NESREA Salary 2022/2023 | Current Salary Structure

Last Updated on November 18, 2021

Have you ever wondered how much the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) officers are earning? This article contains the current salary structure of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).

About NESREA

Before the dumping of poisonous/harmful waste in Koko village, Delta State, in 1987, our country, Nigeria was poorly equipped to manage serious environmental crises. This was due to the fact that there were no institutional arrangements or mechanisms put in place for environmental protection, and as such, the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations in the country was difficult to follow through.

As the country came to grips with the effects of dumping toxic waste after the incident at Koko village in Delta State, the Federal Government of Nigeria enacted the Harmful Waste Decree 42 of 1988, which brought about the establishment of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) through Decree 58 of 1988 and 59 (as amended) of 1992.

Going forward, FEPA was then empowered with the overall responsibility for environmental management and protection, ensuring that by the time it was established, Nigeria became the first African country to put in place a national institutional mechanism for environmental protection.

The Federal Government later merged FEPA with other relevant Departments in other Ministries to form the Federal Ministry of Environment in 1999, but without an appropriate enabling law on enforcement issues. This situation created a vacuum in the effective enforcement of environmental laws, standards and regulations in the country.

To address this lapse, the Federal Government in line with section 20 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, established the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Environment. By the NESREA establishment Act 2007, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency Act Cap F 10 LFN 2004 has been repealed.

The Bill for an Act establishing NESREA was passed by the National Assembly, signed into law and published in the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette No. 92. Vol. 94 of 31st July, 2007.

Vision and Mission of NESREA

Below are the vision and mission statements of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA.

Vision: To ensure a cleaner and healthier environment for Nigerians.

Mission: To inspire personal and collective responsibility in building an environmentally conscious society for the achievement of sustainable development in Nigeria.

Mandate of the Agency

The responsibility of NESREA spans the protection and development of the environment, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development of Nigeria’s natural resources in general and environmental technology including coordination, and liaison with, relevant stakeholders within and outside the country on matters involving the enforcement of environmental standards, regulations, rules, laws, policies and guidelines.

The NESREA Act empowers the Agency to be responsible for enforcing all environmental laws, guidelines, policies, standards and regulations in Nigeria, as well as enforcing compliance with provisions of international agreements, protocols, conventions and treaties on the environment to which Nigeria is a signatory.

Departments That Make Up NESREA and their Functions

There are seven (7) departments which make up NESREA and they are listed below along with their functions. They are:

Inspection and Enforcement Department

The Inspection and Enforcement Department of NESREA:

• Coordinates environmental monitoring of facilities, entities or corporate bodies in the brown environment in order to promote compliance with extant environmental laws, guidelines, policies, standards and regulations for sustainable development.
• Enforce compliance with Laws, Guidelines, Policies and Standards on industrial effluent limitations, noise control, hazardous chemicals management, industrial pollution etc.
• Enforce compliance with the provisions of International Environmental Agreements, Protocols, Conventions and Treaties on Chemicals, Hazardous wastes, Sanitation and such other Agreements that may from time to time, come into force such as: (i) Basel Convention for the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes (ìí) Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (iii) Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (iv)Minamata Convention on Mercury.
• Enforce compliance with Policy, Standards, legislations and Guidelines on Environmental health and sanitation including pollution abatement
• Enforce compliance with any legislation on sound chemicals management, safe use of pesticides and disposal of spent packages thereof
• Enforce compliance with regulations on the importation, exportation, production, distribution, storage sale, use, handling and disposal of hazardous chemicals and waste other than in the oil and gas sector.

The Planning and Policy Analysis Department

The mission of this Department is to ensure effective mainstreaming of existing and emerging policy issues into the mandate of the Agency through effective planning and public education including application of information management system and the building of viable partnerships at all levels.

The Department has three Divisions namely:

• Planning;
• Policy Analysis (PA);
• Research and Information Management (RIM)

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Functions of the Planning and Policy Analysis Department of NESREA includes:

• To ensure effective mainstreaming of existing and emerging policy issues into the mandate of the Agency;
• To ensure effective planning and develop appropriate compliance monitoring and enforcement strategies in collaboration with relevant departments;
• To ensure adequate Stakeholder’s engagement for environmental governance in the country;
• To ensure Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening for the Agency; and
• To carry-out monitoring of the Agency’s programmes and activities for quality assurance.

Environmental Quality Control Department

Functions of the Environmental Quality Control Department of NESREA include the following:

• Monitor and enforce National Standards and Regulations on air and water quality;
• Collaborate with relevant local authorities and other stakeholders on compliance monitoring of air and water quality;
• Monitor and control priority pollutants with adverse effect on ecosystems integrity and human health;
• Develop environmental monitoring networks on Air Quality;
• Compile an emission database for compliance, monitoring and enforcement;
• Identify and promote appropriate technology alternatives including sound practices to ensure environmental compliance;
• Collaborate with relevant stakeholders to develop new Technologies and Innovations for environmental compliances;
• Undertake, coordinate, utilize and promote the expansion of research, experiments, surveys and studies by public or private agencies, institutions and organizations, concerning causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction and elimination of pollution that would promote compliance with environmental standards and regulations;
• Enforce the provision of international environmental agreements in the green environment, to which Nigeria is signatory, such as CITES, RAMSAR, Convention on Biodiversity and access and benefit sharing and such other Agreements that may from time to time come into force;
• Enforce in collaboration with relevant authorities, the National Guidelines on logging and harvesting of timber products and the set standards for the export of forest products and the import of forest industry equipment;
• Enforce control measures on the protection of vegetation against wild and incidental forest fires and bush burning;
• Enforce in collaboration with relevant authorities, the National Bio-safety Policy and Guidelines to ensure that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not harmful to the environment and people;
• Ensure that relevant permits are obtained before GMO products are imported, marketed or patented;
• Enforce the Regulations against the disposal of solid wastes in drainage channels;
• Enforce watershed management guidelines to protect water sources from flood, to prevent erosion, deforestation, degradation and contamination of spring sources;
• Enforce dam regulatory Guidelines for Dam break, sediment load and Dam water releases to prevent downstream flood;
• Enforce the incorporation of Erosion and flood control measures at the designed stage of major infrastructural / physical developments;
• Enforce the restriction of Sand dredging for beach nourishment from fragile shore areas and within areas of long shore transport; and
• In collaboration with relevant agencies, enforce urban zoning regulations including standardization of drainage infrastructure in ecological zones and protection of marginal Lands.

Other departments at NESREA include:

• The Partnership and Education Department
• The Special Duties Department
• The Administration and Finance Department, and
• The Legal Department.

NESREA Salary 2022: How Much NESREA Pay Its Workers

On the average, this 2021, the entry level salary for fresh graduates at the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) stands at ₦119,175. This figure was arrived at from a salary scale ranging between ₦60,000 – ₦120,000 every month. Scientific Officers earn about ₦74,000 per month at NESREA while Senior Scientific Officers are paid a monthly salary of ₦165,000 every month at this government agency.

What is on your mind? What do you think about the salary structure of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA)?