A silent Killer in my city
In November 2016, the city of Port Harcourt experienced something it has never seen before. Just one morning, the atmosphere change with black particles (soot) falling from the sky. It started like a natural phenomenon but over time people started having this black soot on their door steps, cars, cloths hung outside the house, even when you clean your nose you see these black particles. When all this signs surfaced then, people understood that it’s as a result of the oil hub in the city that has caused the release of this black soot.
My city is becoming black but nobody taking any serious measure to end this dearth which can wipe out a whole city if nothing is done quickly. The problem with Africans is poor response to things that needs to be addressed as an emergency. I was prompted to write this maybe it would make the world know through steemit community what is happening in my city (Port Harcourt, River State). I will explain to us some of the changes we have experienced over the last one year, six months. If you are living in the city of portharcourt, at first the appearance of this soot was so pronounced that the Government and other concern body troop into the city as if they truly concern about the health of the residents of my city but now, everyone is taking the issue as normal since the soot does not appear so much like before.
Last Saturday, I was cleaning my house and corners of my room that is hidden was having this black soot and that was a signal that this soot is still in the atmosphere and nobody is doing anything about it. To confirm this I decided to clean the car myself and the car was covered with this black soot though not as it was in November 2016. hey, cleaning your nose you see this black soot and cloths huge outside the house had this black soot on it. After researching on the effects of this soot, I found out that accumulation of back soot could lead to cancer of the lung and there are about 6 million residents in my city. The government through the Governor of River state only made public promises but we can’t see their effort. Last year in July, it was in the news that the Government was tough on oil refining companies and 3 of this companies were short down but my question to the will of the Government is that what about the numerous illegal refineries that operate with the knowledge of either the government or government officials who collects taxes from these illegal companies.
How long do we keep silent when there is hot coals in our bosom, these vulnerable citizens are not even aware of the dangerous effect of what they breath in daily. The rich will always find a way out when the cheese are down but what happens to the poor who could not even have three square meals on their table par day. A doctor wrote about soot in the city of port Harcourt. Dr. Furo Green, a specialist and consultant surgeon at the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, Port Harcourt said “ following the never-ending raining of cancerous hydrocarbon elements, commonly referred to as black soot on their environment, decried the impact of the black soot, saying that six million Rivers people were at the risk of cancer over the hydrocarbon.
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/black-soot-6-million-rivers-residents-risk-cancer-specialists/
Dr Green is thinking beyond today and that is the problem with the leaders of the city. They are more concerned with the political happenings and how to retain power but never cared about the people that they would even govern. Over these period, Government officials are only interested in political stability of their stake holders in politics. Dr Green in that interview said “ the intake of this soot over a long period of time can precipitate chronic obstruction of the airways, which we refer to as chronic bronchitis. So when this condition goes on for a long time, it results to chronic respiratory conditions that can end up as malignancy or even kill the individual. The figure of people affected by this might even be larger than six million because other neighbouring states are also experiencing the soot, and even recently parts of Lagos State have been reported to also experience it.”
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/black-soot-6-million-rivers-residents-risk-cancer-specialists/
Now, from Gr Green comments it is clear that it is now a national issue but is the federal Government doing anything tangible about it? Yes they might be making efforts but what are the results of their efforts? This is the question an ordinary citizen would as our leaders. I am not trying to claim the government hasn’t done anything but I am only saying more effort should be put in to save the people first and also to preserve our environment. If they think we cannot solve the problem on our own then, we have to cry out to the international community to help out in sanitizing the environment so that people won’t fall sick and the environment would be preserved.
My advice to Nigerians and steemians living in these cities that are affected or here in my city of Port Harcourt is to improve their hygiene level by constantly washing their hands before eating, close your windows and always clean your floors and furniture so that we can wipe out this black soot from our living rooms, protect our children and safe our love ones from this cancerous deadly black particles that is flying in the air of our city. Only if we can become more careful and detailed about what happens in our environment, we can survive to live longer life and enjoy health freedom.
Let us stand up for what is right and speak when we ought to speak.
image source: google
