Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has called on Nigerians to practice and promote clean environmental habits to prevent breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
The wife of Tinubu made this call on Friday through her Media Aide, Busola Kukoyi, while marking the 2025 World Malaria Day (WMD).
“We should also ensure that our environment and surroundings are clean and free of stagnant water, which is a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” she said.
Celebrated every April 25, this year’s theme is “Malaria Ends With Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite.” She said it’s time to recall that malaria is not just a public health challenge for Nigeria, but a national emergency.
“Nigeria bears the heaviest global burden of this disease. We must continue to work hard to reverse this trend.”
She called for urgent collective efforts from all government agencies, private sector partners, NGOs, health workers, and community leaders to fight against malaria with resolve.
Adding further, Mrs. Tinubu said, “Malaria ends with us, with our voices, our choices and our actions.”
WHO noted that roughly 600,000 lives were lost to the disease in 2023 alone. Despite significant gains, malaria remains a major public health challenge.
In 2022, data from WHO noted that in Nigeria, malaria had become a serious public health concern with an estimated 68 million cases and 194,000 deaths in 2021.
With this data, Nigeria accounted for nearly 27% of the global malaria burden, with 38% of global deaths occurring in children under five.
