Lead poisoning in Lagos and Ogun States

ON the 4th of December, 2025, the upper Chamber of the National Assembly deliberated extensively on the issue of lead poisoning ravaging Ogijo, a densely populated Community located at Ogun-Lagos State border. The issue of lead poisoning was brought to the floor of the Senate by Senator Tokunbo Abiru of Lagos-East Constituency and Senator Gbenga Daniel of Ogun-East Constituency. According to the report submitted by the two senators to the upper chamber, the lead poisoning situation linked to multiple used Lead-Acid battery recycling factory which has evolved into a full-blown health emergency with vulnerable children and women, including factory workers, facing life-altering consequences after years of exposure to toxic substances. When I read the story in the Vanguard newspaper, a lot of questions came to my mind. First, was an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Study conducted prior to the commencement of the operation? Second, if yes, were necessary mitigation measures put in place to address environmental challenges? Third, were the workers provided with personal protective equipment? These are questions that beg for answers. 

Because of the sensitivity of the problem, the Senate had to summon the Ministers of Environment, Health, Solid Minerals, Labour and Employment and Director-General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and other key players in the Environment sector for an emergency interface. At the end of the meeting, the Senate came up with the following resolutions: First, that the Federal Ministry of Environment should as a matter of urgency, develop programmes of activities for the restoration of the impacted areas in accordance with the national and international best practices and regulatory requirement. Second, that the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) should carry out a comprehensive Physico-Chemical Analysis of Environmental media of the affected areas, i.e., the soil, air, vegetation and water (both surface and groundwater) in order to ascertain the level of lead contamination. Third, that Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention should deploy medical team to Ogijo Community for proper medical examination and treatment.

Obviously, this is not the first time we have cases of lead poisoning in the country. Recall that a couple of years ago, thousands of children died of lead poisoning in Zamfara State due to illegal lead mining activities. Moreover, early this year, several people in two host communities in Ebonyi State were said to have been afflicted by lead poisoning ailments leading to renal failure, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory disorder and hypertension as a result of unsustainable mining practices. Recall that in early nineties, both the Federal and State Governments put in place various instruments of intervention in order to address environmental challenges. Some of these instruments include but not limited to the following: the National Policy on the Environment, National Guidelines and Standards for Environmental Pollution Control in Nigeria, Environmental Impact Assessment Act CAP E12 LFN 2004 and Hazardous Wastes Degree 42 of 1992. Despite the efforts made by both the Federal and State Governments in order to ensure environmental sustainability in Nigeria, it is quite unfortunate that most industrial establishments operating in the country are flouting the environmental laws with impunity. For instance, the case of Battery-Acid lead recycling factories at Ogijo Community is a good example of an industry that is violating Environmental laws. According to the report submitted to the Senate, this particular factory does not have a functional waste water treatment plant. In addition, both the Hazardous and non-hazardous wastes that are being generated within the facility are not being treated and disposed of in line with international best practice. Obviously, the management of this factory should have been sanctioned long time ago. We have institutions that are saddled with the responsibility of enforcing environmental laws. Moreover, these institutions have the power to sanction erred industries. The question remains: Are these institutions carrying out their mandate effectively? Your guess is as good as mine! Frankly, there are so many factors that are responsible for lead poisoning in the country. These include but not limited to the following: Dearth of skilled manpower, inadequate funding, lack of enforcement of relevant environmental laws, lack of functional environmental laboratories and lack of pollution abatement facilities and nonchallant attitude on the part of the management of these industries.

 I would like to briefly highlight some of these factors. First, is dearth of skilled manpower. The responsibilities of the federal and state ministries of environment include but not limited to the following: Regular monitoring of all industries, Enforcement of all the Environmental laws and Regulations, and sanctioning of erred industries. However, it has been observed in recent times that most of the experienced Directors, Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors in those Ministries, Department, Departments and Agencies have either retired after attaining the 60 years mandatory retirement age or have relocated abroad in search of greener pasture.  At the moment, critical skills in areas such as engineering, geology, analytical chemistry, data analytics, ecology are already in short supply. It is therefore imperative that the present crop of officials that are saddled with the responsibility of enforcing environmental laws and regulation should be well-trained in order to enable them carry out their statutory mandates. Secondly, is the issue of inadequate funding.

+-ironment laws entails the ability to collect environmental samples, preservation of the samples, conveying the samples to the laboratory and carrying out the analyses of the samples in line with international best practices.  Some of the State Ministries of Environment do not possess well-equipped and functional Environmental laboratories. Obviously, when there is litigation, one needs to produce evidence in the law court and apart from photographs, another evidence is the results of Analysis of environmental samples. The results of the Analyses are usually compared with the standards that are set by the regulatory authorities. Fifth, is the issue of non-challant attitude on the part of the management of these companies. Most of them are violating the environmental laws and they are getting away with it. For instance, all industries are supposed to put in place pollution abatement facilities. However, only a few of them do have the facilities. Moreover, the law says they should carry out Environmental Audit of their facilities every three years. Majority of them are not complying: Furthermore, all wet industries are supposed to conduct the physico-chemical Analysis of their effluent discharge and forward the results to both the Federal and the State Ministries of Environment. Unfortunately, majority of them are not responding. The question is: What is the way forward? Here are my recommendations for the Federal Government:

•             First, I am recommending the Establishment of a special court that will handle environmental matters in the country;

•             Second, it is imperative that all Environmental laws and Regulations should be vigorously enforced by relevant Authorities;

•             Third, all new projects are to undergo Environmental Impact Assessment Study and the reports be submitted to Federal Ministry of Environment for further necessary action;

•             Fourth, Nigeria is signatory to some international conventions and treaties relating to environmental matters. However, majority of these conventions and treaties have not been domesticated locally. The National  Assembly should expedite actions on these conventions;

•             Fifth, All institutions that are mandated to protect the environment should be adequately funded;

•             Sixth, The Holy Scripture says: “My people perish due to lack of knowledge”. It is important that the general public should be sensitized and educated on the adverse effect of lead.

•             Seventh, All industries that are operating in the country should ensure that they comply with environmental laws and regulations. Failure to do so will attract stricter penalties.

Finally, all hands must be on deck to protect our environment.

•Oladipupo writes in via [email protected]

READ ALSO: Declare Ogijo a contaminated site, RDI urges Ogun govt