Seeking Concrete Remediation Of Health Hazards Posed By Soot In Nigeria

By Dianabasi Effiong

Sooth from oil pollution in the Niger Delta

In Nigeria, soot is often perceived from exhaust pipes of diesel engines and trucks it is felt on windowsills, nets and panes at homes or smokestacks.

When one cooks with firewood, burn tyres, wipe hands on exposed surfaces such as a parked cars, soot will definitely be noticeable.

Sources of soot include illegal refineries commonly referred to in the local parlance in Port Harcourt as “Kpo-fire’’, industrialisation, refineries and so on.

According to available literature, soot is a deep black powdery or flaky substance, consisting largely of amorphous carbon, produced by the incomplete burning of organic matter.

Health experts and environmentalists say that soot in whatever form constitutes a nightmare and posed serious health hazards when inhaled by people and animals wherever it is prevalent.

In parts of Nigeria, especially Port Harcourt in Rivers, soot issues, apart from politics and sometimes security challenges, have been dominating informed discourse.

The soot matter seemed to have abated on the onset of the rainy season this year but re-emerged recently in areas including Ada-George, Abuloma, Borikiri, Trans-Amadi, Rumuokwusi, and Abonema wharf among others.

Its re-emergence also regenerated lots of concerns by residents and indigenes of Rivers because of its attendant pervasive environmental hazards including air pollution.

A resident, Mr Ekereobong Inyang, narrated an encounter he had with his young son when they spotted some egret among a herd of cattle grazing on the outskirt of the Garden City.

He narrated the experience thus: “Daddy why are those Leke-leke (Egret) black and dirty? They used to be white and shiny’’.

“I told him that it is because of soot; even the shiny feathers of an egret are affected by soot!’’.

Perhaps such scenario among others informed Dr Vincent Weli of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), to call on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on lingering soot emission in Port Harcourt and its environs.

Weli, a Climatologist and Air Pollution Meteorologist, said that soot emission prevails when the air is heated to a very high temperature level to alter atmospheric stability dangerously.

“Altering atmospheric stability and incomplete combustion of crude oil endangers human life on an unprecedented scale.

“Soot prevents heat from escaping from the earth surface. Once heat is prevented from reaching the earth surface, it vastly reduces ability of the cloud to emit radiation,’’ he said.

Weli also attributed the soot and heat wave on the activities of illegal oil refiners as well as indiscriminate burning of tyres and certain activities in abattoirs.

Dr Omosivie Maduka of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, College of Health Sciences, UNIPORT, also warned that children and the elderly were most vulnerable to the soot.

Maduka, a public health physician, said the soot particle when inhaled into the lungs leads to respiratory, inflammatory and cardiovascular complications.

“The inflammatory process could lead to resistance in the blood vessels, causing the heart to work harder to pump blood.

“When this happens, the situation may result to elevated blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases that could lead to stroke and possible heart attack,’’ he said.

Similarly, Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers, alleged that the “crude way’’ security agencies demolish illegal refineries generate soot in the state.

He also alleged that the problem of soot is not caused by the Rivers State Government but by Federal agencies which he also blamed for “practically damaging the environment by their illegal activities’’.

“The Rivers State Government do not own companies that refine crude. We have made representations to the Federal Government and her agencies on the issue of soot, to no avail.

“We have called on the security agencies to find more refined ways of destroying the illegal refineries.

“We have informed the National Council of Environment, the military and all Federal Regulatory Agencies, but they are not interested in intervening,’’ Wike said.

According to Wike, the federal government’s “refusal to act on all data supplied on the soot is a deliberate ploy to make Rivers people suffer health hazards which will lead to untimely deaths’’.

“We want the international community to come to our aid and pressure the Federal Government not to politicise environmental issues.

“We are ready to work with the international community to address this challenge.

“We support the destruction of illegal refineries by security agencies. But while doing this, we should not do it in a manner that would destroy lives and depopulate the state,” Wike said.

He also said that the state government would establish a centre to recycle used tyres and organic waste material as part of government’s resolve to end soot menace in Rivers.

Wike said that his administration was also discussing with experts on other environmentally friendly ways to end the perennial hydrocarbon emissions in the state.

“The Rivers government is committed to ending the current soot in the atmosphere due to grave implication it has on the health of the people.

“The soot does not discriminate between who is APC or PDP member or discriminate between who is a governor and who is not; it affects all of us.

“If you enter my room, everywhere is black, and so, it also affects me. We are all into this together,’’ he said.

He urged security agencies to adopt other environmentally-friendly methods in the destruction of illegal refineries and bunker sites in the state.

Wike said that his administration was partnering with three oil majors to institute measures to address the prevailing soot challenge including the sensitisation of members of the public to remedy the soot hazard.

Also, the Nigerian Navy says its adoption of Swam Buggy strategy for the destruction of illegal refining facilities contributed immensely “to declining hydrocarbon pollution in Rivers’’.

Capt. Victor Choji, Executive Officer, Nigerian Navy Ship Pathfinder Port Harcourt, stated this at the handover of suspected diesel smugglers to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Onne.

Swamp buggy is a purpose-built or modified vehicle used to traverse buggy swamp terrain.

The Nigerian Navy deploy the vehicle and personnel to crush pans and tanks used by illegal oil bunkers to store illegally refined petroleum products.

According to Choji, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Ibok-Ete Ibas, directs that the best international practices be deployed to destroy unapproved refineries and bunker sites.

“Let me delightfully state that the concern about soot particularly in the Rivers maritime space has reduced since we adopted environment-friendly strategies.

“One of the strategies that we adopted is the Swam Buggy approach to our campaign against crude oil theft and illegally refining of petroleum products.

“We are using a multi-faceted approach in tackling the soot, knowing that unlawful refining of crude oil was major source of funding for sea pirates and other criminal elements,’’ he said.

Experts say that the pervasive air pollution in Port Harcourt could further spread adversely to other areas in Nigeria if it is not urgently checkmated by appropriate authorities.

Consequently, Ibrahim Jibril, the Minister of State for Environment, assured of government’s concern over growing cases of respiratory diseases, eye problems and other ailments associated with air pollution.

According to a report by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Jibril and other stakeholders met in Port Harcourt to find lasting solutions to the problem in the city and its environs.

The minister also warned that if the air pollution in the city persisted, it could have serious direct and indirect implications on other parts of Nigeria.

“We have come here to act now. The outcome of this meeting will not only assist to address the problem in Port Harcourt and its environs, but also other parts of the country.’’

He said that government was deeply concerned about the growing incidence of soot, in the form of thick black smoke covering the city and the region and the complaints associated with its settling on rooftops, floors, offices and vehicles.

He said the outcome of the meeting would greatly assist in charting a new course to end the menace.

He was also reported to have stated that although government had a responsibility to protect the environment and human health, improving air quality in Nigeria should be a collective duty.

Jibril said that several consultative meetings involving key stakeholders in the public and private sectors at the federal and state levels were convened on the soot menace which required intensification of further and urgent actions.

Jibril, who urged residents to be calm and take adequate protective measures, also advised them to be eternally vigilant and report illegal acts that could adversely affect air quality to appropriate authorities.

Dr Lawrence Anukam, the Director-General, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), said the agency organised the meeting for concrete recommendations with forward looking programmes and activities to address the problem.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), no less than an estimated seven million people worldwide die annually from outdoor and household air pollution.

It also indicated that ambient air pollution alone caused 4.2 million deaths in 2016, while household air pollution from cooking with polluting fuels and technologies caused an estimated 3.8 million deaths in the same year.

It stated that a new data from the organisation showed that in many parts of the world air pollution levels are dangerously high, adding that nine out of 10 people inhale air bearing high levels of pollutant.

“WHO estimates that around seven million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air that penetrates deep into the lungs and cardiovascular system causing diseases such as stroke, heart disease and lung cancer.

“Other diseases are chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and respiratory infections including pneumonia.

“Around three billion people, more than 40 per cent of the world’s population, still do not have access to clean cooking fuels and technologies in their homes which is the main source of household air pollution.

“WHO has been monitoring household air pollution for more than a decade and while the rates of access to clean fuels and technologies is increasing everywhere, improvements are not keeping pace with population growth in many parts of the world particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa,’’ WHO stated.

It quoted WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus: “It is unacceptable that over three billion people more of whom are women and children are still breathing deadly smoke every day from using polluting stoves and fuels in their homes.

“If we do not take action on air pollution, we will never come close to achieving sustainable development.’’

The World body also charged countries to collaborate on solutions for sustainable transport, more efficient and renewable energy production and use and waste management.

Observers agree that providing enabling environment for primary necessities such as food, houses, a good transport system, jobs, power supplies and other needs of people are some of the roles of government.

Ensuring a pollution-free environment should dominate laudable programmes by all levels of government in Nigeria.

At a Joint Activation and Drill Exercise in Port Harcourt, Mr Peter Idabor, Director-General, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), advised residents to use nose mask to reduce impact of soot on their health.

Idabor said the Ministry of Environment and its affiliates held several meetings with law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to end the soot.

“We have agreed that instead of setting ablaze tankers caught with stolen petroleum product; that it is better to retire the crude oil back to the refineries and oil companies.

“We felt that rather than dispose the petroleum products into the environment that it is best to store them in refineries’’ he said.

Idabor said a committee, set up on the orders of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had adopted the Harmonised Standard Operating Procedure to deal with recovered stolen petroleum products.

Government should also compel relevant agencies to enforce existing environmental laws.

Citizens should be patriotic enough to encourage government in this regard through pro-health habits to stem the spread of environmental diseases and soot-associated morbidity.