ABUJA, July 5 — Ten thousand families across Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory are getting a cleaner way to cook, as the government and a private partner hand out free LPG cylinders to fight the smoke that sickens so many women and children. The Federal Capital Territory Administration, working with IHS Nigeria, has distributed 10,000 Liquefied Petroleum Gas cylinders and refill vouchers to households in 18 communities across all six Area Councils of the FCT.
The program, called Project Breathe Clean Air Abuja, wrapped up with a ceremony Thursday at the Bwari Mini Stadium. For the families involved, this is about more than new cookware.
It’s about what happens when you stop breathing smoke from firewood, charcoal, and kerosene day after day. Mariya Mahmud, the Minister of State for the FCT, said the project was created to cut the number of respiratory diseases caused by indoor air pollution. She was represented at the event by Maijida Kuku.
Women and children, she noted, carry the heaviest burden from cooking smoke. Wider use of LPG, she added, would improve public health, protect the environment, and help with climate change.
The initiative launched in November 2025, sponsored by IHS Nigeria. Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe, the Mandate Secretary of the FCT Health Services and Environment Secretariat, explained why. Cases of respiratory tract infections among women, and respiratory allergies in children, had been rising.
The common link: prolonged exposure to smoke from traditional cooking fuels. The human side of this is clear. Mothers cooking over open fires.
Toddlers breathing in the fumes. That’s the daily reality the project aims to change.
Beyond handing out cylinders, sustainability teams from the FCTA and IHS Nigeria visited community leaders to teach safe gas use. They also ran monitoring and evaluation to measure the real impact on household air quality and health. Here’s where the science gets personal.
Handheld air quality monitoring sensors were placed in 30 homes in the Kurudu area. The findings from that monitoring and evaluation exercise showed significant improvements in household air quality.
What this means for patients, for families, is fewer clinic visits for coughs and breathing trouble. Cleaner air inside the home. A kitchen that doesn’t choke you.
The project is a partnership that puts people first, then the technology. It’s a reminder that big health gains often start with something as simple as how we cook dinner.
