Balancing Trade, Justice and Environmental Sovereignty: New Research Probes Nigeria’s Position under WTO and AfCFTA

A newly published academic study has offered a rigorous legal examination of Nigeria’s struggle to reconcile international trade obligations with environmental justice and national regulatory autonomy. The paper, authored by Imam Abdur-Rasheed Ahmed and Adekunle Saheed Akinola, appears in Volume 2, Number 2 (2025) of LexScriptio: A Journal of the Department of Jurisprudence and Public Law, Kwara State University.

The research situates Nigeria’s experience within the broader architecture of global and regional trade governance, focusing on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It argues that Nigeria’s pursuit of environmentally responsive trade policies is constrained by structural inequalities embedded in international economic law.

Central to the analysis is Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which provides environmental exceptions to trade obligations. While these exceptions are designed to preserve national policy space, the authors contend that their interpretation and application in WTO jurisprudence tend to favour states with advanced legal capacity, scientific expertise, and institutional coherence. Developing countries such as Nigeria often struggle to meet the technical, evidentiary, and procedural thresholds required to rely on these provisions effectively.

Employing a doctrinal and comparative legal methodology, supported by institutional analysis, the study identifies several barriers to Nigeria’s effective engagement with environmental trade governance. These include limited participation in WTO environmental litigation, weak inter-ministerial coordination, and inadequate digital and data infrastructure necessary for compliance with evolving sustainability standards.

The paper contrasts these challenges with the opportunities presented by the AfCFTA, which it describes as a more inclusive and context-sensitive platform for African states. According to the authors, the AfCFTA offers greater scope for collaborative standard-setting, capacity building, and equitable rule-making among countries facing similar developmental and environmental constraints. In this regard, regional integration is presented as a potential corrective to the asymmetries of the global trade system.

Rather than remaining trapped in a posture of reactive compliance, the study urges Nigeria to adopt a proactive legal and policy strategy. Its recommendations include the enactment of a comprehensive Trade–Environment Act, stronger coordination among relevant ministries and agencies, sustained investment in digital trade and environmental data systems, and assertive leadership within AfCFTA institutions to influence the direction of environmental trade norms.

The authors conclude that Nigeria’s quest for sustainable development cannot be divorced from its trade commitments. However, achieving a fair balance will depend on deliberate legal reform, institutional strengthening, and strategic engagement at both global and regional levels. Without these measures, environmental justice risks remaining subordinate to trade disciplines that insufficiently account for the realities of developing economies.

The paper is published in LexScriptio, Vol. 2 No. 2 (2025), A Journal of the Department of Jurisprudence and Public Law, Kwara State University.
Full text available at:
https://journals.kwasu.edu.ng/index.php/lexscriptio/article/view/555/303