06/05/2025
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS FACING EXTINCTION IN RIVERS STATE.
Environmental Health services in Rivers State is facing imminent extinction in Rivers State following the long years of neglect and unemployment of the professionals by the Rivers State government.
Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are responsible for protecting public health and safety by ensuring adherence to environmental health regulations, investigating complaints, and promoting community health awareness. They also perform various duties related to food safety, waste management, occupational health, and environmental monitoring, with a focus on preventing diseases and ensuring a healthy environment.
These duties are gradually being relegated because of the dearth of trained and qualified environmental health officers employed by the Rivers State Government.
It may interest you to note that Environmental Health officers were last employed into the Rivers State Civil Service over two decades ago. The last batch of Environmental Health officers employed by the Rivers State government was in the 90s, precisely during the military administration in Rivers State.
The said last batch of Environmental Health officers that was employed by the Rivers State government in the early 90s will be exiting the civil service, through retirement, in or before October 2025. After their retirement, the Rivers State government will not be able to boast of environmental health officers employed by the state government, and their duties would grind to a complete halt.
Though some of the local government councils still have some trained and qualified environmental health officers employed decades ago, their numbers cannot cover the entire state. They are not even enough to cover the local government areas where they are currently employed.
We are calling on the Rivers state government to as a matter of urgency, prioritise environmental Health in Rivers State and ensure that trained and qualified environmental Health officers are massively employed to cover all the nooks and crannies of the state and also to avert the imminent public health dangers lurking as a result of the absence of environmental health officers in Rivers State.
DUTIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS IN NIGERIA:
The following duties, though not limited to these, are carried out by environmental Health officers in their routine schedules to prevent diseases and ensure a safe and disease free environment:
ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE:
They ensure that businesses and individuals comply with environmental health laws and regulations, including food safety standards, waste disposal practices, and occupational health and safety guidelines.
INVESTIGATION AND ENFORCEMENT:
The EHO investigates complaints related to environmental health hazards like noise pollution, pest infestations, and food poisoning outbreaks, and and also take appropriate enforcement actions.
PROSECUTION OF OFFENDERS:
The environmental health officer is the chief prosecutor of environmental health/sanitation matters in sanitation courts across Nigeria. They stand and appear in court every court day to prosecute environmental health laws and regulations offenders.
ROUTINE INSPECTION AND MONITORING:
Conducting routine and specialized inspections of premises, including ships, and other sea going vessels, food establishments, workplaces, and residential areas, to assess compliance with environmental health laws, standards and regulations.
HEALTH PROMOTION AND EDUCATION:
The EHOs engage in health educating the public and businesses about environmental health issues, promoting healthy lifestyles, and providing advice on preventing diseases and improving hygiene in the course of their daily routine schedules. They carry out mass health education campaigns to prevent diseases outbreak and safeguard public health.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE:
EHOs respond to environmental emergencies like disease outbreaks, chemical spills, and natural disasters, and implementing containment and prevention measures.
WATER QUALITY AND SANITATION:
Monitoring water quality analysis to ascertain standard quality and safe water, ensuring the proper functioning of sewage systems, and promoting sanitation practices to prevent waterborne diseases.
WASTE MANAGEMENT:
The EHOs oversee waste collection, transportation, disposal, and recycling programs. They also ensures compliance with waste management regulations.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY:
Inspection of workplaces to ensure compliance with health and safety regulations is a core mandate of the EHOs. They also investigate workplace accidents, and provide advice on workplace safety.
FOOD SAFETY/ REGULATED PREMISES INSPECTION:
Another core mandate of the EHOs is inspection of food establishments. This is done by regularly inspecting food premises, conducting food sampling where necessary, and ensuring compliance with food safety regulations to prevent foodborne illnesses.
MARKETS / SLAUGHTER HOUSES INSPECTION:
The environmental health officers inspects mar
SHIP INSPECTION:
Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) board ships to carry out ship inspections, particularly in areas related to public health, sanitation, and hygiene standards.
EHOs work alongside port health authorities to inspect both international and local vessels to prevent the spread of disease.
NOISE CONTROL:
A major nuisance associated with urban areas is noise pollution. The EHOs duty is to investigate noise complaints, assessing noise levels, and enforcing noise regulations to prevent noise pollution whether in residential or industrial areas.
PEST CONTROL:
The EHOs ensures a pest free environment in the course of carrying out their daily routines. To achieve this, they implement and oversee pest control programs to prevent the spread of diseases and nuisances.
LIAISON AND COLLABORATION:
Environmental Health officers work and collaborate with other agencies, organizations, and stakeholders to address environmental health issues and promote collaboration.
Note: The duties of the environmental health officers is not limited to the aforementioned.
