According to UNICEF, Nigeria has the highest proportion of air pollution-related pneumonia deaths occurring among children under five. The World Bank reported that 94% of the population in Nigeria is exposed to air pollution levels that exceed WHO guidelines.
Graphical representation of sad lungs
You may be wondering if AIR POLLUTION is the only pollution present in Nigeria?🧐 Well it is not, there are 4 major pollution in Nigeria,namely; Water pollution, Land pollution, Air pollution and Noise pollution.
Before I go any further,WHAT IS POLLUTION? Pollution is a derivation of the word “pollute”-which means to make something dirty or no longer pure, especially by adding harmful or unpleasant substances to it.Research has shown that as the population of a country grows/increases with attendant pressure on the environment especially in the wake of improved technologies, environment abuse and pollution is nevertheless heightened with corresponding effects on lives of people and other living organisms. It has been observed that man through industrial, agricultural and the ever increasing urbanization process, security and terrorist activities tend to directly/indirectly pollute the environment.
According to WHO, 4 worst cities in the world for air pollution are in Nigeria. These cities include Onitsha, Kaduna, Aba and Portharcourt.
I will be talking about pollution in Portharcourt,Rivers state. 
In the year 2019, I started residing in Rivers State because I got admission at Uniport. I noticed that whenever I went to school from home after a short break or holiday, I always caught a flu. I noticed the air in the state was so dense and wasn’t clear but this wasn’t visible to the ordinary eyes. Not until, December 2021, the dense and dirty air in Rivers state wasn’t a myth anymore. It was glaring and obvious.
A picture of the handkerchief I sneezed on around December 2021
These period were not the best times for residents of Portharcourt. It was difficult to breathe clean air in the city.The bad air was as a result of the product of incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons (i.e The crude oil). The name of this by-product is SOOT (black carbon).
What is SOOT? SOOT is the common name for a type of particle pollution called PM 2.5. This particle has the ability to penetrate the lungs and bloodstream easily and it is in fact listed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of the deadliest forms of air pollution.
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF SOOT IN PORTHARCOURT?
Rivers State also referred to as the treasure base of the nation is blessed with many natural resources which is supposed to be a blessing to individuals around but this blessing has been a curse to the individuals because of the illicit activities of a few to enrich themselves to the detriment of all.
These are the causes of soot in Rivers state;
- 80% of the soot in the city are from illegal refineries aka kpofire diesel and kerosene. Have you heard of kpofire before??? These are illegal refineries that steal crude oil and try to refine them to get low quality fuel to sell to individuals and enrich themselves. Such greed!
- Gas flaring petrochemical industries.
- Burning of oil spills by incompetent contractors.
- Asphalt plants.
- Emission from fertilizer companies.
- Residents burn and roast meat using tyres.
- Bush burning and burning of sundry waste.
- Exhaust fumes from petrol/diesel.
From the pie chart, it is seen that the main cause of pollution in Rivers state is the human factor, the illegal refineries😔
Don’t be scared😂, nothing is burning, this is just a normal day in Portharcourt city
This was taken at 9:45am in the morning,how will drivers see the vehicles ahead of them in this kind of atmosphere?
This is my cousin, I went visiting, she was at home all day but see under her feet
EFFECTS OF SOOT
The effect of this horrible soot cannot be overemphasized.
- It can cause adverse respiratory disorders, Lung cancer, skin and reproductive conditions. ARE OUR LUNGS SAFE??!
- Aggravated asthma
- Some of the compounds in soot - primarily sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides - react in the air with moisture to form acid rain. This can then fall and acidify lakes and rivers, harming a variety of different ecosystems.
- Stroke due to shortage of blood supply to the brain because of the soot.
- Soot causes eye defects like Cataract.
- Soot causes haze which reduces visibility drastically.
- Premature death.
This is my friends AC filter that he washed, see how bad it turned in 2 days
These illegal bonkeries also get into water bodies affecting aquatic life and surrounding water bodies.
Picture from google
SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS TO THE POLLUTION IN RIVERS STATE
- The federal government should liaise with the state government to sanction the illegal refineries in the state.
- The policy of wearing face masks should be enforced until the issue of soot is rectified.
- Refineries and oil rigs should be built far away from residential areas.
- Government should encourage recycling of plastic and metals.
- Operation #plant a tree should be enforced on each household. The soot affect plants too but the trees still help in recycling the soot.
In my opinion, I think the main solution is to stop illegal refineries totally because that’s the root of the problem.
References; Tribuneonlineng.com
Research gate.
Energyeducation.ca
I have always heard about this PH SOOT, didn't know it was this bad.... It's not fair at alll🥺
It is this bad. It is really bad in Port harcourt. Recent statistics show that majority of the residents of ph have breathing issues or respiratory complications.
And the resident there enjoy the life they have there,? ahh i would have moved since😰
No where is even risk free in the country
After much complaints, the government is making moves to curb the pollution and you know how Nigerians are, if they haven’t gone tho the hospital because of a particular problem then they will not really care about it, little do they know that these things build up.
She brought enough receipts from our city to explain how bad these soot issue can be or has been.. Dark days is just a normal thing because of oil and gas.. I love the pictures you added, a true representation of what we face when we wake up in Port Harcourt..i really love this post..
Thank you so much. I love taking pictures of moments so I can go back to them that’s why I have lots of pictures showing the soot condition in Port-Harcourt. Thank you reblogging my post too. I really appreciate.❤️
You are welcome..Great one🔥
I see that you were trying to make reference at where you wanted to define pollution.. the best way in doing that is by using this symbol ">" just before starting your paragraph. For example:
> This code would show like this belowDo you get it now?
But C'mon is it that bad in port Harcourt?
Yes I get now. I’m still trying to find my way around hive, thank you for putting me through😊. Yes it is that bad. You can see the receipts. It is real.
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Wow... this is serious.
Sometime early this year, there was news of people clamoring that soot was falling like rain in PH and the government had to do something. But then it all died down, and I genuinely believed the issue had been resolved. I am only just finding out it is still very much happening, how they can allow this to keep going on is just beyond me.
But then, why am I even surprised?
Thank you for sharing this with us.
As I read through your post, I started to appreciate God more ooo!! Why? I realized it's a miracle to be simply alive in this our almighty Naija!! I saw the handkerchief you sneezed in and I just froze. In this Naija, living and just walking the streets makes one a certified super hero oooo.
We are all superheroes o😅😂😂😂. God is really keeping us. He is good.