National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (Nigeria)
National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency is an environmental agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria that was established by law in 2007 to "ensure a cleaner and healthier environment for Nigerians". The agency functions as a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Environment and is headed by a Director General who is also the chief executive officer. NESREA has recorded several achievements in the area of environmental compliance monitoring and enforcement since its establishment, including the enactment of several regulations pertaining to environmental protection, monitoring environmental compliance and enforcement actions.
History
The need for public institutions that would address environmental issues in Nigeria became apparent in the aftermath of the 1988 Kokotoxic waste affair. This prompted the government of the day, led by Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, to promulgate Decree 58 of 1988, establishing the Federal Environmental Protection Agency as the country's environmental watchdog. Over the years, the functions of FEPA were streamlined into the structures of the Federal Ministry of Environment, which is the policy-making body for environmental matters in Nigeria. It however became apparent that there was a need to provide more stringent controls to address the environmental challenges of the country, notable among which were desertification, rapid deforestation, coastal and gully erosion, as well as a gamut of man-made environmental insults such as poor environmental sanitation, air pollution and electronic waste. Furthermore, the global movement towards sustainable development in the aftermath of the Millennium Summit and the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and Nigeria's leadership in regional developmental programmes such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development enhanced environmental awareness among the country's decision-makers. In 2007, in the administration of Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, the National Assembly of Nigeria enacted the law establishing the agency "for the protection and development of the environment, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development of Nigeria's natural resources in general and environmental technology including coordination, and liaison with, relevant stakeholders within and outside Nigeria on matters of enforcement of environmental standards, regulations, rules, laws, policies and guidelines."
Organisational structure
NESREA is headed by a Director General who is also the Chief Executive Officer; the pioneer head until February 2015 was a public health specialist, Dr. Ngeri Benebo and she handed over to Dr. Lawrence Anukam, an erstwhile director of the agency Prof. Aliyu Jauro was appointed as the Director General in 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The functions of FEPA were taken up by the Federal Ministry of Environment, when that agency was incorporated into its structure. Thus, it is the Ministry that carries out environmental impact assessments and only the Minister is empowered to issue an environmental impact statement. With the creation of NESREA, it was saddled with the responsibility for enforcing EIAs in Nigeria. Though Nigeria runs a federalsystem of government, the sub-national regions are not empowered to issue this document. This used to be a controversial issue in the country until NESREA obtained a court judgement to the effect that States were not permitted by law to conduct EIAs.
Illegal trade in wildlife species
Nigeria is a signatory to CITES and NESREA has been the government's arm that enforces seizures and prosecution of illegal wildlife trade crimes in Nigeria. The agency has recorded a number of seizures of species and animal parts that were being transhipped through its ports and prosecuted some prominent cases, including non-nationals, some of whom were sentenced to serve prison terms.
Electronic waste
NESREA has been responsible for the discovery of shiploads of obsolete and used electrical and electronic equipment that were about to be dumped within the country, turning them back to their ports of origin. Nigeria is currently witnessing a boom in the use of technological equipment leading to the massive production of electronic waste in urban centres. As a result, NESREA began to work in this sector to establish the application of the extended producer responsibility principle in waste management. To achieve this, they set up a nationwide programme and published guidelines for the relevant industry players. In July 2009, NESREA hosted the International Conference on E-Waste, otherwise known as the Abuja Platform, towards addressing the problem on a wider scale.
Public enlightenment
The agency is known to have commissioned a weekly TV/Radio series, "NESREA Watch", which had a cast that included popular Nigeria artists like Kiki Omeili.
One of the States set out to build a 260 km superhighway from Calabar to Katsina-Ala, both in Nigeria. However, the road was to run through one of the country's pristine rainforests. This led to an uproar from local and international environmental activists who complained that the Cross River State Government had not consulted widely before embarking on the massive project. NESREA that issued an order for construction work to stop when it became known that an EIA had not been carried out, and later still, took the Cross River State Government to court in order to stop them from continuing work until they satisfied regulatory requirements.
NESREA embarked on a strategic partnership with the Nigeria Police Force to strengthen their enforcement activities. This did not go down well with Environmental Health Officers, who complained that the agency ought to use their services and strengthen them, rather than allowing the Police to usurp their statutory role.
Conflict over telecommunications sector
In 2012, NESREA, in response to a public complaint, closed down a base station belonging to one of the telecoms operators in the country. This led to a spat between them and the Nigerian Communications Commission, who argued that NESREA had no jurisdiction to regulate the telecommunications sector in the country. NESREA on the other hand argued for the application of the precautionary principle when companies erect telecoms infrastructure, demanding that base stations should be sited at least 10 metres away from inhabited areas, in line with Nigerian environmental regulations, as against the 5 metres approved by the NCC's regulations. Ultimately, the two agencies worked out their differences and agreed to work together.
