‘multi-stakeholder’ conceptual framework for what is necessary for successful ecosystem restoration governance in that country. This study aims to identify the most critical considerations for laws and regulatory institutions that ought to mandate ecosystem restoration. The thesis argues that for public authorities to realise that community involvement is an indelible requirement of successful restoration governance, future ecological restoration legal provisions must explicitly incorporate participation mechanisms. In this light, the thesis contends that local community involvement is crucial to good ecological restoration governance in Nigeria and worldwide today. The results highlight Nigeria’s need for law and governance reforms due to fundamental issues with the country’s state-centred environmental remediation approach.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):