Appraisal of the Legal and Institutional Framework for the Control of Land Degradation in Nigeria
By Olamide Ololade Animashaun
Land degradation is a crucial problem that impacts humans, animals, the earth and its environs. Without taking measures now to reduce pollution levels, permanent changes to the land can occur. The adverse changes to the environment due to land pollution are subtle, but the problem is much bigger than it appears.
The world today is combating a significant challenge of pollution in manifold forms such as land pollution. Land pollution refers to deleterious substances that enter the land which has a dangerous effect on the environment and its inhabitants. It unfolds as a global environmental problem, specifically associated with urbanization and industrialization, that requires global and municipally coordinated environmental policies.
This study examines in detail, the environmental challenge of Land degradation, its sources, effects, and consequences. This paper uses a conceptual perspective on environmental hazards and risks arising from land contamination to review and analyze the largely descriptive nature of various typology of land degradation. From this perspective, the study probed into the other aspects of land degradation such as floods, erosion, and desertification.
Furthermore, the paper provides much-needed information about Nigeria’s legal and institutional framework for controlling and managing land contamination, its adequacies and its inadequacies if any. To that end, the paper will provide remedies and recommendations to international organizations, governments, non-governmental organizations, environmental managers, future leaders, planners, technologists, and other decision-makers in order to reduce the frequency, magnitude, and consequences of environmental challenges caused by land degradation.
