By Ayo Oke

A Nigerian building-science researcher, Olayinka Adedoyin, has unveiled a national project designed to make indoor air cleaner and safer in homes, schools, and workplaces across the country.

The initiative, Healthy Air Nigeria, targets the growing threat of poor indoor air quality — a silent factor behind many respiratory and productivity-related health issues.

Adedoyin, who serves as a Senior Building Technical Officer at the Ogun State Ministry of Housing, in a statement said the project was inspired by years of research into the health risks posed by fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — pollutants often released from everyday materials like paints, finishes, and cleaning products.

“Even in newly built, energy-efficient structures, the air people breathe indoors can be more dangerous than the air outside,” Adedoyin noted. “We can’t keep designing beautiful buildings that compromise the health of those living or working in them.”

To confront the problem, Adedoyin is leading a multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, architects, and public-health experts to create real-time indoor-air monitoring systems for Nigerian buildings.

The project also seeks collaboration with NESREA, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, and state environmental agencies to establish enforceable indoor-air-quality standards.

According to Adedoyin, Healthy Air Nigeria aims to make air-quality audits routine in sensitive spaces such as schools, hospitals, and offices.

“Our vision is simple — to move Nigeria from a culture of reaction to one of prevention. Clean air indoors should be seen as a right, not a privilege,” he said.