ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the major conceptual issues in the treatment of the political and social dimensions of the environmental crises. At the heart of this environmental crisis are issues of distributive inequity which denies the majority access to a fair share of resources and the authoritarian mould of state power and power relations in society. The environmental crisis in which Nigeria is immersed is quite deep. Its varied manifestations include the population explosion, rapid urbanisation which outstrips the capacity of planning and management institutions to cope, rural decay, rising crime rates, environmental stress and conflict. The power relations between social groups are strategic to the understanding of the Nigerian crisis. A critical dimension of environmental crisis in Nigeria relates to the strategic oil industry. The economic crisis in which Nigeria has been immersed since the 1980's has had an adverse impact on the Nigerian environment and its management.
