Interrogating the environmental rights of the Indigenous Peoples of the Niger Delta: how to safeguard the right of non-discrimination in pursuit of environmental sustainability in Nigeria
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Date
2024
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Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
Land is a major factor in the production of goods. In the case of traditional communal land, as in
the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, it was originally kept and used for the benefit of the community
without compromising on the quality of the environment to devise for the next generation. The
United Nations Environmental Protection and Conference Declaration on the Human Envi
ronment (Stockholm Declaration, 1972) as such resolved that land has to be managed in a way that
its resources would meet the needs of the present generation without prejudice to future
generation’s needs. 1 Indigenous peoples in Africa thrived during the pre-colonial days as the
cultural values of communalism and brotherly love ensured that none was in a disadvantaged
position on account of another person’s use of a parcel of land entrusted to him. During the colonial
administration and beyond, Indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta lost communal access to their
ancestral land to more dominant corporations. Multinational companies consequently extract crude
oil in a way that damages the environment and particularly destroys the agricultural businesses
which eventually explains the poverty situation of Indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta.
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Olayinka, OF, Interrogating the environmental rights of the Indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta: how to safeguard the right of non-discrimination in pursuit of environmental sustainability in Nigeria in Jean-Claude N. Ashukem, JCN & Semie M. Sama (SM) (2024 eds) Domestic and Regional Environmental Law and Policy in Africa: A Research Companion. Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group, ISBN 978-1-032-45916—5 hbk; ISBN 978-1-032-46553-1 pbk; 978-1-003-38225-6 ebk) 161-179.