ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY: BEYOND POLICY TO PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF (RURAL) WOMEN IN THE NIGER DELTA OF NIGERIA

Abstract

The environment is very important to the enjoyment of all rights. The economic, social and cultural survival of all human beings depend on how safe, clean and sustainable their environment may be. Women, especially, the rural woman needs fuel, good drinkable water, food, medicines, roofs over her head and lots more. Her health and that of her family depends on a clean, safe and healthy environment. To secure her future and that of her born and unborn generation, the environment must be sustainable. Unfortunately, the endless environmental pollutions from the activities of government and multinational oil and gas companies in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, have destructive impacts on the rural dwellers generally and the rural women who mostly are the bread winners in their homes, are the worse hit. Despite international, regional and domestic legal instruments that protect the environmental rights of rural women, environmental degradation has continued for over five decades in the history of oil in Nigeria. This is an abuse on the fundamental human rights of rural women. This paper looks beyond policy to action. It made use of both secondary and primary sources and concludes that, for the survival of the rural woman and her family, there must be a sustainable use of the environment. It recommends that rural women should be empowered through training and proper integration, among others things.