It has been said that over 98,000 women in Nigeria die annually from the use of firewood and charcoal annually.
The statistics was related by the Managing and Chief Executive Officer, Gas 360, Mr Emmanuel Uwandu on Friday in his keynote presentation during the groundbreaking of the 20,000 metric tonnes of Liquified Petroleum Gas Depot Project by Windek Energy Limited held at Atabrikang Aquaha Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
Uwandu also said that Niger Delta accounted for 21,000 deaths from the figure.
He declared that cooking with firewood and charcoal is tantamount to smoking 20 packs of cigarettes.
This means of cooking he added, substantial number of Nigerian women are accustomed to.
His own word, “Cooking with firewood, charcoal is equivalent to smoking 20 packs of cigarettes. For an average smoker that is too much, that is what women in Nigeria have to deal with on a daily basis. In Nigeria 98, 000 women die annually from the use of firewood and charcoal and across the 774 local governments that translates to about 2,700 deaths annually.
“In the Niger Delta alone 21, 000 women die from the use of firewood and charcoal. If we bring that home to Akwa Ibom State 31 Local governments 75 women die every year from the use of firewood and charcoal.”
While noting that cooking with ‘dirty’ fuel is the highest killer, the MD expressed regret that attention is given to malaria and HIV Aids while nobody is talking about dirty fuel.
“Today, in Nigeria, cooking with dirty fuel is the highest killer of Nigerians but for some reasons malaria and HIV get the attention, nobody talks about cooking with dirty fuel. Globally, 4.6bn dollars was provided to fight against malaria and HIV for Nigeria but clean cooking receives less than 200 million dollars, we have to do more.”
