ABSTRACT
The importance of the environment to human beings cannot be overemphasized; as a result, it must be protected for the present and upcoming generation. Despite the existence of adequate legal frameworks and principles of environmental law to protect environmental abuse, coupled with the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals 2015–2030, particularly goals 6, 11, 13–15, the safety of the environment is unduly compromised at all levels. At the local level, there is indiscriminate dumping of refuse, excreta, spillages from refineries etc. The continued abuse of the environment, notwithstanding the existence of extant legal mechanisms, has placed some doubt on the effectiveness of the existing legal regimes to significantly curb environmental abuse. Against this background, this chapter sets out to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing legal regime in curtailing environmental abuse in Nigeria. It also examines the potency of early childhood environmental education as a tool that assists in effectively complementing the existing legal structure to attain a sustainable environment. This chapter also canvasses the point that having a safe and sustainable environment should not be based solely on the application and enforcement of existing legal regimes but needs to embark on early environmental education which would inculcate and equip the younger generation who are future leaders and beneficiaries of the goals of a sustainable environment with the necessary education on the need to preserve the environment. This is a result of the fact that the law on environment must keep step with the geometric move of the environmental problems as they come.
