The Dean, College of Law, Caleb University Lagos, Prof. Foluke Dada Lawanson has said the institution was on course to produce law graduates with passion for environmental rights.
According to her, environmental issues, as one of the most contemporary across the world, needs to be checked headlong, to avoid the chains of devastating effects that come with it.
The dean was speaking during an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of a visit of students of the Law college of the university, to the Erejuwa – Makoko Community on Wednesday in Lagos.
She noted that the visit was part of a quest to uncover the remote causes of the flooding and environmental degradation that had plagued the community over time and its social, cultural and economic impact on the lives of residents.
Prof. Lawanson explained that the visit was sponsored by the Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA) in the U.S. and the Public Interest Lawyering Initiative For West Africa (PILIWA).
She noted that the initiative by the collaborating agencies, was in a bid to further push for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on the environment.
“The essence of the visit today and what we do generally at our college of Law hub Law Clinic, is to actually bring law practice to the students before they graduate.
“The visit is also a way of sensitising our students on environmental issues going on around us. So, the collaboration with PILIWA and ACA, is focused on getting the students to be aware of some of those environmental issues that people are facing in the country.
“I do know for a fact that they are across West Africa, but importantly, they feature in Lagos, Port Harcourt and some other places.
“This initiative will give our students a better, firmer understanding and appreciation of what environmental health issues and rights there are, in the society and what states are more affected. This will put them in a better perspective with first hand information, as against what they read, when they embark on their projects.
“The essence really, is to ensure that students are not just learning the theoretical part of law and when you talk of Environmental Law, it is a very critical aspect of any community and infact, the world at large,” the don stated.
According to her, exposing the students to communities ravaged by environmental challenges, will avail them of first hand information on the issues that could range from flooding, pollution, living standard and how residents are coping with such challenges.
“In all, we are trying to balance the educational interest of the students with our own community responsibilities and that is, to produce lawyers who will not only know the law on environmental issues, but those who see, feel and work it.
“That is the crop of lawyers that we are trying to breed. These students are mostly in year four, as it is actually in year four that they take environmental law as a course. A few others who accompanied them are in their 300 level and this is good for them because we are preparing them for the next level,” she said.
The dean of the college, further stressed the need for students generally, to be exposed to environmental issues and how to tackle them, noting that this would lead to attitudinal change to and broader knowledge base about the need to care for the environment.
She noted that with the effect of global warming in communities around the world today, there was the need to put up enough sensitisation that would further highlight the dangers inherent in mistreating the environment.
“The world is indeed a global village and so, we have to enhance collaborative efforts, both locally and in the diaspora, to understand that what we do anywhere in the world, will impact the other side. So, I think it is important in today’s world to really study about environmental issues. All hands must indeed, be on deck.
“This is because what you sow, that you reap. It is what we put into the environment that we get back and get to see what health issues that comes up.
“The key thing for us also is that the effect of environmental degradation remains something we need to pay attention to, because if we look at the environment visited today, you will see a lot of economic, social and political issues.
“We know there have been interventions from government, NGOs, philanthropists to check these challenges from time to time, but government must strive to do more. If there is that political will, be sure that there will be a way,” she said.
Also speaking, Mr Courage Nsirimovu Esq and Mrs Gloria Aigbadon Esq. both representatives of PILIWA, in collaboration with the Law Clinic students of the institution’s college of Law, told newsmen that Information from the community people revealed that cholera, malaria and tuberculosis spiked after the road construction failed in 2016.
Mr Nsirimovu and Mrs Aigbadon are both representatives of the ACA-PILIWA, sponsors of the law clinic project at Caleb University College of Law.
According to them, this happened two months after construction.
“The locals said indigenes of the community are dying of cholera, incessant malaria and typhoid. The economic impact is that some businesses around the affected area have closed up and some residents had to relocate when their houses became inhabitable.
“The Baale of Erejuwa-Makoko, High Chief Samuel Erejuwa revealed that the major cause of the flooding and stagnant polluted water, is as a result of bad civil engineering works done by the contractor that constructed the road eight years ago.
“He insisted that he monitored their work and the part of the road that sank was filled with only sharp sand before tarring or flooring instead of filling first with hard core and then sharp sand, before the interlock tiles.
“He also insisted that the canal was not properly channeled and it is blocked already, holding the stagnant water.
“He is therefore praying that the Ministry of Environment and Government of Lagos State and the Federal Government, to urgently come to their aid, the representatives who are also members of the ACA-PILIWA Network said.
Speaking further, they stressed that the ACA-PILIWA believed that a case for a healthy, clean and sustainable environment could be brought against the Lagos government in favour of the community if the state failed to act as soon as possible.
“We want this publicity to serve as petition to the government, to act immediately to restore the dignity of the people and ensure their right to life and good environment. Environment is life, Infected environment kills,” they said.
Dr Bamisaye Olutola a Senior lecturer at the college of law of the university stressed that the purpose for the visit to the community was also to showcase the institution’s community engagement.
He further added that it was also for the purpose of bringing the students face to face with the environmental sites.
“We have students who are members of the PILIWA Law Clinic at the college of Law here in Caleb University as well as students here offering Environmental Law.
“So, for them to be able to merge theory with practice, we had to take them to that site to show them all what it is about, when we talk about environmental degradation and environmental pollution.
“They will be able to see first hand what it is like, to pollute an environment and what it looks like, to degrade it.
“During the visit, we met and engaged the community chiefs, who explained that the community was far from being what it was today, many years ago, until there was a road construction, which was poorly executed,” he said.
According to him, the chiefs said there was an invasion of water which gradually made it to be locked in front of homes of members of community.
He noted that the chiefs had stated that as a result, residents were exposed to diseases such as malaria, cholera, typhoid, including loss of lives, following the development.
“So, the students were able to see that when we talk about environmental pollution and degradation, it has a very negative impact on human lives and well being.
“”Now, I must say that law clinic like PILWA law clinic in Caleb university strives to see how we can come from the NGO angle to bring a public awareness that can bring about solution to the problem.
“So, what we have made them understand about this firstly, is that we shall start by engaging stakeholders such as the Lagos state government, the Ministry of the Environment and its Works counterpart, to see what we can do to ensure that the problem is fixed and life returns to normalcy in the community,” he said.
