THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANISATION IN THE PROTECTION OF MARINE ENVIRONMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

International environmental law is primarily concerned, among others, with the control of pollution of the environment. Significantly, the control of environmental pollution, particularly oil pollution in marine environment in Nigeria will form the gravamen of this enterprise. This is predicated on the fact that the Nigerian marine environment coincides with its vast delta region. which is one of the largest in the world. The degradation and deterioration, renewable resources depletion and other negative effects of oil pollution has caused irreversible and prolonged consequences to the Nigerian marine environment. The authors therefore argued that the exploitation and exploration of oil and gas has hampered the nation’s potential for environmental sustainability in terms of the associated pollution of the Nigerian marine environment. Apart from the available frameworks on oil pollution in the marine environment, the authors seek to draw a relational basis between the framework of International Maritime Organisation and control of oil pollution in Nigeria, especially in the marine environment in Nigeria. The paper therefore maintained that the control of oil pollution consequent on reliance on the provisional contents of the International maritime organisation will operate to affording the Nigerian state environmental sustainability