The sheep’s revolution: Paradox of democratic consolidation and environmental regulations in post-transition Nigeria

Abstract

Over the last 20 years of uninterrupted democratic dispensation in Nigeria, the military regime has left the post-transition era with certain characteristics such as a low level of participation away from the center. While many have blamed the central authorities for the constantly increasing environmental threats, this study argues that the dwindling impact of civil society organizations (CSOs) on environmental regulation policies remains the missing link between policy formulation and implementation in Nigeria. This paper investigated the involvement of environmental CSOs within our democratic space, reflecting on the level of compliance with environmental regulation laws and the implications of this for environmental sustainability. This paper adopts both primary and secondary sources of information, and data were analyzed using a descriptive survey. The study reveals that the Nigerian government sees the CSOs as partners in ensuring environmental sustainability rather than deploying the CSOs as delivery agents to enforce environmental regulations and sustainability within the extractive and non-extractive contexts. This study concludes that, to tackle environmental degradation in Nigeria, much attention should be placed on environmental securitization advocacies through independent and effective environmental CSOs.