Lagos has sanitation, waste, unclean water problems – Health Commissioner

By Hauwa Ali

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has disclosed that the state has got sanitation and waste problems which has led to very large number of pathogens in water aquifers (sources) across the state, making boreholes and wells in Lagos unfit for Human consumption.
 
The health commissioner disclosed this on Wednesday while speaking at an event organised by the Global Emerging Pathogens Treatment Consortium in Lagos.
 
According to the commissioner, water from boreholes across Lagos shows  contamination by very dangerous pathogens, according to test results.
 
He adviced residents to avoid drinking from boreholes, warning that the water is not fit for human consumption.
 
“We have got sanitation, waste problem and also we have got a very large number of pathogens.” He said
 
“When you burn diesel with a generator or when you throw your dead cell phone into the garbage and it goes into the refuse dump, whenever it rains, all those poisons and chemicals from the surface of the earth go into the water aquifers, which is an eco-system itself and is supposed to be clean.
 
“Many Lagosians know water from all their boreholes and wells is not fit for human consumption. The water is not even fit for animal consumption because we have tried it and if you test the water aquifers in Lagos, you find out that you cannot use them for consumption. And that is not a theory, it is a fact,” he added.
 
Abayomi also noted that some residents have even come down with infections after consuming borehole water, citing a known case of female students in Queens College Lagos, who fell sick because they were drinking borehole water and had to be placed on very expensive antibiotic to survive.
 
He then urged all stakeholders, including private companies to work with the State government to help find solutions to the Pathogen problem before it gets out of hand.
 
 “I am standing here as the commissioner for health and I am telling you that our health system is weak.
 
“We must be able to mitigate and find the pathogen early and stop it because in Lagos residents live like sardines. So. any form of contagion whether it’s water borne, airborne, or contact borne, will spread like wildfire.
 
“It is the responsibility of this government to bring an outbreak under control and restore calm.
 
“It requires a systemic and strategic approach and that is why we are here today to ask for the support of private sectors and others and to recognise that we are a very vulnerable environment and our resilience is very low.
 
“The best policies that will protect the health system is to recognise and value the role of nature in reducing systemic risks and mitigate the risk of future zoonotic disease outbreaks by addressing their root causes,” the commissioner said.