By Tobe Noble

Across Nigeria, the air above our cities and farms is changing. Thick with exhaust, industrial emissions and dust, it carries invisible particles and gases that quietly enter lungs, strain hearts and shorten lives. Unlike a flood or wildfire, air pollution leaves no obvious wreckage behind. Yet day after day, it erodes public health, burdens hospitals and deepens inequality between those who can escape it and those who cannot.

In fast-growing countries like Nigeria, the challenge is especially stark. Urbanisation, traffic congestion and expanding industry often sit side by side with crowded markets and informal settlements. Many communities have no access to reliable air quality information they simply live, work and raise children in whatever air is available. As the world rallies around climate action and sustainable development, a crucial question emerges who is measuring the air we breathe, and how can that data be turned into protection for the most vulnerable?

A Researcher in Atmospheric Science

Amina Mohammed Chollom, a Senior Scientific Research Officer at the Center for Atmospheric Research (CAR), National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) in Anyigba, Kogi State, has devoted her career to understanding polluted air and making the science behind it accessible.

Trained as a chemist, Amina built her expertise at the intersection of environmental chemistry, atmospheric science and sustainable development. She specializes in air quality monitoring and environmental data analysis, developing strategies that move beyond abstract climate targets to concrete protection for public health

Her path into this work began not in a pristine laboratory, but in Port Harcourt, where she grew up surrounded by the sights and smells of industrial pollution. Refineries, flares and fumes formed part of the backdrop of daily life. Watching neighbours cough through hazy mornings and hearing constant complaints about “bad air” left an imprint.

“Pollution wasn’t just something we read about in textbooks,” she recalls. “It was in our homes, in our streets, and in our bodies. That reality pushed me toward chemistry and, later, into atmospheric research.”

From Lived Experience to Scientific Mission

After completing her bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Amina joined NASRDA and began working at the Center for Atmospheric Research. While advancing her academic training, she threw herself into real-time air quality and ozone monitoring across Nigeria, helping to collect measurements in regions that had never before been systematically studied.

The work demanded long hours in the field, sensitive instruments exposed to harsh conditions, and the challenge of turning raw numbers into meaningful stories about risk and protection. Over more than five years, she contributed to building Nigeria’s records on particulate matter and ozone levels datasets that inform both scientists and policymakers about where pollution hits hardest and how it is changing over time.

But for Amina, measurement is only the beginning.

From Technical Data to Community Tools

Her core mission is to translate complex atmospheric data into clear, actionable information. That means designing tools and communication strategies that people outside the scientific community can understand and use. A major part of her work has focused on developing low-cost, portable air monitoring devices tailored to underserved communities.

In neighbourhoods where formal monitoring stations are scarce or nonexistent, these devices offer a lifeline. By placing affordable sensors in schools, markets and roadside stalls, residents can see pollution levels in real time, track dangerous spikes and demand action from local authorities.

“Environmental information should not be locked away in reports and academic journals,” Amina says. “When communities can see what they are breathing, they can organize, advocate and protect themselves.”

Recognition and Influence

Amina’s work has yielded both scientific and social impact. She has led major air quality research and field monitoring programmes with NASRDA, helping to shape the national conversation on particulate pollution and ozone exposure. One of her proudest achievements is advancing the development of a portable real-time air monitoring device, built to be robust, user-friendly and responsive to local conditions.

Her contributions have been recognized. She received the Climate Champion Innovation Award from the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN Nigeria), honouring her efforts to create transformative, science-based solutions for a net zero future. The award signalled that her work is not only documenting a problem but also demonstrating practical ways forward.

Authority Grounded in Justice

What sets Amina apart is not just her technical skill, but the ethical lens through which she views her work. She is a firm advocate of environmental justice, insisting that monitoring and remediation efforts must prioritise disadvantaged, high-risk areas that are often overlooked.

Throughout her career, she has helped develop evidence-based frameworks that link chemistry, public health and policy. These frameworks guide pollution control strategies, inform regulations and support sustainable practices for industries and local governments. At every step, she asks who benefits, and who is still left breathing unsafe air?

By designing technologies that democratise environmental data, she empowers communities to move from passive victims of pollution to active participants in environmental decision-making. Through mentoring and collaboration, she is also nurturing the next generation of researchers who see science as a tool for equity as well as discovery.

Linking Local Work to Global Goals

Amina’s research and advocacy align closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. By promoting cleaner air and healthier communities, her work advances SDG 3 on Good Health and Well Being. By supporting climate resilience and better urban planning, it contributes to SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities. And by elevating the voices of those most affected by environmental degradation, it strengthens SDG 10 on Reduced Inequalities.

Closing Reflection

In an era when the air itself can be a threat, Amina Mohammed Chollom’s work offers a different story, one in which data becomes a shield, communities become informed actors, and science serves as a bridge between policy rooms and polluted streets.

Her career stands as a reminder that tackling environmental challenges requires more than technology alone. It demands integrity, empathy and the courage to insist that clean air is not a privilege, but a right. By turning invisible pollutants into visible evidence and evidence into action she is helping to chart a path toward a future where every breath is safer than the last.