This heat can practically fry a stone 🥺

I remember being in the far north of Kebbi State in 2019, and the heat I experienced there was one of a kind. It is not unusual to have the first rain of the year in January here in Kwara State, but till this moment, all we are lavished with is heat, which is different from usual. I have heard neighboring states like Osun and Ondo have experienced their first rainfall for the year, which was reportedly heavy, causing some casualties. Kwara, unusually, has remained without its first rains. Though there's a heat that precedes and comes after rains, this has been very harsh.

Kwara has been without rain since November last year, and the harmattan seemed to extend beyond normal. In recent times, I have experienced hazy weather. The atmosphere is mostly unclear and full of suspended dust, which oftentimes predisposes one to upper respiratory tract allergies and infections. The rays from the sun have been grossly reduced, and for some of us employing the sun to charge our solar panels, we either have undercharged batteries or have to find a way to clean the panels so as to have them absorb more rays. And the power supply in Nigeria is epileptic, making the heat more unbearable as most citizens depend on the government's electricity supply. Thankfully for me, my solar serves the purpose of supplying me with power enough to spin my fan blades through the night. Other days I have had to sleep outside of my apartment and experience the heat at night. My sleep has been mostly interrupted, and sometimes I have to bathe a couple of times before daybreak to ameliorate the effect of the heat. You could imagine the sweat readily deposited on my face and back against the mattress.

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The weather is currently worse than it was in previous years, as much as I can remember, and I can hardly wait to get out of this. Do I know what is responsible for this? Maybe the climate? Or the depletion of the ozone layer, which is the protective covering around the earth.

The population of the earth is fast exploding, and Nigeria is not left behind. The cities and urban areas are more densely populated, fast encroaching into neighboring rural areas. In addition, Nigerians have started opting for alternatives to fuel for cooking, and there has been a lot of deforestation to serve the purpose of cooking charcoal. Technically, we can't blame Nigerians, as a bag of charcoal for cooking can be obtained for the same amount to procure 3kg of gas that can barely last two weeks. Unfortunately, Nigerians are yet to cultivate the habit of planting trees as a replacement for those who fell for this purpose. Farming has equally brought a lot of deforestation to society, and this may have contributed to the excessive heat reaching us from the rays of the sun.

Perhaps if these possible causes can be addressed and more trees are grown to shield from the harsh effects of the sun, giving a cooling effect, bringing about more blowing of the wind, and preventing the ground effect of heat, population decongestion is an alternative, as surrounding rural environments can be provided with social amenities to ameliorate the effects of the dense population in urban areas. I'm sure gradually we can prevent having less of such weather in the distant future.

Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.