By Abdulrahman Abdullahi
Even as countries are banning sale of plants killing chemical known as Paraquat, Nigeria is still a big market for this product as China continues to export large quantities of it into Nigeria.
Many paraquat brands are using Nigeria as their dumping ground in West Africa and China is topmost of them.
This is happening with little or no regard for the health and environmental hazards the chemical is unleashing.
NatureNews investigations show that six countries persistently top the chart of those exporting the chemical to Nigeria.
China accounts for 63% of the formulation brought into Nigeria with 19 different brands.
Ironically, Beijing has prohibited sale of any paraquat formulation in China.
India averagely imports 17% of paraquat to Nigeria with five different brands, while the United Kingdom and Switzerland averages at 7%, making available two brands of the product in Nigeria.
Germany and South Africa are reportedly exporting 3% of paraquat with a single brand each to Nigeria.
Country of origin of paraquat products sold in Nigeria
Country of product
No. of brands
Countrys products in Nigeria (%)
China
19
63
India
5
17
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United Kingdom
2
7
Switzerland
2
7
Germany
1
3
South Africa
1
3
This table should be represented in a chart please.
Meanwhile many countries around the world are stopping and banning the use of paraquat in their homeland. Paraquat has been banned by the European Union and the paraquat has no place European countries like Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, and Swetzerland.
Similarly, some countries have also banned paraquat. They include: Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.
A publication by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in May 2020 seen by NatureNews shows that Nigeria is the highest importer of paraquat with over 30 companies selling their brands in Nigeria.
A Professor of Agricultural Extension and Development Communication in the University of Ibadan, Mohammed Kuta Yahaya recently called on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to deregister and ban the use of Paraquat in Nigeria.
Addressing Commissioners of Agriculture at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Professor Yahaya said paraquat with different trade names has adverse effect on the health of farmers and other consumers of the farm produce.
“Studies have shown that it is a highly poisonous chemical substance that has been linked to numerous incidents that affect the health of end users who are mostly farmers,” he explained.
Professor Yahaya pointed out that such herbicides have long term effects that ranged from “damage to vital human organs such as lung (scarring), kidney and heart failure, and esophageal strictures (scarring of the swallowing tube that makes it difficult for a person to swallow). There is an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease later in life. People with large ingestions of Paraquat are not likely to survive”.
The don gave the immediate health hazards of the chemical as: acute kidney failure, confusion, coma, fast heart rate, injury to the heart, heart failure, liver failure, lung scarring (evolves more quickly than when small to medium amounts have been ingested), muscle weakness, seizures, pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs), respiratory (breathing) failure, possibly leading to death.
