Abstract
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland in August 2011 after series of protests of oil spillage in the community that culminated to the death of Ken Sarowiwa and eight others. The report commissioned by Federal Government of Nigeria, made recommendations to the government, the oil and gas industry and communities to begin a comprehensive cleanup of Ogoniland, restore polluted environments and put an end to all forms of ongoing oil contamination in the region. The paper aimed at examining the Ogoni remediation exercise and the paradigm shift in environmental law. The findings of this paper revealed that little has been done by Nigerian Government to encourage or promote environmental rights protection; this is as a result of the lack of political will to protect the environment due to prioritization of economic development over environmental protection, there bureaucratic processes that have slowed the pace of the Ogoni remediation exercise. It concluded that Environmental justice in Nigeria is still at its lowest ebb. A major factor that contributes to the dearth of environmental justice in Nigeria especially in the Niger Delta and Ogoniland in particular is the fact that the engines of the nation’s economy are run by multinationals who in their quest for profit get so involved in the reckless degradation of the natural environment with impunity. The paper equally recommended that the Ogonis and the Niger Delta people should be adequately informed about every stage of the implementation of the UNEP report on Ogoniland.