Gap Analysis and Strategic Implementation of Environmental Impact Assessment a Pathway to Achieving the SDGs in Nigeria
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Fidelis Ankwo Abija, Centre for Geomechanics, Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Agenda 2030 of the UN General assembly (2015) has set out 17 target goals to address present most critical global challenges building on the 8 millennium development goals (2000) which actions were for low income countries except MDG 8 (global partnership) that held rich countries responsible for their actions. Sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria in particular lagged behind in execution and success can best be put at average. Focus on national averages with total disregard to the most vulnerable, marginalized and poor in the communities such as the Niger Delta where exclusion in all its ramifications have held sway has obscured the effects on different groups. The SDGs with universal applicability has the fundamental objectives to guarantee environmental sustainability, economic growth and social inclusion. Environmental impact assessment is a management and regulatory tool for sustainable development if fully implemented. The social and health impact assessment processes aside from the bi-seasonal biophysical data gathering to establish the environmental status of the soil, air, and marine ecosystems provides a platform for partnerships at local, regional, national and global levels. In Nigeria since the FEPA EIA Act of 1992 which has been subsumed into the Federal Ministry of Environment Act, CAP E12, EIA has become a household name but actual implementation is just to issue a PERMIT for project execution. Experience in the Niger Delta has shown that environmental impact assessment is often commissioned after project implementation has attained 50% and it is not uncommon to find EIA being carried out on completed projects rather than carrying out post impact assessment (PIA). To achieve the objectives of the sustainable development goals, attitudinal change is inevitable. Gap analysis, quantification of strategic action plans and a stronger sense of ownership in the environmental impact assessment before and during the entire project lifecycle from conceptualization, screening and scoping through incorporation of the environmental management plan into the project design prior to commencement, monitoring and post impact assessment upon project completion is the antidote that guarantees biophysical, health and socio-economic equity for a prosperous, safe and sustainable society.
Sustainable Development Goals, EIA, Gap Analysis, Strategic Implementation
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