Suicide: Reps move to ban hazardous pesticides

By Sola Ogundipe & Gift Odekina

LAGOS — Amid rising termination rates and mounting nationalist wellness threats, the House of Representatives has vowed to curb the usage of Highly Hazardous Pesticides, HHPs, successful cultivation accumulation crossed the state to safeguard nationalist health, nutrient information and the environment.

The House of Reps besides urged the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment to make a resuscitation program done its Industrial Inspectorate Department for moribund industries successful the six geopolitical zones.

The determination which followed adoption of a question sponsored by Mr Clement Jimbo astatine yesterday’s plenary, noted that 70 per cent of suicides successful Nigeria were linked to ingestion of toxic pesticides.

The improvement emerged arsenic Vanguard’s 3rd Mental Health Summit, with the taxable “Taming the Rising Tide of Suicide successful Nigeria”, is acceptable to clasp time arsenic a timely and urgent level for nationalist reflection and coordinated enactment against suicide.

At the forum, the Suicide Decriminalisation Bill presently earlier the National Assembly volition travel nether focus.

Leading the statement connected the level of the House, Jimbo called for urgent regulatory intervention, citing information from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, which showed that implicit 50 per cent of registered pesticides successful Nigeria autumn nether the HHP category, galore of which were banned successful different countries owed to their toxicity.

Expressing sedate concern, Jimbo said: “Concerned that 70 per cent of suicides successful Nigeria impact ingestion of Highly Hazardous Pesticides HHPs, specified arsenic Diclorvous, DDVP, successful Sniper.

“The indiscriminate importation, merchantability and usage of these hazardous chemicals exposure farmers, consumers, h2o sources, pollinators and the full ecosystem to unsafe contamination, resulting successful immense economical losses for Nigerian nutrient exporters owed to rejection astatine the ports of destination during inspection.

“Also acrophobic that reports bespeak rising cases of pesticide poisoning, ungraded degradation, and nutrient residue contamination owed to unregulated usage of Highly Hazardous Pesticides successful Nigeria. Research shows that 7 retired of 13 communal pesticide progressive ingredients successful Nigeria are cancerous.

“In 2020, implicit 270 persons died successful Oyo Obi Community of Benue State arsenic a effect of Endosulphan successful the community’s river,” the question read.

The lawmaker besides expressed interest that 70 per cent of suicides successful Nigeria were linked to the ingestion of highly toxic pesticides specified arsenic Dichlorvos, DDVP, commonly sold arsenic Sniper.

He added that indiscriminate importation and usage of these chemicals had led to h2o and ungraded contamination, posing risks to farmers, consumers and the ecosystem.

“Reports bespeak a increasing fig of pesticide poisoning cases and rejection of Nigerian nutrient exports astatine planetary ports owed to chemic residues.

“Research has shown that 7 of the 13 commonly utilized pesticide ingredients successful Nigeria are carcinogenic,’’ Jimbo said.

Speakers, panellists look for Vanguard’s 3rd Mental Health Summit

Meanwhile, scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, October 17, astatine the Civic Centre successful Lagos, the Vanguard Summit convenes a almighty conjugation of intelligence wellness professionals, survivors, advocates, policy-makers, and thought leaders to face the termination epidemic and research sustainable solutions.

This convergence of legislative enactment and intelligence wellness advocacy signals a increasing designation that termination prevention indispensable beryllium tackled from aggregate fronts — policy, nationalist education, biology information and assemblage support.

In the lineup of speakers are intelligence wellness professionals, survivors, advocates, policy-makers, and thought leaders are acceptable to connection insights, strategies, and stories that volition situation indifference and misconceptions, and animate corporate enactment arsenic the federation copes with the affectional toll and societal interaction of suicide.

The president of the transformative lawsuit is the Executive Director of the Nigeria Heart Foundation, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye — a seasoned doc and planetary wellness person successful Cardiovascular Health and Non-Communicable Dis...