Original Framework for Integrating Green Analytical Chemistry Principles into the National Environmental Monitoring Infrastructure of Nigeria: A Systems Chemistry Approach

Nigeria's national environmental monitoring infrastructure is characterised by fragmentation, resource constraints, and reliance on high-cost analytical platforms that are not sustainably maintained, creating systematic gaps in environmental chemistry data quality and coverage. This dissertation proposes and validates an original framework for integrating green analytical chemistry principles, including miniaturisation, reagent reduction, in-situ sensing, and renewable energy coupling, into Nigeria's environmental monitoring infrastructure through a systems chemistry approach. The research combined structured stakeholder analysis involving 45 environmental monitoring institutions, techno-economic assessment of current versus green analytical chemistry alternative methods, development and field validation of three original green methods, and a policy modelling framework for national adoption. Green methods developed and validated include a solar-powered flow injection analysis system for simultaneous nitrate and phosphate determination, a smartphone-based colorimetric platform for heavy metal screening, and a passive sampling system for persistent organic pollutant monitoring. Field deployment and validation were conducted at six monitoring sites in Kogi, Enugu, Ogun, Kaduna, Cross River, and Kano States, representing all six geopolitical zones. Method performance was benchmarked against reference laboratory methods. Results show that all three developed methods meet AOAC fitness-for-purpose criteria with less than 15 percent relative standard deviation. Cost-per-analysis for the developed methods is 85 to 95 percent lower than conventional methods. A policy roadmap incorporating regulatory, institutional, and capacity-building dimensions for national green analytical chemistry adoption is presented as an original governance contribution. Keywords: green analytical chemistry, environmental monitoring, Nigeria, systems approach, low-cost methods