Abstract
Oil exploitation remains important to the economy and development of Nigeria, but its interaction
with the ecosystem and interconnected water resources create conflicts between competing forms
of resource use. This paper examines whether Nigerian law provides a coherent and balanced
framework for reconciling oil development with the continued impairment on water resources and
associated ecosystems. The research adopts a doctrinal methodology, analysing the Constitution,
Petroleum Industry Act 2021, Environmental Impact Assessment Act, Water Resources Act,
NESREA Act, relevant subsidiary regulations, judicial decisions, and applicable international and
African regional instruments. The research further made comparative reference to Canada and
Norway. The paper finds that the laws of Nigeria recognise competing resource uses and several
substantive protection criteria, but these laws remain dispersed across separate statutory and
institutional frameworks. In particular, the framework does not provide a sufficiently structured
method for translating the value of affected resources into oil authorisation or for determining
when significant residual impairment is justified. The paper proposes some models which include
but is not limited to an integrated resource reconciliation framework based on structured
justification, and remedies for persons directly affected by permitted residual resource loss.