FG To Partner UNICEF, USAID To Combat Lead Poisoning

Minister of solid minerals development, Dr. Dele Alake, has pledged Nigeria’s support to the global campaign against lead poisoning in vulnerable communities.

LEADERSHIP Weekend recalls that acute widespread lead poisoning took place in Zamfara State, Nigeria, in 2010, killing more than 735 children and causing illness to thousands due to artisanal gold mining and processing in the villages.

At an exhibition on the lead campaign at the Lead-Free Future event organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly, Dr Alake announced plans to procure additional equipment for the detection of lead in communities plagued by lead poisoning.

Dr. Alake advocated for more enlightenment on the threat posed to persons in the mining of gold and other minerals, emphasising that cleaning up lead from communities will restore child and maternal health.

In a statement by the special assistant, Media, to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, Dr Alake stated the need to factor lead reduction in the process of local value addition being championed by the Ministry.

Welcoming the minister to the exhibition, the USAID representative, Dr. Casey Bartrem appreciated the commitment of the minister, showing rock samples retrieved from Zamfara State in Nigeria during the clean-up that followed a lead poisoning incident.

She said the USAID hoped to collaborate with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD) in reducing lead in mineral extraction and processing.