The Evolution of Environmental Justice and Trends: From Social Activism to Mainstream Movement

The concept of environmental justice has developed tremendously in the very short spell of its recent history. From its very humble beginnings in the United States of America, where it was borne out simply as a movement against environmental racism, it has evolved on to cover not just the protection of the right to all individuals to a healthy and safe environment but also now covers all other forms of social concerns. Recent concerns have broadened its scope to include other racial and ethnic groups and now also covers disparities associated with gender and age. The concept of environmental justice has also transcended the borders of the US to, Europe as a whole, Asia, and Africa, mutating into different forms and accommodating other similar concerns from continent to continent and taking into consideration peculiar social situation of the different localities where the concept has been used. This paper traces the journey of this concept and predicts that the scope of the environmental justice is bound to continue to grow in the future and forecasts that it would evolve and respond to new social concerns in different geographical locations Keywords: Environmental Justice, social activism , natural resource

Managing contingent liabilities arising from public private partnership projects

All public infrastructure projects, irrespective of how they are procured, managed and financed, generate future liabilities. This becomes even more apparent under the Public Private Partnership arrangement. A number of these liabilities are subject to a high degree of uncertainty regarding when they will arise and the financial exposure involved when they do, and are therefore said to be contingent. Contingent liabilities have the potential to undermine national macroeconomic policy and cause significant economic harm when they crystalize. This article examines the legal and institutional mechanisms available in Nigeria to manage these liabilities and suggests ways for designing a PPP delivery process with inbuilt mechanisms for identifying, mitigating, tracking, and managing them.Keywords: Public Private Partnerships, Contingent Liabilities, Risk Mitigatio

The Influence of Companies on the Legal, Political and Economic History of Nigeria

The Company is one of the most influential inventions of all time. This legal creation gave birth to the industrial revolution which underpins our modern life by providing a platform which allowed people pool their resources together to change forever the way in which business is done .[1] This is true for Britain as it was the catalyst for the birth of the British Empire and for the world in general, fueling globalization as we know it today. The development of the Joint Stock Company also played a crucial role in the development of the legal, political and economic history of Nigeria. However most of the extant research on the history of Company Law in Nigeria have not been able to make this important connection, focusing rather on the narrow narrative on how the legal rules were adopted in Nigeria. This paper instead explores the much wider political and economic development of Nigeria through the prism of the history of company law in Nigeria. This approach is particularly important at this stage in the country’s company law development as the clamor for the reform of the Companies Allied Matters Act (CAMA)[2] intensifies. It is important to understand the journey of the company so far in every ramification, to better appreciate what role it should play in the future.  To do this effectively, this paper traces the history of the company by employing a socio legal studies methodology.[3] Keywords: company law, reform, history, economic development, political development [1] Micklethwait J. and Wooldridge A. ‘The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea” Phoenix, London 2005, pg. 3. [2] Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap 59, LFN 2004 [3] Socio-legal studies, looks at the realities of the law in action, the social effects of law and the wider questions of social structure and locates legal practices within the context of other social practices that constitutes its immediate environment. See the following:  Harris, D.R. ‘The Development of Socio-Legal Studies in the United Kingdom’ (1983)3 (3) Legal Studies, pg.315; Lacey, N. ‘Normative Reconstruction in Socio-Legal Theory (1996) 5 Socio Legal Studies pr. 13

Will Public-Private Partnerships Solve Nigeria’s Infrastructure Problems?

Nigeria, like most countries around the world, has turned to Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to finance its infrastructure deficit. However, it appears that the government of Nigeria looks towards PPPs as the major solution to the country’s infrastructure crisis. In a sense PPPs are being sold to the public as if they were free, that the private sector would come in with its funds, provide the desired services and that the problem with the country’s infrastructure would automatically cease. This paper argues that this supposition is a myth and that the role of PPPs in the provision of public infrastructure is more nuanced than is being bandied around. PPPs are not the panacea to all of the country’s infrastructure problems and also are far from being completely free. It is however the case that if appropriately deployed, in most cases PPPs provide some advantages over conventional public sector procurements. This paper explores the different advantages and disadvantages of PPPs and suggests ways in which PPPs may be effectively used to improve the country’s infrastructure with reduced fiscal exposure to government

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs): A Credible Alternative Financing Mechanism for Nigeria’s Health Sector

Due to paucity of funds, the Nigerian Government has been unable to adequately fund healthcare in the country. The problem with healthcare in Nigeria is two fold: the first is the lack of physical infrastructure i.e. facilities and modern equipment and the second is the dearth of trained medical personnel. Consequently, unlike in traditional infrastructure PPPs, the financing problem is not merely related to initial high capital expenditure but the continued funding of projects post construction. This article looks at PPPs as an alternative financing mechanism that can bridge the infrastructure gap in the healthcare sector. Keywords: Healthcare, Finance, Public-Private Partnerships

A comparative analysis of the use of unsolicited proposal for the delivery of public-private partnership projects in Africa

As countries across Africa continue to look for ways to develop their infrastructure, the use of Unsolicited Proposals (USPs) in the procurement of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects have become very popular across the continent. This is despite the widely held view that this procurement model should be used with caution since it stifles competition, is susceptible to abuse and, therefore, likely to lead to the delivery of projects that do not deliver value for money. However, apart from a few studies and despite the very pervasive use of USPs across the continent, there has been very minimal academic inquiry on the use of this procurement approach in Africa. This article, therefore, contributes to this very important area by first distilling a best practice framework as a guide for countries to use in procuring USPs. Secondly, the paper evaluates the experiences of four different African countries in the use of USPs, using the framework as a guide. The lessons learnt are then used to make recommendations for improvement in the procurement of USPs across Africa.Keywords: Public-Private Partnerships; Unsolicited Proposals; Procurement; Infrastructure; Project Financing; Sustainable Developmen

Managing Traffic Demand Risk in Road Sector Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) through the Use of Put and Call Option Agreements

One of the major problems facing road sector PPPs is the management of traffic demand risk. The reasons for this are that traffic studies are notoriously unreliable and also the possibility that an alternative route or intermodal competition might affect demand. Therefore, it is usual for private sector investors to seek additional assurances from the government that they would recover their investments through the use of guarantees or other forms of protective contractual clauses that either enable the term of the concession or the revenue accruable to the concessionaire to adjust with demand realizations.  However, these protective clauses not only increase the contingent liability of the government but may also stall the infrastructural development of the country, increasing the likelihood of political risk eventuating. This article argues that the best way to resolve this issue is for parties to consider the use of put and call option agreements, which allow either party to exit the contract where economic or social realities demands it. Key words: Public-Private Partnerships, Traffic Demand Risks, Road Sector, Put and Call Option

Quest for cost-reflective electricity tariffs in Nigeria: Managing the conflict between politics and economics

In order to increase efficiency and attract private sector investment in the electric power sector, most countries, including Nigeria, have liberalized and in some instances unbundled their electric power sector. However, despite the involvement of the private sector in the operation of electric sector assets, governments have found it difficult to transition into a cost-reflective tariff driven electricity industry, resorting instead to a subsidy propelled regime. This has created sever liquidity in the often nascent and evolving electric power sectors with governments unable to afford these subsidies. This paper reflects on the reason for this state of affairs in  Nigeria despite a legal framework that demands the institution of a cost reflective market. This paper concludes that the problem before the  government has been finding ways of managing the competing interests of politics and economics in dealing with a social infrastructure like electric power. Finally, the paper suggests ways of balancing this conflict and  charting a path to a sustainable electric power sector in Nigeria.Keywords: Electricity Tariffs in Nigeria, Cost, Politics, Economic

A risk based approach to enhancing public-private partnership (PPP) projects in Nigeria

This thesis investigated the sources of the problems with Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in Nigeria. The reason for this enquiry is as a result of the multitude of problems threatening the collapse of most of the concluded projects. Therefore, against the backdrop that proper risk management is the most critical success factor for PPPs, the thesis evaluated how risks have been allocated and mitigated in the projects concluded thus far in Nigeria. This is premised on the basic assumption that if risks are better managed, that it would result in enhanced projects.Having determined that political risk, demand risk and stakeholder opposition risk were the most prominent risk factors affecting PPPs in Nigeria, three case studies were used to evaluate how these risks have been handled. The projects are the 26 ports concessions, the Murtala Muhammed Airport terminal 2 (MMA2) BOT project and the Lekki toll road concession. It is believed that the lessons learnt from these studies will provide a tool for policy reforms leading to more successful projects. Also, by adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the thesis ensures that its findings and recommendations may easily be generalised across other projects, economic sectors, and disciplines and even to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, since these countries share the same socio-economic conditions with Nigeria

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030