Knowledge, Practice and Enforcement of Environmental Laws Provisions among Household Heads and Enforcement Officers in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

Man’s developmental activities, in pursuit of economic growth, have brought about pollution and degradation of the environment with attendant effect on the public health. This development seems to have ran contrary to the tenets of the “Sustainable Development”; which has been defined as “the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.” Consequently, environmental laws were enacted to bring about sanity in the ecosystem and achieve sustainability of the environment. However, there seems to be a gap between the existence of these laws and the actual practices and enforcement of their provisions; leading to unsafe environmental practices, causing outbreak of diseases and infections. The situation compelled the researcher to carry out this baseline/study, designed to ascertain the level of knowledge, extent of practice and enforcement of the environmental laws; among the household heads and enforcement officers in Enugu State, Nigeria. The researcher adopted a combination of the doctrinal and empirical research methods. Relevant literature were reviewed on the legal and institutional framework for environmental protection laws in Nigeria. Three research questions guided the empirical aspect of the study. The population for the study was 626,746 household heads. The sample size of 400 household heads; determined through Taro Yamene’s formular was selected through a multistage sampling procedure. Fifty (50) enforcement officers were purposively drawn from a population of 425. The instrument used for data collection were two sets of researcher-structured questionnaires. The validity and reliability of the instruments were adequately established. Result of the study revealed that household heads in Enugu State had moderate level knowledge of the environmental laws (43.90%) and they practiced the laws to a low extent (x = 2.46). The enforcement officers generally enforced the laws to a high extent (x = 2.62), but reportedly enforce waste recycling and monitoring of people’s obedience to environmental protection activities to a low extent. The study recommends among other things: the inclusion of environmental education containing a body of environmental laws which is harmonized and codified under a single heading called “The Environmental Laws of Nigeria”. This arrangement would minimize noticeably existing ambiguities in the mix of the different laws; while creating a better platform for studying and understanding of the provisions of the environmental laws. The enforcement officers should be statutorily empowered to enforce environmental sanitation laws strictly; including the power to arrest environmental offenders without warrant or assistance from police.