Historical Wrongs and Contemporary Remedies: Imo State University Wins Maiden EJCIL Moot
Seventeen law clinics. Five months. And a question Nigeria’s courts are only beginning to confront:
How do you litigate decades of environmental harm?
The maiden Environmental Justice and Climate Impact Litigation (EJCIL) Moot Competition concluded on 26 March at the Bayelsa State High Court in Yenagoa, with Imo State University Law Clinic emerging as champions and the University of Benin finishing as runners-up.
The semi-finals and final were presided over by Justice Elsie Thompson of the Rivers State High Court. The final four teams were drawn from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Imo State University Owerri, the University of Benin and Federal University Wukari. Held under the theme “Historical Wrongs and Contemporary Remedies,” the competition challenged law students to grapple with some of the most difficult questions surrounding environmental harm, accountability and access to justice in Nigeria.
Where it came from
The moot emerged from the work of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, whose report on oil pollution in the state was published in 2023. One of the issues highlighted through that work was not simply the scale of environmental damage but the challenge of securing access to justice for affected communities.
Professor Engobo Emeseh, Lead Coordinator of the competition and a founding member of the International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and Just Transition in the Niger Delta, served on the Commission.
One of the gaps in the system is environmental litigation, particularly around environmental justice, and how we could potentially create a core of young lawyers who understand the issues in this area and who can utilise the various opportunities available within the legal system, both national and international, to seek justice for the people of the Niger Delta and beyond. – Professor Engobo Emeseh
The competition was designed in response to that gap: to give emerging lawyers the knowledge and practical experience needed to engage with environmental justice issues as they become increasingly important in Nigerian courts.
Questions that have long appeared settled, including the relationship between the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Constitution and the justiciability of Section 20 of the 1999 Constitution, may continue to be tested through future litigation. Building a generation of advocates equipped to make those arguments is therefore part of the longer-term value of the competition.
At the competition’s launch in November, Professor Ernest Ojukwu SAN, President of NULAI Nigeria, described the initiative as “timely, visionary and essential.” NULAI Executive Director Odi Lagi noted that the competition was designed to be accessible to undergraduate law students across Nigeria, despite differences in law faculty curricula.
For Dr Pedi Obani, Principal Investigator of Gender Inclusive Climate Change Governance (GENCGOV),
the competition also demonstrates the role of law beyond the courtroom, as a tool for transformation, accountability and community-focused justice.
A national collaboration
The competition was initiated by the International Working Group on Petroleum Pollution and Just Transition in the Niger Delta and delivered through a broad partnership involving GENCGOV, NULAI Nigeria, HEDA, the University of Bradford, Aberystwyth University, Leigh Day, the OGEES Institute at Afe Babalola University, the Health of Mother Earth Foundation and the NBA Legal Education Committee.
The final and awards ceremony brought together legal practitioners, academics, civil society representatives, students and community stakeholders at the DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall in Yenagoa. Those in attendance included the Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, Justice Matilda Ayemieye, and the Chairman of the NBA Yenagoa Branch, Clement Kekemeke, alongside traditional rulers and secondary school pupils.
Building the next generation of environmental justice advocates
The moot is part of a wider programme of legal education and capacity building around climate and environmental justice. Alongside the competition is the Climate Justice Fellowship, delivered in partnership with NULAI Nigeria and now in its third phase. The fellowship combines gender-inclusive climate governance with legal clinical education, providing participants with deeper opportunities to examine the relationship between law, climate change and justice.
The two initiatives serve complementary purposes: the moot creates opportunities for students to test their legal reasoning and advocacy skills, while the fellowship provides a longer-term platform for developing expertise. Together, they contribute to a broader effort to ensure that emerging legal practitioners are equipped to engage with the environmental and climate justice challenges facing communities in Nigeria.
The work also comes at a time of growing attention to environmental justice within legal aid and reform. A proposed amendment to Nigeria’s Legal Aid Act 2011 has recently passed its Second Reading, signalling growing momentum for reform in the country’s approach to access to justice.
The EJCIL Moot may have concluded with a champion, but its larger question remains open: what legal remedies are available for historical environmental harm and who will be prepared to pursue them?
