Nigeria, March 10 -- Nigeria's National Assembly has begun the constitutional amendment process, and as usual, all sorts of areas in the constitution have been proposed for amendment.Onearea that is often ignored but critical for Nigeria's survival is the environment. The environment is not just an abstract policy area but the foundation upon which Nigeria's economy, public health, and social stability rest.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Niger Delta region, where decades of oil pollution have created one of the world's most severe environmental crises. Since oil's discovery in 1958, this once-pristine ecosystem has endured systematic degradation, with conservative estimates indicating between 9 and 13 million barrels of oil re...