World Environment Day 2019 - #BeatAirPollution

And it's a beautiful daaaay! Taan taan taan (strumming an electric guitar like a rock star)

It is another 5th day in the month of June in yet another year. For those who may not know, today is the day that individuals, communities, governments, organizations and even celebrities from over 143 countries of the world come together to raise awareness for a specific environmental issue to commemorate World Environment Day. The focus for this year’s Eco Day AKA Environment Day is themed “Beat Air Pollution” and the global festivities are being hosted by China. It is estimated that about 7 million people die prematurely every year around the world; of this number, a whopping 4 million of these occur in the Asia-Pacific.
The choice of China as this year’s host can be traced to its growing green energy sector; in fact, China owns 50% of the electric vehicles and 99% of the electric buses in the world. The head of UN Environment, Joyce Msuya, describes China as having “demonstrated tremendous leadership in tackling air pollution domestic. China will now be leading the push and stimulating global action to save millions of lives.” Recently, China published a 20-year review report on air pollution control in Beijing therefore, as 2019s Eco day hosts, China will showcase its various innovation and progress toward a cleaner environment.

For our beloved country Nigeria, the reverse is the case. With a record of 150 deaths per 100,000 people related to air pollution, Nigeria has ranked the African country with the highest air pollution deaths and the fourth on the global list in 2016. According to the 2018 Health Effects Institute (HEI) State of the Global Air Report, Nigeria was among 10 of the deadliest countries on earth with higher than ambient air pollution deaths due to a combination of environmental hazards and extreme pollution sources like generator and vehicle emissions and burning of all sorts. The quality of air is so bad that each breath is choking the life of the average Nigerian both indoors and outdoors.

A clear and ever-present evidence of this is the daily reality of residents in the garden city of Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. In the last few years, Port-Harcourt and its environs have been enveloped in black soot which settles heavily on surfaces both inside and outside buildings. An increasing number of people across the city are being treated for sudden and prolonged occurrences of irritation to the eyes and ears as well as respiratory challenges including cough, catarrh, asthma, chest pain, dry throat, and lung damage. In an attempt to find a lasting solution, the Federal Government under the auspices of National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) held a meeting with relevant stakeholders in April of 2018. In that gathering, it was agreed that the Port-Harcourt air pollution problem if not curtailed, could impact other parts of the country directly and indirectly. 

I visited Port-Harcourt a little over two weeks ago and I can say for a fact that the situation may even be worse now - clothes left outside to air-dry always came in with a thin covering of fine, black particulate matter. Imagine the damage that breathing in such would do to an average adult much less a child! 

The way I see it, Nigeria is behind on environmental laws and their enforcement and we as a people are unable to protect ourselves from the exposure we have to endure. Just as air sustains life, it can also snuff that same life out. The public needs to be made more aware of the danger this poses to individuals so that the necessary changes to improve public health can be made to reduce the burden of air pollution on the general society.

Let us join hands with the rest of the world on this day to beat air pollution out of our cities and villages!