The Deliberate Destruction of Abuja Green Spaces Have Serious Implications for Citizens’ Health (Renal Diseases)

By AVM (RTD) AKUGBE IYAMU MNSA fsi

Abuja was primarily modeled after Brasília (Brazil)with additional design influences from Washington D.C. (USA) and Paris (France). The city was developed in the 1980s as a purpose-built capital by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange.

It was designed with wide roads, designated green spaces, and a central location to represent national unity.

As synonymous with modern cities, the green space was to absorb the island heat that will be consequential to future development and population growth.

The green areas were to aid carbon emission reduction, make the city liveable and increase carbon sequestration and offset.

Carbon offsets are financial instruments representing the reduction, avoidance, or sequestration of one metric ton of greenhouse gas emissions, used by individuals or organizations to compensate for their own emissions.

They fund projects like reforestation, renewable energy, and methane capture. While aimed at climate mitigation, the market faces scrutiny over effectiveness and “greenwashing”.

Additionally,  Abuja green spaces were to act as carbon sink systems in anticipation of future growth in population and economic development. carbon sink is any natural or artificial system that absorbs and stores more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it releases, playing a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas concentrations.

Main examples include oceans (via plankton), forests, and soil. Synonyms include carbon sequestration sites, carbon reservoirs, or carbon storage.

In the case of Abuja, geography was its destiny and the location of Abuja in a trough surrounded by mountains make the city a region of unbearably high temperatures such as experienced in the last couple of days.

A city like Abuja must continuously expand the green space and not destroy the ecosystems because of the adverse effects on the health of citizens particularly the vital organs like the kidney.

Currently findings from the World Health Organisation showed that environmental factors are increasingly recognized as major, often underappreciated, contributors to kidney disease, acting as both direct nephrotoxins and risk multipliers that exacerbate pre-existing conditions like diabetes and hypertension.

Chronic exposure to pollutants can lead to sustained renal stress, reduced kidney function, and accelerated progression to end-stage kidney failure.

We all need development but not at the expense of the health of the people. For instance, today 13 March 2026 after the previous night rainfall gave the city an awful smell from indiscriminate waste disposal and open defecation.

Additionally, since 2022, the city have struggled to establish international waste management and disposal systems that meet international standards. The efforts is yet to yield the desired outcome.

For a city where individual citizens generate 0.55 to 0.70kg of waste daily and 330,000 metric tons annually, there are more than compelling urgency to have a scientific waste management system.

Dumpsites are no longer fashionable as they aggravate the health problems of citizens. There were noticeable efforts to have major dumpsites and official landfills to manage significant waste aggregation points. These are located across the Federal Capital Territory, primarily in Gosa, Wupa, Bwari, Dutse-Makaranta, Karshi, and Kubwa. These sites, managed or overseen by the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and Area Councils, handle the majority of solid waste, with Gosa and Ajata being major operating landfills.

As we go ahead, the FCT Administration need to realise that the green spaces in the various zones were intentional, deliberate and purpose driven. If nothing else scares us, let the impact of green areas destruction on health be a priority that people wellbeing is the reason our government exists.

AVM (RTD) AKUGBE IYAMU MNSA fsi

CONSULTANT ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ANALYST ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES

PRESIDENT ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE PRACTITIONERS