Evaluating environmental impact assessment procedures in the Nigerian maritime oil and gas sector

Lawal, Akeem Morounkeji (2012). Evaluating environmental impact assessment procedures in the Nigerian maritime oil and gas sector. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Mitigating maritime pollution linked to the oil and gas sector is increasingly seen as a priority issue in national and international contexts alike. A key policy tool that has been used to address this issue is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). It has become the primary means by which potentially adverse environmental impacts can be assessed and mitigated, and in theory, provides a variety of mechanisms for stakeholder engagement in the policy process. However, the governance of EIA in developing countries is embryonic, emergent, and in parts contradictory. This thesis reviews and evaluates EIA procedures as they relate to the Nigerian Maritime Oil and Gas Sector (NMOGS), relying, in particular, on Matland’s work on ambiguity and conflict in policy implementation. I argue that Matland’s scholarship affords valuable new insights into EIA implementation processes, particularly in terms of understanding the complex interactions among policy, business and civil society actors both within and beyond implementing agencies. Thus, the thesis’s broader contribution is to consider how the complex institutional mosaic sorrounding EIA might be conceptualised and understood theoretically by drawing on the rich literature on policy implementation. The empirical analysis utilises semi-structured face-to-face interviews with fifty-six respondents in key government implementing agencies, academia, and civil society. This is supplemented by secondary data on national level environmental policies, as well as surveys of EIA reports of multinational and national oil company projects in two Nigerian states. The thesis has demonstrated that the institutional context of NMOGS is characterised by high levels of interagency conflict and policy ambiguity. A key cause of the ambiguity is that two EIA systems operate in parallel at the national scale, thus making it difficult for the country to achieve its stated aim of attaining sustainable development in the domestic oil and gas sector. I have also found ample evidence of conflict over the roles, responsibilities and duties of Government actors across the whole spectrum of EIA implementation activities.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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