Asuni Thesis 2021

Abstract

This thesis compares the legal and institutional frameworks for protecting human rights in the oil and gas industries of Nigeria and Canada. The thesis identifies environmental human rights as the human rights that are most often violated in these settings, hence the discussion of environmental human rights constitutes a major portion of this thesis. This thesis examines the procedural components of environmental human rights with the aim of recommending certain procedures that may help improve the human rights situation in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. This thesis examines the history of human rights in Canada and Nigeria. It also explains that environmental rights are human rights. It further identifies the major applicable domestic and international laws and the institutions that are relevant to protecting human rights affected by the oil and gas industries of Canada and Nigeria. Although this thesis acknowledges that Canada and Nigeria have administrative and political differences, it nevertheless argues that they share similarities that warrant the comparison. It furthermore argues that this comparison reveals certain largely procedural recommendations that are advanced here for possible implementation in Nigeria. Overall, this thesis identifies certain procedural differences between the countries’ frameworks. It recommends the implementation of some new procedural mechanisms that will improve the level of human rights compliance within the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The key recommendations include: encouraging public participation through the implementation of a participant funding scheme; reducing the incidences of regulatory overlaps; allowing for the independence of the bodies in charge of impact assessments; utilizing technology during assessment processes; instituting periodic review of regulatory laws; prohibiting problematic conduct; and holding corporate officers liable for corporate violations, among others.