Pesticide Poisoning Crisis in Nigeria

You need to know about the horrifying situation unfolding in Nigeria as unregulated and deadly pesticides together with other agrochemicals flood the country. This is an emergency that demands immediate action!

Eighty percent of the pesticides most commonly used by Nigeria’s small-scale farmers are highly hazardous. This has led to rising cases of cancer, killing as many as 79,000 Nigerians a year. Some of these toxic chemicals finding their way into the bodies of Nigerians are DDT and endosulfan.

This reckless pesticide proliferation has already caused scores of poisonings and likely many unreported deaths, especially among poor rural communities. Furthermore, Children are going blind and suffering brain damage from this exposure!

It's a slow-motion public health catastrophe enabled by complete regulatory failure. Nigeria allegedly has pesticide laws but they exist only on paper with zero enforcement. Corrupt officials look the other way as unlicensed dealers import and peddle these literal poisons.

Families risk neurological disorders, cancers and permanent disabilities all because some corporations want to dump their hazardous waste as ‘pesticides.’

This is environmental racism and neo-colonialism at its most vile. Industrial nations have banned many of these chemicals as too dangerous for their own people. But apparently African lives are expendable to them.

Nigerian authorities cannot continue burying their heads in the sand. The agriculture sector is being compromised by adulterated pesticides ruining harvests and soil for years to come.

We need a COMPLETE OVERHAUL of the pesticide control system with harsh penalties for violators. Government must prioritize public safety over shady business interests. Our people's well-being is at stake!

I'm calling on all Nigerians to demand:-

• Immediate ban on all imports of hazardous pesticides
• Destruction of current toxic stockpiles 
• New regulations aligned with global best practices
• Investments in organic pest control methods