Investor Presentaiton
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CHALLENGES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EIA ACT IN NIGERIA
Public Participation: The EIA report is not adequately presented to the public for comments. Usually about 3 copies are made available in the
project State for everyone to view and comment. This number does not give room for sufficient public participation or engagement.
Delay in EIA Process. The EIA process is unduly delayed due to administrative bottle necks and inadequate staffing.
Inadequate Screening and Scooping: The type of impact to be addressed in the EIA report and the identified alternatives are not adequately
outlined and understood by the proponent.
Limited Scope of EIA Review: The EIA report is not subjected to a wider public participation for encompassing views, comments and
observations.
Lack of Awareness. Perhaps, lack of public awareness of the short and long term value of EIA based projects and the resultant sustainability of
the environment is a major detriment and draw back in the enforcement of the Act. In other words, proponents of development projects do not know
about the existence of the EIA Act, nor do they appreciate the inherent value when the Act is eventually introduced to them. General public awareness
has been the bane of EIA enforcement in Nigeria and likely to be so in other West African countries.
Deliberate resistance to compliance with the Law of the land: In Nigeria like other West African countries, a lot of development
projects are owned or operated by multinational companies. Examples are quarries, construction companies, Companies with interests in the Food and
Beverage, Sector, Tannery, Textile etc. Most of these multinationals have operated in Nigeria for many decades without giving the environment the
same attention it is accorded in their parent/home country. Although they are aware of the legal environmental requirements of operating major
development facilities, it is unfortunate to note that these multinationals and even indigenous companies relegate environmental concerns to the
background by deliberately resisting compliance with extant rules.
Weak Enforcement of the EIA Act. During the FEPA days considerable efforts were made to enforce environmental laws at all tiers of
Government, including the EIA Act. However when FEPA became defunct up to the establishment of NESREA in 2007, only some operators in the oil
and gas sector, continued to conduct EIA. Most operating facilities stopped adhering to the provisions of the EIA Act including State Laws and Local
Government bye-Laws. In the course of NESREA enforcement action, many violating companies have been brought to book and quite a number of
them are complying voluntarily. A testimony to this, is the increase in application for the conduct of EIA received by the EA Department and the
significant increase in application for Environmental Audits and Management Plans at the NESREAView entire presentation