FIGHTING AIR POLLUTION BY EMECHO TED

In Nigeria,  emissions are growing much faster than we'd thought, the absorptive capacity is less than we'd thought, the risks of green house gases are potentially bigger than more cautious estimates and the speed of climate change seems to be faster. 

Reducing emissions of green house gases, also called green house gas mitigation,  is a necessary strategy for controlling global warming. Emecho T, (2011 )

According to him in his project on ‘the role of vegetation on air pollutant concentration along transport routes’ There are two major approaches to slowing the build up of green house gases. One is to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, there by reducing green house gas emissions. The other is to keep carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by storing the gas or its carbon component some where else, a strategy known as carbon sequestration or carbon capture. One way to keep carbon dioxide emissions from reaching the atmosphere is to preserve and plant more trees. Trees, especially young and fast-growing ones, soak up a great deal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store carbon atoms in new wood. World wide, forests are being cleared at an alarming rate, particularly in the tropics. In many areas, there is little regrowth as land loses fertility or is changed to other uses, such as farming or housing developments. In addition, when trees are burned to clear land, they release stored carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Slowing the rate of deforestation and planting new trees can help counteract the build up of green house gases.

 Trees help cleanse the air by intercepting air borne particles, reducing heat, and absorbing such pollutants as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. Trees remove this air pollution by lowering air temperature, through respiration,and by retaining particulates.

Finally, the study also suggests the following:

1. Encouragement of proper air quality management programmes.
2.  Improvement of traffic flow and control which requires good city road network; improve fuel quality through reduction of sulphur;
3.  Proper legislative frame work to regulate and control vehicle emission in  cities
4. Implementation of  traffic control measures.

Forget about the threat of global climate change, a more immediate concern for the millions of residents in major Nigerian cities should be the quality of the air they breathe. Studies have shown that the levels of air pollution in Nigerian major cities are at the same level as those that leads to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Without a radical policy and legislative change in air quality management, increased numbers of Nigerians living and working in such cities have existential and potential risk of dying prematurely from these diseases.

At the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, most developing nations, including Nigeria, joined the debate on the global impact of carbon emissions from developed nations by demanding necessary financial resources to fund measures aimed at tackling the risk and impact of climate change in the third world. However, informed observers will find these demands surprising so long as the developing countries are not ready to take responsibilities for managing immediate environmental concerns, such as urban air quality, within their own jurisdiction. With a population of 20 million people, Lagos is one of the fastest growing megacities in the world, and the state government is actively pursuing the status of it being a model megacity in Africa. However, without a rigorous, robust and well-informed strategy of reducing the environmental impact of the growing city, the so called "mega-city project" may be considered another parody of a seeming utopia.

Consistent with results from cities around the world, air pollution in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and other major cities in Nigeria is attributed to the emissions from transport, industry, energy and domestic sources. In particular, Lagos residents are exposed to significant ambient air pollution concentrations due to increased reliance on small-scale petrol powered generators for domestic electricity supply, use of diesel-fuelled generators for commercial energy supply, uncontrolled open incineration of waste, major thermal power stations and substantial petrochemical activity within the city limits. Studies by academic and non-academic researchers within and outside Nigeria have indicated high levels of air pollution in most urban areas in the country. For example, the 2007 World Health Organization (WHO) funded project on vehicular emissions monitoring in Lagos, undertaken by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), have shown that the concentration of pollutants (such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, particulates and carbon monoxide) exceeded the WHO guidelines at most locations in Lagos. Similar studies conducted in Kaduna, Abuja, Ibadan, Ado-Ekiti and Calabar also showed that pollutant concentrations in these cities are more than the limit values stipulated by the defunct Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA). These studies have underscored the importance of an efficient air quality management framework to regulate these pollutants and protect public health.

Monitoring air quality concentrations is pivotal to understanding the extent of air pollution and ensuring a proportionate and cost-effective response. Presently, there are no coordinated and continuous assessments of local air quality undertaken by the Federal Ministry of Environment or any other government body tasked with pollution control in the city. Implicitly, Nigerians living and working in major cities do so in an environment devoid of a standard against which the air they breathe can be assessed or managed. That air pollution is injurious to public health, is a fact that has been less obvious in Nigerian public health and environmental policies. At its best, the FEPA regulatory framework put in place by the Federal Government in 1991 is a statement of intent, which recognizes issues without adequately tackling them. However, the newly established National Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA), has outlined the vision of ensuring a cleaner and healthier environment for all Nigerians. In October 2010, the Agency undertook a consultation process on the draft National Environmental Regulations which includes sections on the Control of Vehicular Emissions from Petrol and Diesel Engines.

There is a wealth of evidence regarding the effects of long-term exposure to pollutants on human health. Various studies have indicated that areas of high background concentrations of particles (fine dust) in the air are associated with increased numbers of premature deaths in people with long-term residence in such areas. The findings show that people that are exposed to particles are more likely to suffer symptoms associated with asthmatic conditions, respiratory or cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies in New York have linked exposure to fine particulate matter with an increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest. The study indicate that the risk of cardiac arrest increased significantly up to 10% with every 10 mg/m3 rise in the concentration of fine particles in the city. Air pollution reduces the life expectancy of people who are constantly exposed to it. For example, in London, air pollution is said to contribute to the deaths of approximately 4500 people every year, and reduces the life expectancy of everyone in the UK by an average of 6 months.

While the interpretation of these findings within the Nigerian context is open to debate, its overall conclusion is not. Poor air quality contributes to early deaths. More importantly and perhaps sadly is the fact that a larger proportion of people are susceptible to this risk in Lagos compared to London or New York.

 In Lagos, most of the residential developments are situated in close proximity to the motorways and other sources of emissions. Statistics from the Lagos Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA) indicates that there is an average of 222 vehicles to every kilometre in Lagos. There are approximately 20 million Lagosians who are constantly exposed to dangerous air pollutants which reduce their life expectancy by months, if not years. Unlike water, drug or food quality, the impact of urban air pollution is non-discriminatory, and does not recognize the broad social and economic stratum that separate Nigerians. Everyone breathes the same air, including the most vulnerable groups - the children, the elderly and the sick people. The Lagos smog episode on 12 October 2005 therefore illustrates a long-simmering trend. With more people in Nigeria using motorised vehicles for their daily commute, leaving the air pollution unmanaged can grievously harm more people.

Adequate legislation and an evidence-based government policy framework are the foundation for air quality management. A case in point is the South African National Air Quality Management Programme established in 2007. It is interesting to note that the legislative framework for this programme, the Air Quality Act, was enacted in 2004, the year that the nation won the bid to host the World Cup. Although there is no evidence which establishes any causal link between the South African Air Quality Management Programme and FIFA's bidding decision, it is not far-fetched that the environmental and public-health risk of air pollution will play a significant role in the matrix of criteria for selecting future international competition venues. The South African framework was set in place with the help of consortium of academic and non-academic experts within and outside the country, such as the Air Quality Management Resource Centre, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. The framework goes beyond setting the technical standards for emissions limits. It established the links between the technical procedures and governance policies enforcing them. It sets up a management framework with clear roles and responsibilities for actions by the government, industrial operators and the civil society.

While there are various complex political and economic issues in need of urgent attention by the Nigerian Government, there are opportunities for NESREA to be visionary and proactive in establishing an effective air quality management framework for millions of Nigerians living in its major urban areas. For example, the current Lagos State Government, led by Governor Babatunde Fashola, has made considerable and well-directed reforms in spatial and public transport planning policies in the city. This should be applauded. The Governor's pace and direction of reform therefore creates unprecedented opportunity for the piloting of Nigerian Air Quality Management Framework in Lagos State. This can be done in collaboration with the state's ministry of environment. The subsequent lessons learned could be shared with other states and indeed other developing nations and megacities in Africa.

Establishing such framework within the next four years requires that a series of specific environmental policy reform and legislative changes must be put in place. First, the government should facilitate joint-working and collaboration between academic and non-academic experts to establish evidence for health-based air quality standards and limit values for individual pollutants whose exposure will compromise public health in Nigeria. The report from this collaboration should then form the basis for a legislative reform process for new and amended regulations regarding all aspects of the atmospheric environment, including climate change. Thirdly, the government should introduce continuous emissions monitoring and assessment regime in order to ensure the achievement and maintenance of appropriate ambient air quality standards which are set in the regulation. This will ensure collection of adequate information on levels of pollution in Nigeria to inform a proportionate and cost-effective policy and operational decision-making.

The successful implementation and the continuity of this assessment framework will depend on the availability of skills and expertise within Nigeria to undertake the process. At the moment there are opportunities for capacity and capability development in the Nigerian academic and environmental consultancy workforce to ensure this. Specific skills can be developed by utilizing expertise and experience within and outside the country. These include relevant skills for undertaking modeling, monitoring and assessment of ambient air quality to support the health and environmental impact assessment for a variety of development projects including road schemes, commercial and residential developments, industrial developments, airports and mineral extraction, especially in the oil and gas operations. NESREA and Nigerian universities can work with other academic and non-academic institutions outside the country in developing postgraduate academic programmes and research centres with specific aims of understanding the science and developing policies for managing atmospheric environment, especially with regards to urban pollution and climate change in Nigeria.