Religious Rights, Noise Pollution and the Nigerian Constitution: A Conflict

Abstract

The paper discusses freedom of thought, conscience and religion with regard to the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency(NESREA) which regulates noise including those emanating from religious buildings and argues that the inclusion of sounds emanating from religious buildings and produced when manifesting a religious belief in the category of sounds to be regulated would not only limit the right but would also negatively affect other rights connected to this religious right as stated in Section 38, especially as these rights are intertwined. A critical appraisal of section 45(1) of the 1999 Amended Nigeria Constitution which influenced the enactment of NESREA showed that the restriction has not been sufficiently justified in the absence of adequate proof of the adverse effect of noise pollution to Nigerians. Based on this analysis the paper identified a conflict of laws particularly between the rights stated in Sections 37-41 on one hand and Section 45 and NESREA on the other hand considering the fact that the Constitution bestows the rights in Part IV and thereafter restricts the way such rights should be manifested.

Keywords: Noise Pollution, Religious Freedom, Constitution, Conflict of laws, Nigeria

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/102-05

Publication date:October 31^st 2020