INTRODUCTION
Nigeria is committed to a national environmental policy that will ensure sustainable development based on proper management of the environment. This demands positive and realistic planning that balances human needs against the carrying capacity of the environment. This requires that a number of complementary policies, strategies and management approaches are put in place which should ensure, among others, that:
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environmental concerns are integrated into major economic decision- making process; environmental remediation costs are built into major development projects; economic instruments are employed in the management of natural resources; environmentally friendly technologies are applied;
Environmental Impact Assessment is mandatorily carried out before any major development project is embarked on.
This policy, in order to succeed must be built on the following sustainable development principles: *
The precautionary principle which holds that where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, the lack of full scientific knowledge shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective means to prevent environmental degradation;
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Pollution Prevention Pays Principle (3p+) which encourages Industry to invest positively to prevent pollution;
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The polluter pays principle (PPP) which suggests that the polluter should bear the cost of preventing and controlling pollution;
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The user pays principle (UPP), in which the cost of a resource to a user must include all the environmental costs associated with its extraction, transformation and use (including the costs of alternative or future uses forgone);
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The principle of intergenerational equity which requires that the needs of the present generation are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs;
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The principle of intra-generational equity which requires that different groups of
people