Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

The need for a healthy environment is very critical at this stage of Nigeria's development. This paper focuses on how good environmental policies will promote healthy well-being. The study is motivated by poor environmental governance which negates the promotion of environmental health through good sanitation to prevent communicable and non-communicable diseases. Arguably, urban health is affected by the physical environment as a result of poor management of drainage, canals, and poor sanitation. It observes that poor sanitation account for widespread communicable and non-communicable diseases in the urban cities. A cross-national survey of key urban cities shows that refuse is dumped indiscriminately in the streets and canals. Despite states and local governments regulations on dumping of refuse along these places because of the health hazard, this is not adhered strictly to by the residents. The refuse dumps are usually places for defecation which poses serious health problems. Social responsibility and community participation are frameworks that provide insight into government policy on environmental sanitation and why citizens are not observing good sanitation habit. It concludes that healthy well-being requires the availability, sustainability, and management of the physical environment to make cities safe and resilient. This requires entrenchment of good governance for the transformation and promotion of the health and well-being of Nigerians for sustainable human development. The paper recommends for healthy public policy that requires political commitment to health by all sectors.

Key Words: Environmental sustainability, Environmental governance, Social responsibility, Community participation, Communicable and non-communicable diseases.