An appraisal of social and health impact of cement production at Obajana communities in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State

Abstract

Mining is a major economic activity in many developing countries including Nigeria. This paper examines the social and health challenges of Cement production on Obajana communities. This was necessitated to providing a sustainable safe environment to the people and communities where industrial activities take place. The study involved empirical observation and interview of residents of the study area. A total of four hundred respondents were randomly selected from four communities, to appraise the social and health impacts of cement production on human populations in the study area. Descriptive statistics and one sample T- Test were used to analyze the data. The result of the test statistic of P-value 0.00 shows that there is significant relationship between cement production and its associated social and health impact on the people in Obajana communities. Obajana community recorded the highest socio and health impact of cement production (43.3%). A significant proportion of the sampled population and clinic records revealed increasing cases of malaria within the study area. Malaria alone account for 37.4% of the incidence of disease in the study area. Additionally, there are health related problems at the host communities that were not properly documented, let alone attempting a resolution process.