National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (Nigeria)

The functions of FEPA were taken up by the Federal Ministry of Environment, when that agency was incorporated into its structure. Thus, it is the Ministry that carries out environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and only the Minister is empowered to issue an environmental impact statement (EIS). With the creation of NESREA, it was saddled with the responsibility for enforcing EIAs in Nigeria. Though Nigeria runs a federal system of government, the sub-national regions (known as States) are not empowered to issue this document. This used to be a controversial issue in the country until NESREA obtained a court judgement to the effect that States were not permitted by law to conduct EIAs.[4][5]

Nigeria is a signatory to CITES and NESREA has been the government's arm that enforces seizures and prosecution of illegal wildlife trade crimes in Nigeria. The agency has recorded a number of seizures of species and animal parts that were being transhipped through its ports and prosecuted some prominent cases, including non-nationals, some of whom were sentenced to serve prison terms.[6]

NESREA (alongside other government agencies) has been responsible for the discovery of shiploads of obsolete and used electrical and electronic equipment that were about to be dumped within the country, turning them back to their ports of origin. Nigeria is currently witnessing a boom in the use of technological equipment leading to the massive production of electronic waste in urban centres. As a result, NESREA began to work in this sector to establish the application of the extended producer responsibility principle in waste management (other sectors of the economy such as the food and beverage industry are also involved). To achieve this, they set up a nationwide programme and published guidelines for the relevant industry players.[7][8][9][10]

In July 2009, NESREA hosted the International Conference on E-Waste, otherwise known as the Abuja Platform, towards addressing the problem on a wider scale.[11]

The agency is known to have commissioned a weekly TV/Radio series, "NESREA Watch", which had a cast that included popular Nigeria artists like Kiki Omeili.

One of the States set out to build a 260 km superhighway from Calabar to Katsina-Ala, both in Nigeria. However, the road was to run through one of the country's pristine rainforests. This led to an uproar from local and international environmental activists who complained that the Cross River State Government had not consulted widely before embarking on the massive project. NESREA that issued an order for construction work to stop when it became known that an EIA had not been carried out, and later still, took the Cross River State Government to court in order to stop them from continuing work until they satisfied regulatory requirements.[12]

NESREA embarked on a strategic partnership with the Nigeria Police Force to strengthen their enforcement activities. This did not go down well with Environmental Health Officers, who complained that the agency ought to use their services and strengthen them, rather than allowing the Police to usurp their statutory role.[13][14]

In 2012, NESREA, in response to a public complaint, closed down a base station belonging to one of the telecoms operators in the country. This led to a spat between them and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), who argued that NESREA had no jurisdiction to regulate the telecommunications sector in the country.[15] NESREA on the other hand argued for the application of the precautionary principle when companies erect telecoms infrastructure, demanding that base stations should be sited at least 10 metres away from inhabited areas, in line with Nigerian environmental regulations, as against the 5 metres approved by the NCC's regulations.[16] Ultimately, the two agencies worked out their differences and agreed to work together.[17]