FOOD SAFETY AND HYGIENE: ROLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS IN DISEASE PREVENTION

Our attention has been drawn to a short video going round the social media as circulated by some blogs. We find it interesting to note that the proponents of the video are doing so based on their limited knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of the Environmental Health Officers (Sanitary Inspectors) known in the Yoruba land as Wolewole.

Let me begin by enlightening you on who an EHO is according to Act 11, 2002 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. An EHO is someone who has been trained and certified in a recognised institution and registered by the Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON).

Environmental health itself is the control of factors in man's physical environment which exercise, or may exercise, directly or indirectly a deleterious effect on man's physical well-being, health and survival. The sole aim of the EHO is to ensure disease prevention and control whether from living premises, food, water or the environment as a whole.

Our Officers in the video were simply doing their constitutional assigned duties when touts and thugs attacked them. If the role of the press is to protect the citizens and pass adequate information, then the bloggers who are peddling this video have failed in their responsibility.

You must know that Food safety and hygiene is a CORE aspect of the EHOs job. If these social media jobbers do their jobs well, they should be able to tell Nigerians the number of food poisoning cases been recorded daily in our health centres across the Nation. But for likes and comments, only false and half baked information are peddled.

According to the Public Health Laws of Ogun State 2006 and the National Environmental Sanitation Regulations 2016, anyone who wants to HANDLE food MUST undergo a medical examination and be trained before doing so. The culprit in the video did neither of the two. This is a crime!

Environmental Sanitation offences all over the world is criminal which offenders can be jailed for. It is a crime because Environmental issues especially food can lead to the death of many people at a time. Many of these vendors and hawkers prepare their food in unhygienic conditions and many of them also suffer from communicable diseases which they may be healthy carriers of.

The Ogun State House of Assembly in 2018 mandated the Sanitation Departments of the 20 Local governments and 37 LCDAs to carry out compulsory training for all food and drinks handlers in the state. This was as result of the alarming high rate of food borne diseases being recorded. As at this moment, over 5,000 vendors/handlers have been trained in about 25 LGs/LCDAs. Yet, many of them run away from medical examinations and trainings due to ignorance.

One would have expected that journalism should be about informing the public rightly and not just about making money or gaining 'likes'. One would have expected that even if any uninformed tout or thug (as heard from the background voices in the video) sends video, a responsible media channel will investigate and not just churn such to the world.

Such crude interview that was cut off when the offender talking about trying to offer N2,000 shows desperation for inordinate fame and crass irresponsibility. The offender and his boss was trying to induce the Officers with bribe which they blatantly turned down. That was said by the offender himself. Where the issue of bribe comes in beats the imagination.

As specified by law, the EHO has responsibilities spanning beyond routine inspection of houses (Wolewole), management of wastes and even inspection of food and food premises. There are about 22 core responsibilities, some of which would blow your mind.

Finally, and for the records, our officers do NOT go out to harass public but to protect them. In the course of doing this, several means are employed just to see that the right thing is done. Anyone can go into any business, but as regards the food business, you must be ready to obey the law and subject yourself to medical examination because lives are at stake.

For a population of about 5 million in Ogun state, there are less than 300 who are expected to perform magic without appropriate tools to work with. This few should be encouraged and not harangued, supported and not villified. And for the sake of posterity this video must be pulled down.


Femi Abolade
State Secretary,
Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria, Ogun state Chapter
femibolade12@gmail.com