Industrial Activities and Environmental Degradation in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper is centered on industrial sector and environmental degradation in Nigeria. In recent times, industrialization has been on the increase thus made greenhouse gases which is part of our atmosphere to increase its concentration and this has posed serious problem to the environment. The broad objective of the study is to examine impact of industrialization on the environmental degradation via; examine the impact of oil and gas production, coal mining and cement production on Carbon dioxide in Nigeria. The study employed relevant secondary data from 1981-2020 The data were sourced from CBN statistical bulletin and World Bank Indicator. The econometric method used were Co-integration, unit root test, diagnostic test was employed as techniques of analysis. Based on the results it is observed that the series are stationary after first difference. The cointegration results showed that there is a long run relationship among the variables in the model. The estimates of the OLS regression revealed coal mining has a positive and significant relationship with CO2emission while cement production and oil and gas production has a negative and significant relationship with CO2 emissions. The error correction mechanism showed that short term deviation from equilibrium is corrected in the succeeding period and equilibrium is restored. The coefficient of determination statistics is 0.55 which means that 55% of the variation in the model is explained and 45% is explained by other factors not included in the model. Recommendations were made amongst others, based on the findings, that Government enact stringent laws and take actions against sectors that are defaulters.