ABSTRACT
Pragmatic efforts towards environmental protection have leaned heavily on legislative frameworks since the call for environmental protection gained effulgence in the events associated with the Great Smog of 1952 in London and the Japan Minamata Disease in 1956. The turning point was the proliferation of literature and the emergence of influential environmental movements and policy reforms in the 1960s. Environmental ethics, which has become a multidisciplinary effort, swings more towards non-anthropocentric approaches than the anthropocentric colouration that had trailed it in the past. All of this Is tied to the all-encompassing benefit of couching ethics that considers the intrinsic good of all beings within the ecosystem. African environmental ethics claims to contribute to this direction through its non-anthropocentric claims. Using the exploratory approach, this chapter interrogates the non-anthropocentric claims of African environmental ethics vis-à-vis the Nigerian environmental legislation. The chapter argues that African environmental ethics is steeped in anthropocentrism, and this attitude colours the Nigerian environmental legislation which is only a theoretical construct without praxis. In light of this dysfunction, the chapter advances the fact that Nigerian environmental efforts are yet to effectively align with the envisioned non-anthropocentric claims they purport in their legislative frameworks and implementation. This covert lack presupposes a threat to the all-important goal of sustainability. The chapter recommends a reconsideration of the Nigerian environmental laws that go beyond anthropocentric enclaves and is backed by effective implementation for sustainability.
