Chijioke Iremeka
Medical experts have expressed concern over the recent statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics indicating that 67.8 percent of Nigerians rely on firewood for cooking.
The physicians warned that the situation could lead to a rise in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and eye problems among Nigerians if the worrisome trend was not reversed .
According to them, cooking with firewood exposes humans to COPD, Respiratory Tract Infections, and different types of eye infections among other health complications that could affect those who experienced long-term exposure to firewood smoke and fumes.
The experts cautioned that the use of firewood contributes to indoor air pollution, leading to severe health risks, particularly for women and their children, who spend more time in the cooking areas.
Long-term exposure to smoke from burning wood, they maintained, could result in respiratory disorders in older age, insisting that deforestation for firewood will worsen the impact of climate change among Nigerians and exacerbate different health conditions.
The National Bureau of Statistics had released a report that 67.8 per cent of households use fuelwood (firewood) for cooking.
This was contained in the 2024 Nigeria Residential Energy Demand-Side Survey, which was carried out to assess the level of household energy acquisition, usage, sales, fuel conversion technologies, and other socioeconomic indices.
The energy in focus comprises firewood, charcoal, liquefied petroleum gas, kerosene, and modern bioenergy used for cooking, heating, lighting, and other energy types for powering electrical appliances across nine states.
The results show that 67.8 percent of households reported using firewood either for domestic, agricultural, commercial, cultural, or religious purposes.
Disaggregation by state indicates that Bauchi State reported the highest with 91.0 percent, followed by Sokoto State with 77.8 percent, and the least was Oyo State (48.0 percent).
The nine states include Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Ekiti, Enugu, Kano, Kwara, Oyo, Plateau, and Sokoto. The sampling frame used for the selection was obtained from newly digitised maps of delineated enumeration areas by the National Population Commission.
Also, Nigerians, especially at the grassroots, have been urged not to resort to the use of firewood as a result of the economic hardship and recent hike in the process of cooking gas.
The warning came from researchers and climate change advocates at a programme held in Abuja on Tuesday, to discuss ‘Maximising energy transition opportunities in Nigeria.’
The concern came in the wake of the price hike of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, also known as cooking gas, from N1,350 to N1,500/kg.
Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise in different interviews, the experts said that long-term exposure to firewood smoke and fumes could lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and eye problems.
Dr Abiona Odeyemi
A consultant pulmonologist at the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Dr Abiona Odeyemi, said cooking with firewood could expose humans to COPD.
According to him, COPD is an ongoing lung condition caused by damage to the lungs, which results in swelling and irritation inside the airways that limit airflow into and out of the lungs.
He emphasised that COPD was most often caused by long-term exposure to irritating smoke, fumes, dust, or chemicals, noting that the most common cause was cigarette smoke.
Odeyemi said, “This is a disease of the lungs that happens after many years of exposure to such smoke from firewood, the smoke that comes from cooking. Although the most important risk factor is cigarette smoke, firewood is particularly a common risk factor because it is common in our environment.
“So, when people start cooking with firewood and being exposed, after many years, they will come down with such COPD. The nursing mothers, who take their children to the kitchen while cooking, can develop respiratory tract infections due to the exposure to fumes.”
Odeyemi, a pulmonologist with a special interest in RTI and sleep medicines, said children are likely to come down with RTI and older people if they continue to expose themselves to smoke after many years.
He said, “Though the COPD does not affect the children now, it will affect them when they get older. Naturally, as we grow older, our lungs grow older too, but regular exposure to smoke makes the lungs age faster.
“At about 60 years, these people who were exposed to smoke will begin to experience it. This is when such things usually happen; it doesn’t happen in younger people. If a younger person is exposed to it, it will affect him in the future and not now.”
Odeyemi, who is also the Secretary General of the Nigerian Thoracic Society, said that this is troubling because it does not show signs in young people or affect them during the exposure until they are old, when it would not be prevented.
He noted that the people do not know the dangers of such until they get to that crossroad.
Odeyemi said, “It is a future disease after a long time of exposure to smoke. It is a thing of older age. If they are exposed to it now, it will definitely come at an older age.
“My recommendation will be that the people should cook with clean fuel energy. Of course, in Nigeria, cooking gas is expensive. So I will advise the people who cannot afford cooking gas and must use firewood not to use it in an enclosed environment, as this will have more impact on them.
“When they cook with firewood in an enclosed environment, they will inhale more of the smoke, and this exposes them to the risk of COPD after long-term exposure to smoke. So, they should use it in an open environment and well-ventilated place.”
Odeyemi also urged nursing mothers who cook with firewood to reduce the practice of taking their children in such an environment, which exposes them to smoke inhalation.
Speaking further, the former President of the Nigerian Optometric Association, Dr Ozy Okonofua, said firewood produces smoke, and whenever smoke is involved, it affects the eye, especially for very reactive people or people with allergies.
“Anything like smoke, wind, or dust generally irritates the eyes and when you are talking about firewood, occasionally, such firewood also releases sparks that come out of the wood. Occasionally, such sparks, when they get into the eyes, can hurt the eye,” he said.
Okonofua advised that, as much as possible, people should avoid direct contact with fire and smoke, saying, “People should not use their mouth to fan the fire, they should use other things to avoid getting too close to the fire.”
On the effect of tree felling for firewood and charcoal on the environment, Idris said cutting down trees for firewood and charcoal can seriously lead to deforestation and further flooding because the topsoil has been exposed.
He said that this would exacerbate the impact of climate change on the environment, saying that total forest destruction means depletion of the forest ecosystems and destruction of biodiversity, which might lead to a food security crisis.
“We should note that forests store carbon and release oxygen that we take, so their destruction will encourage global warming and finally the extinction of plants and animal species within the ecosystems,” he added.
However, NBS recommended that re-planting of trees should be promoted for sustainable production, saying that the government should support the development and distribution of efficient cooking technologies such as improved stoves to reduce fuel consumption and emissions in place of the inefficient three-stone technology commonly used.
NBS urged the government to provide incentives and training programmes for farmers, businesspeople, and communities to be aware of the consequences of deforestation and the benefits of reforestation.
It called for the establishment of more LPG stations, particularly in rural areas to increase accessibility.
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