The case of Gbemre v. Shell as a catalyst for change in environmental pollution litigation?

Abstract

Nigeria is the largest routine gas flaring country amongst members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Despite the routine flaring of gas being banned in Nigeria since 1984, there appears to be a lack of political will on the part of the Nigerian government to follow through and enforce the said ban despite losing billions of Naira which would have been realized form the harnessing and production of the gas routinely flared in the country. With the international community moving to end routine gas flaring by 2030, this paper adopts the use of doctrinal research methodology. It critically analyses and dissects the historic case of Gbemre v. Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited which took a unique approach to the perennial gas flaring problem within the Nigerian oil and gas industry, to determine if Nigeria is genuinely ready to end routine gas flaring and assess the judicial and political attitudes to drastically reduce environmental pollution with regards to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.