The Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) has declared a Public Health Emergency over the rising incidence of environmental-related diseases linked to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and combustion-engine pollution across the country.
The declaration was made in Abuja during a press briefing addressed by the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of EHCON, Dr Yakubu Baba.
Dr Yakubu warned that air-pollution-related illnesses now pose a greater long-term public health threat than the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also announced the activation of the National Emergency Response Initiative on Environmental Public Health Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (NERI-EPHIGGEL).
“The initiative will be implemented in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Environment, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), and other relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), including the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), state Ministries of Environment, Environmental Protection Agencies, and Local Government Environmental Health Departments.
“Key emergency measures include intensified regulatory inspections of high-emission facilities and transport corridors, mandatory environmental public health compliance audits, sanctions for non-compliance under the 2024 Environmental Health Practice Regulations, and the introduction of emission-reduction technologies,” he stated.
Mandatory Emission Testing
He further stressed that Council is also working on a mandatory emission testing for generators and heavy-duty vehicles, phased restrictions on highly polluting engines, strengthened environmental health surveillance “through the deployment of over 70,000 Environmental Public Health Officers nationwide.”
The Registrar says that the emergency response is expected to reduce pollution-related morbidity and mortality, improve air quality, strengthen environmental public health governance, and enhance national resilience to environmental health threats.
“Addressing environmental-related diseases from greenhouse gas emissions is “not an exaggeration, but a necessity,” we call on stakeholders, government, industry, communities, and the media to support the initiative in the interest of public health and national development,” he stated.
According to EHCON, Our investigations field surveillance and environmental intelligence reveal an alarming trend, environmental related diseases linked to air pollution are increasing at a scale that now surpasses the long-term public health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said, “these pollutants are largely emitted from fossil-fuel generators, heavy-duty vehicles, industrial machinery, marine engines, mining operations, and petroleum sector activities.”
Dr Yakubu Baba emphasised that the declaration aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, particularly its focus on strengthening environmental public health governance and protecting citizens from preventable health risks.
The Registrar EHCON warned that Nigeria is facing a convergence of critical risk factors, “including:
Rising preventable deaths from pollution-induced illnesses, excessive and unregulated reliance on combustion engines, Weak emission controls in high-risk sector. Escalating healthcare costs and loss of productive human capital, failure to act decisively, the Council cautioned, would overwhelm Nigeria’s healthcare system and significantly undermine national development goals.”
The Council noted that many affected Nigerians have never smoked or consumed alcohol, yet are increasingly diagnosed with chronic and acute respiratory infections, lung and other environmentally induced cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and systemic inflammatory conditions. “Climate-change-driven increases in dust and particulate matter have further worsened the situation.”
EHCON identified unregulated reliance on combustion engines, weak emission controls in high-risk sectors, rising healthcare costs, and the loss of productive human capital as key drivers of the crisis.
It warned that failure to act urgently would place an unbearable burden on Nigeria’s healthcare system and undermine national development.