29th December, 2016
The Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare who sounded this note of warning during an interactive section with pressmen in his office in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria on Thursday stated that this warning became necessary in order to avoid disasters in the state.
According to him, “as our environment becomes dusty and hazy with dryness to everything including trees, wooden items, leaves and furniture, we urge residents to be extremely careful with fire so as to prevent outbreaks because fire is nobody’s friend.”
“Lagosians will notice that there has been a change in the weather condition as a result of the North easternly winds blowing across the country after traversing vast Sahara desert. This has been a yearly weather phenomenon that occurs mostly between December and March.”
Adejare also noted that harmattan currently being experienced in the state would subside at the end of February 2017 with intermittent breaks in January.
He advised Lagosians to take precautionary measures by making sure that they install fire extinguishers in homes, offices, market places and motor parks.
He stated that motorists should ensure that they have fire extinguishers in their vehicles, maintain speed limits and observe road signs.
He warned Lagosians to avoid bush and solid waste burning during this period as this might lead to fire outbreak.
“Lagosians should patronize PSP operators for disposing their refuse as burning of refuse or patronizing cart pushers is clearly against the law and inimical to our wellbeing”, he added.
The commissioner advised residents to be mindful of their activities in parks and gardens, saying that “the leaves and surroundings are dry and as such people should obey the public smoking law and avoid bringing inflammable objects to the gardens.”
He advised Lagosians against the storage of petrol and other inflammable materials at homes, offices, shops and markets as their storage could aid fire outbreak, especially at this harmattan period when virtually all objects in the environment are dry and combustible.
The commissioner urged residents of the state to always switch off electrical appliances in their offices at the close of work and at homes when leaving for work or other endeavours as a way of preventing fire disasters which were often rampant during the harmattan period.
Adejare further urged drivers to beware of the hazy weather condition which had reduced visibility to less than 10m, stressing that motorist should ensure that all parts of their vehicles are in good conditions before embarking on any journey.
-Kazeem Ugbodaga