The Contribution of Urban Environmental Organisations in Urban Governance: A Review of the Nigerian Situation

Urban-Ecological Organisations (UEOs) exist to foster and develop knowledge and implementation of urban ecologyEcology by strengthening contacts, providing information, minimising environmentalEnvironmental risks, and enriching the dialogue between researchers and practitioners. They also represent the interests of the governmentGovernment and address ecological issues posed by increasing urbanisation in the interest of the public. This becomes pertinent because the rising rates of urbanisation have created new challenges in the 21st Century. Therefore, there is a need for concerted efforts to squarely meet the challenges and maximise the opportunities afforded by urbanisation. It is critical that such efforts adopt a holisticHolistic view for achieving sustainable urban developmentUrban development, particularly within the context of climate changeClimate change. Relying on secondary data, this review investigated the challenges and prospects of environmental governanceEnvironmental governance and the role of UEOs as an instrument for managing Nigeria’s environment in a sustainable manner. The expected outcome will unravel governanceGovernance challenges at the federal, state, and localLocal levels in tackling environmentalEnvironmental challenges issues in the country. The review shows that Nigeria’s environmental governanceEnvironmental governance frameworksFramework are ineffective in dealing with the magnitude of the country’s environmentalEnvironmental challenges. Hence, the institutional and legislative frameworksFramework for environmental governanceEnvironmental governance must be comprehensive and effective. Also, it is crucial that the three tiers of governmentGovernment should show strong political will, while the UEOs in both public and private sectors should collaborate to drive the transformation towards sustainable urban developmentUrban development.