There is a silent rage of air pollution in Nigeria. Almost every breath taken is like a step closer to death. The country is faced with significant air pollution challenges that call to question the country?s air quality status. Hazardous emissions have led to many being hospitalised or suffering from long-term exposure to polluted air, this report unravels how the ugly trend has adversely affected air quality in Nigeria.

For years, 46-year-old Femi Martins, an Uber driver, has battled ?chesty cough? after venturing into the e-hailing sector.

Martins narrated how he did not end up dead after a series of continuous night battles with incessant coughing coupled with a dry chest is a mystery that has left him confounded.

A ?chesty or productive cough? is specifically caused by congestion in one?s lungs.

?I?ve been doing this Uber job for years. After years of driving people around, I can no longer breathe well because of all the smoke and fumes I have inhaled from cars and trucks.

?I have thought of quitting this job, but how do I survive?? Martins said, breathing heavily

While it appears that an invisible threat lurks in the air we breathe, Nigerians face a serious public health challenge arising from the poor air quality in the country.

Air is an important and vital requirement for life. It sustains life and can also snuff out life. In cities like Kano, Port Harcourt, Onitsha and Lagos, a haze of silent death seems to hang in the air. From indoors to outdoors, air is becoming deadlier than ever before. The situation poses a grave health risk directly linked to respiratory illnesses, heart disease and even cognitive decline.

The burden of air pollution falls disproportionately on the most vulnerable. Children, pregnant women, older adults, people with chronic illnesses and disabilities and those in extreme poverty have been identified as the most vulnerable group.

Also, hardly a week passes without reports of fatalities resulting from generator fumes. The fumes emitted by generators are fatal, often without the victims, who are mostly asleep, knowing or realising the danger.

In August 2024, the people of Isi Obehie in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State were thrown into mourning following the death of six members of a family resident in the community. The incident happened at Ofoji Street in Obehie.

A source said: ?They left their generator behind their building and went to sleep, leaving their windows open. We suspect that the window, which was open, gave room for the generator fumes to come into their house, resulting in the unfortunate incident.?

The two-stroke engine generators, also referred to as ?I pass my neighbour? have a reputation for producing deadly smoke from their exhausts. The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency at a time warned Nigerians to stop using the two-stroke generator.

Unhealthy air quality has long-term hazards as a possible cause of lung cancer. Exposure to moderate and high levels of carbon monoxide over a long period has been linked with increased risk of heart disease.

A 50-year-old widow, Mrs. Felicia, who sells boli (roast plantain) by the roadside in the Sango axis of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and struggles to make ends meet, told our correspondent about her battles with breathing including an occasion on which she gasped for air and fainted.

A medical report diagnosed her with obstructive pulmonary disease. One of the causes of this disease is long-term exposure to air pollution, which the doctor believed must have started from her frequent exposure to smoke from roasting corn and the emissions from vehicles.

Both indoor and outdoor, air pollution is choking the average Nigerian. The global threat is caused by the presence of pollutants in the atmosphere in quantities and duration that cause harm to humans, other forms of life and materials.

Recent studies have shown that air pollution?s impact on life expectancy in Nigeria is greater than that of HIV/AIDS and almost at par with malaria and unsafe water and sanitation, shortening the average Nigerian life expectancy.

Quality air is considered as one of the basic and important necessities for human well-being and the environment. The accessibility of every human being to good and quality air is a fundamental human right. Recognizing this fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987 published air quality guidelines containing health risk assessments of major air contaminants.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution is the largest contributor to the top four non-communicable diseases;?stroke, lung cancer, chronic respiratory disease and heart disease???accounting for between one-quarter and one-third of those deaths.

Some sources of outdoor pollution are smoke from burning trash, generator emissions, road dust, industrial emissions, emissions from refineries and petrochemicals, gas flaring and pipeline explosions.

It is estimated that motor vehicles are responsible for more than 88 per cent of global air pollution. Polluted air is a major public health concern in urban cities such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Enugu. This is because about 90 per cent of the Nigerian population depend on motor vehicles/motor bikes (okada) to undertake both interstate and intracity transit. The increased dependence on vehicular movement has led to more discharge of vehicular emissions into the atmosphere leading to heavily polluted urban air.

Industrial emissions have also been reported to haunt commercial zones in Lagos such as Apapa, Idumota, Ikeja, Ilupeju, Mushin, others where industries are concentrated.

A trader, Mrs. Simbiat, who exhaled deeply while speaking to our correspondent, lamented her daily travails coping with pervasive emission in the area emanating from industrial machines, generators and vehicles.

But Mr. Segun Adeoye seemed not to be bothered with the emission. He merely expressed helplessness over the situation and described the fumes as a permanent spectacle in the area.

This is just as the federal government expressed its readiness to establish air quality monitoring stations across the country to generate reliable database for sound policy making aimed at ensuring clean air.

The Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Iziaq Salako, at a recent National Clean Air Campaign, #BreatheEasyNigeria, re-echoed the agenda to reduce all forms of air pollutants to 50% globally by 2030.

To inculcate this consciousness, the International Day of Clean Air for Blues Skies was set aside by the United Nations General Assembly to ?strengthen international cooperation in improving air quality and reducing air pollution? since 2020.

Particulate Matter concentration 2.5 (?g/m?) are the worst type of air pollutants because of their ability to easily penetrate the lungs due to their small sizes and circulate the entire body leading to systemic inflammation and carcinogenicity.

An estimated 30% of Lagos? PM2.5 air pollution concentrations are attributable to road transport. Other causes of PM2.5 pollution in Lagos include biomass fuels, sea salt, fugitive dust and ship emissions.

The alarming figures recorded for Lagos portends a looming threat to the health of its citizens.

In October 2024, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) ranked Agege and Surulere local government areas as the most hazardous and very unhealthy areas for air quality in the state.

According to the report, Agege recorded the worst air quality with a hazardous rating of 103 per cent, indicating a severe pollution level harmful to public health, followed by Surulere with a ?very unhealthy? rating of 76.1 per cent.

In contrast, Lekki emerged as the area with the cleanest air, boasting a good air quality rating of 10.1 per cent.

The Air Quality Index is a tool designed to inform the public about the levels of air pollution and its potential health effects.

Full ranking of areas in Lagos from highest to lowest AQI scores for October:

1. Agege ? 103 per cent, hazardous

2. Surulere ? 76.1 per cent, very unhealthy

3. Mushin ? 47.3 per cent, unhealthy

4. LAMATA Kosefe ? 46 per cent, unhealthy

5. Lagos Port, Apapa ? 36.4 per cent, unhealthy

6. Badagry ? 23.8 per cent, unhealthy for sensitive groups

7. Moloney Street ? 20.7 per cent, unhealthy for sensitive groups

8. Egbeda ? 15.7 per cent, moderate

9. NIMET Oshodi ? 14.1 per cent, moderate

10. General Hospital Ikeja ? 12.6 per cent, moderate

11. LSDPC Estate, Lagos Island ? 12.1 per cent, moderate

12. Lekki ? 10.1 per cent, good air quality

13. LASEPA ? 7.6 per cent, good air quality

The city of Port Harcourt is one of the cities in Nigeria that is densely populated and occupied with commerce and industrial activities. It is also faced with an air pollution crisis.

Recently, the city faced the challenges of black soot and other environmental hazards occasioned by legal and illegal oil activities. This therefore shows that there is ample evidence to suggest a strong link between air pollution and climate change.

In 2018, according to the World Bank, ambient air pollution led to about 11,200 premature deaths; the highest in West Africa. Children under five years of age were the most affected, accounting for 60 per cent of total deaths while the adults experienced heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Meanwhile, in saner climes, some cities have taken bold steps. Birmingham, Bradford, Sheffield and Bristol in the United Kingdom, have all rolled out Clean Air Zones in which all vehicles that exceed emission standards are charged.

Regulating air quality in Nigeria

A major challenge in combating air pollution in Africa?s cities is the scarcity of data. Air quality is not monitored in most cities and resources to compile inventories of the types and sizes of sources contributing to air pollution are lacking. All these efforts are costly and require sustained, long-term funding.

Nigeria?s National Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) regulate air quality in Nigeria through the National Policy on Environment.

The policy captures sound environmental principles intended to bring about environmental sustainability and highlights some key strategies to achieving clean air. These include:

1. Designating and mapping of National Air Control Zones and declaring air quality objectives for each designated Air Control Zone.

2. Establishing ambient air quality standards and monitoring stations at each designated zone.

3. Licensing and registering of all major industrial air polluters and monitoring their compliance with laid down standards;

4. Provision of guidelines for the abatement of air pollution;

5. Establishing standards for the control of fuel additives with respect to trace elements.

6. Prescribing stringent standards for the level of emission from automobile exhausts and energy generating plants and stations;

7. Monitoring and minimising the incidence of ?acid rains?

8. Promoting regional cooperation aimed at minimising the atmospheric.

While NESREA is working to achieve clean air in Nigeria with these strategies, there is a need for collaboration with other ministries, departments and agencies of government to implement the policy.

Enforcing the National Environmental policy should not be left only for NESREA and the Ministry of Environment. (Courtesy of The Nation)

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