Air Pollution: EU Expresses Concerns Over Quality Of Air Nigerians Breathe

Air Pollution: EU Expresses Concerns Over Quality Of Air Nigerians Breathe

The European Union and Oxfam in Nigeria have expressed concerns over the quality of air Nigerians breathe.

According to the organisations, Nigeria lost more than 114,000 people to air pollution in 2017.

They stated this during a briefing to mark this year’s World Environment Day in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The briefing was jointly organised with Development Exchange Center and CRUDAN.

Country Representative, Oxfam in Nigeria, Constant Tchona, who read the text of the briefing, said there was need for government to do something about the poor quality of air Nigerians breathe.

He said:

“The quality of the air we breathe in Nigeria is bad. We need to do something about it. We should do something about it and we must do something about it.”

He said Oxfam, with support from the EU, has planted over 400, 000 trees in Kebbi and Adamawa states under its Pro-Resilience Action project.

“At Oxfam and with EU support, we have planted over 400,000 trees with PROACT in Adamawa and Kebbi states and over seven million trees in Katsina state through the fuelwood balance (FUWOBA).

“We have produced the clean cookstove known as the Dadinkowa stove that reduces firewood usage by over 50 per cent. Together we can and we do more,” he said.

The development partners used the occasion to unveil the ‘one person 4 tree campaign’ (OP4T-Campaign).

This year’s World Environment Day had: ‘We can’t stop breathing but we can do something about the quality of air that we breath,’ as its theme.