Zamfara
Lead Poisoning Epidemic and Socio-Technological Intervention of Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria
On
Friday, 9th and 16th October 2015, readers may recall
that this Column published part one and two of an article titled “Technological
Strides of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria”. As a corollary to that article, three
years after, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria has recorded gargantuan
strides in both technological and social endeavors warranting another series of
article. This will update readers on ABU contributions to nation technological and
community development and inspire similar organizations to follow similar pattern.
ABU Zaria as one of the first generation
Nigerian Universities is no doubt an icon of nation building considering its
giant contributions since establishment over fifty years ago. The University
with two campuses, occupying over 7,000 hectares of land has grown to become
the largest in the nation and indeed in the West African Sub-region, and the
most influential and diverse in the country. Current record indicates that
almost all the 747 LGAs in the country have sons and daughters either as
students or staff or both studying and working/living in ABU Zaria in addition
to citizens of other countries. This diversity makes ABU unique among the tertiary
institution of learning in Nigeria.
One of the cardinal objectives of
university is community service aimed at solving community problems. The
administration of ABU under the leadership of indefatigable Geology Professor,
Ibrahim Garba achieves this objective through the “town – gown” policy. At the
inception of Garba’s administration, the major societal challenge within the
university’s catchment area was lead poisoning epidemic in Zamfara state, about
150 kilometer away from the university’s main campus in Samaru. The
catastrophic lead poisoning incident claimed 1000s lives of rural populous
especially children and vulnerable groups. For instance, the record of Federal
Ministry of Health recorded 163 deaths due to lead poisoning between the month
of March and June 2010 in the state. This is in addition to the several
unreported death cases among the rural areas of the state. The ugly incident
continued to ravage the affected communities in spite of concerted efforts by
authorities and international organizations. In 2017, News Agency of Nigeria
reported a traditional ruler, Emir of Bukkuyam, Alhaji Muhammadu Usman stating
that over 300 children lost lives as a result of lead poisoning at Yar – Galma
village of Bukkuyam LGA. This was just one village in one local government
area. Certainly, the death cases due to lead were unprecedented, calamitous and
in deed need to be addressed squarely. The concern on finding solution to the
problem of lead poisoning was a single motivation to this citadel of learning,
ABU Zaria. To comprehend the import of ABU socio-technological intervention on
this dreadful incident, it is pertinent to know why the incidences of Lead
poisoning occurred in Zamfara State. What brought the ugly episode? What are
the consequences?
Lead,
one of the heavy metals is very poisonous to human beings. Even a tiny quantity
amounting to micrograms in blood can be disastrous to health. Children absorb
more lead than adults and are at a higher health risk. Medical experts consider
lead to be the greatest environmental health risk to children as their immune
systems are still in the developmental stages. Lead poisoning in Zamfara state
was first noticed in the year 2010 when livestock especially ducks were noticed
to be dying in multitudes, which was followed by multiple deaths of children. A
team of medical experts was sent to one of the villages to find out the cause
of the children’s deaths. The team members came from the Center for Disease Control
(CDC)-Nigeria office in Abuja, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health, the
Nigerian Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, the World Health
Organization, and Doctors Without Borders. Dr. Lora Davis, a CDC Animal-Human
Interface Officer in Nigeria, led the team. The team traveled to Zamfara State with
principal aim of identifying the cause of the outbreak in two
purposely-selected villages. In each village, residents reported that
one-fourth of all the children in their communities had died in the past year.
The team found unsafe levels of lead inside most of the homes, and water from
the community wells also had high levels of lead. Children in both villages had
dangerous levels of lead in their blood. What brought this calamity into these unfortunate
communities?
Lead is a naturally occurring heavy metal,
but it was unusual to find such high concentration of lead in these
communities. Evidence showed that thousands of children had dangerous levels of
lead in their blood, and hundreds of children and animals had died throughout
the state. It was the largest known outbreak of lead poisoning in the history
of Nigeria. Zamfara State is an agrarian region, and traditionally most
villagers relied on farming for their livelihood. However, the state is endowed
with many minerals resources including gold. In recent years, the price of gold
had risen and many villagers abandoned farming, started mining gold to earn
more money. The gold mining was illegally and unprofessionally done with high-risk
of environmental contamination. The high level of poverty, craze for wealth,
ignorance of high – risk and lackadaisical handling of the issue by the
concerned authorities were the driving force for the illegal gold mining and
thus, bringing calamity into the communities. That was the situation at the
time ABU Zaria decided to swing into action. The action was channeled through
one of the university’s academic department and the university’s based NGO,
ENACTUS.
ENACTUS is an acronym for Entrepreneurship
ACTion and US. It was hitherto called SIFE (STUDENTS IN FREE ENTERPRISE) up to
2010 when the name changed to ENACTUS. ENACTUS is an international non-profit
organization, which brings together student, academic and business leaders who
are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to improve the
quality of life and standard of living for the needy people in the society.
Guided by academic advisors and business experts, the student leaders of
ENACTUS create and implement community empowerment projects around the globe.
The experience not only transforms lives, it helps students develop the kind of
talent and perspective that are essential to leadership in an ever-more
complicated and challenging world. There are 36 countries participating in
ENACTUS all over the world.
Ahmadu Bello University has been
participating in the activities of the then SIFE since 2004. The ABU ENACTUS team
has initiated and worked with similar teams in over 40 other Universities and
Polytechnics across Nigeria. The team had developed several awards winning
projects and won national recognition by the country office in Lagos. As
ENACTUS since 2010, the team had continued to develop projects, which had
impacted on various communities around the catchment area of the University.
The projects were geared towards solving a particular problem identified within
a community and at the end created a business enterprise around it for the
survival of the people residing in the community. Thanks to ENACTUS for these
novel innovations to address societal problems.
ABU ENACTUS team embanked on problems
identification in Bagega village, a suburb in Anka LGA of Zamfara State, which
was one of the worst hit by lead poisoning in Northern Nigeria. After a spike
in the price of gold in the country, subsistence farmers who barely made $1 or
$2 a day could suddenly make $10 or more daily through artisanal mining. This
was enough inspiration for the young men to abandon their farming practices and
immediately take up the mining profession to seek out for a better living,
totally ignorant of the imminent danger that is associated with the activity. The
Bagega Rising Project was therefore developed as a pilot project for cleaning
the lead and reclaiming the contaminated land. Consequently, ENACTUS worked
with the Department of Water Resources of the university to develop a suitable
filter for cleaning and removing the toxics out of water for safe drinking. Staff
adviser of ABU Zaria ENACTUS Team, Prof. Mohammed K. Aliyu, mni was quoted
saying “The action, no doubt improved the living condition of the inhabitants
of Bagega community through entrepreneurship; by restoring job and wealth
creation, sustainable community growth and industry, in economically, socially
and environmentally sustainable ways”. What are the impacts of this project to
the Bagega and other communities? – To be continued next week
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