By Itohan Abara-Laserian
Lagos – Prof. Gloria Elemo, Director-General, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) has said that felling trees as firewood for energy was causing more harm to the environment.
The FIIRO chief made the assertion at the “Friends of The Environment (FOTE)’’ stakeholders’ forum in Lagos on Tuesday.
Elemo, who is also a Trustee of FOTE, noted that if a woman prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner with firewood, it was equivalent to smoking about 20 packets of cigarettes.
She said this against the backdrop of the World Health Organisation (WHO) report which said that 98,000 Nigerian women died yearly from smoke emissions while cooking with firewood.
“Firewood emissions stands as the third highest killer in the country after malaria (225,000) and HIV (192,000). A developing world household consumes two tonnes of firewood annually, which is an approximate of 10 trees.
“Using firewood can affect the health of women and children through inhaling of carbon monoxide, which the plants and vegetables need to produce food.
“Harvesting of trees for solid fuels also destroys the ecosystem and habitat of animal species in our forest; exposes water bodies to the risk of drying up, which is gradually affecting the rain pattern and climate conditions,’’ she said.
Elemo said that firewood smoke contained matters such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, sulphur dioxide and various irritant gases like nitrogen-oxide from combustion of wood, which caused lung and eye infections.
She urged Nigerian women to embrace the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as reports indicated that only about five per cent of 170 million people in the country use the product.
According to her, Nigeria currently produce 5.0 metric tonnes of LPG annually, making Nigeria the seventh highest producer globally.
The director-general therefore, called for more advocacy for the utilisation of LPG, noting that there were more women using the product in Lagos State than anywhere else in Nigeria.
Elemo said that the use of firewood was impacting negatively on government policies on afforestation and sustainable forest management, adding that household welfare and productivity could be enhanced.
NAN reports that though Nigeria’s Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) plant is located in Port Harcourt, most storage units were in Lagos with an installed capacity of 250,000 metric tonnes.
Joanne Maduka, Chairperson of FOTE, said at the forum that the aim of the event was to present a cleaner modern fuels in the form of LPG, and create sustainable markets for its consumption.
Maduka said that FOTE was driving the advocacy to promote an enabling environment for accessible, affordable and acceptable LPG.
“FOTE is collaborating with gas marketers, financial institutions, government agencies and ministries, private sector and others to ensure that firewood usage is eradicated.
“We are promoting the use of LPG through our empowerment to women in rural communities in Lagos State like Odogunyan and Ita-Oluwo communitites by giving them LPG.
“We are just here to hear from the stakeholders present, but our work basically is with rural women to get more women to use LPG,’’ Maduka said.
The forum was organised by FOTE in collaboration with GEF Small Grants Programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Popularising the Use of LPG as An Alternative Source of Energy for Women.
NAN reports that over 100 stakeholders at the forum commended FOTE for the advocacy.