Haruna Manu Isah
Kano State, a cornerstone of Northern Nigeria’s economic and agricultural development, is facing a growing environmental and public safety crisis; one that has long gone under-regulated and largely ignored.
The widespread and unregulated proliferation of borrow pits and sand mining activities, from Challawa to Tamborawa, along the Eastern Bypass, and beyond, presents a silent but urgent threat to both the environment and human well-being.
While sand is a critical material for construction and infrastructure development, its indiscriminate extraction has left scars on the landscape: massive craters filled with stagnant water, unrehabilitated land, erosion-prone zones, degraded ecosystems, and increased vulnerability to flooding. Without a comprehensive regulatory and legal framework,
Kano State risks facing irreversible environmental degradation, community displacement, and tragic loss of lives.
The Hidden Dangers of Unregulated Borrow Pits and Sand Mining
Borrow pits and sand mining sites; especially around Challawa, Tamborawa, and the Eastern Bypass; are rarely backfilled or rehabilitated after excavation. These abandoned sites have become:
- Deadly traps for children, livestock, and unsuspecting residents.
- Breeding grounds for mosquitoes and disease vectors, contributing to rising malaria and cholera cases.
- Hotspots for soil erosion and flooding, damaging farms, roads, and homes
- Sources of land degradation and biodiversity loss, stripping Kano’s landscapes of ecological resilience.
In Tamborawa, for example, sand mining activities have crept dangerously close to residential zones, highways, and agricultural lands, placing lives and livelihoods in constant jeopardy.
A Regulatory Vacuum: National and State-Level Gaps
There is no dedicated national regulation in Nigeria specifically addressing sand mining or borrow pit operations. Existing frameworks like the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act, the Minerals and Mining Act, or NESREA regulations are too broad or inadequately enforced to address the unique risks associated with uncontrolled sand extraction.
At the state level, Kano currently lacks a legal framework or specific guidelines regulatingborrow pits and sand mining operations.
This legal void has enabled a proliferation of unsafe, unlicensed, and environmentally harmful excavation activities across the state.
Need to Reform the Kano State Environmental Pollution Control Law 2022
Equally troubling is that the current Kano State Pollution Control Law 2022 does not explicitly recognize land degradation; caused by sand mining and un-rehabilitated borrow pits; as a form of environmental pollution. This represents a critical oversight, as land degradation leads to:
- Loss of soil fertility and arable land
- Increased flood and erosion risk
- Ecosystem collapse and climate vulnerability
- Public health hazards from stagnant water and exposed pits.
Land degradation must be explicitly defined as a form of pollution in the law, with associated penalties, regulatory controls, and rehabilitation obligations.
A comprehensive review and amendment of the Kano State Pollution Control Law is urgently needed to:
- Include land degradation as a pollution category
- Empower regulators to enforce penalties for operators responsible for abandoned borrow pits
- Establish mandatory site rehabilitation requirements
- Enable community reporting mechanisms and public participation in monitoring activities.
Why Kano Must Lead with Legislative and Policy Action
In addition to reforming existing pollution control laws, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change must lead the process of enacting a Borrow Pit and Sand Mining Regulation.
This proposed regulation should:
- Mandate Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for all sand mining and borrow pit projects
- Define clear permitting procedures, including site limits, allowable volumes, and approved methodologies
- Enforce post-mining rehabilitation, such as backfilling, landscaping, and slope stabilization
- Engage communities, ensuring their voices are heard and compensated where affected;
- Impose strict sanctions and penalties on violators
- Establish a monitoring and enforcement unit to oversee sand mining and borrow pit operations.
Learning from Other States
States like Lagos, Ogun, and Cross River have moved ahead with quarrying and dredging control measures, requiring EIAs and post-extraction rehabilitation. Kano must emulate and adapt these models to its unique geography and development pressures.
A Call to Action
The time to act is now. The Kano State Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, in collaboration with the State House of Assembly, must:
- Review and strengthen the Pollution Control Law, making land degradation a punishable offense;
- Draft and pass a Sand Mining and Borrow Pit RegulationLaw or regulation as the ministry deem appropriate
- Promote public awareness, community involvement, and transparent enforcement mechanisms.
Professionals in the environmental field, civil society groups, traditional institutions, and academia must rally behind this cause to protect our communities and landscapes.
Unchecked sand mining and borrow pit activities especially in areas like Tamborawa, Challawa, and the Eastern Bypass; are fueling a crisis of land degradation, public endangerment, and environmental instability.
The absence of both specific mining regulations and legal recognition of land degradation as pollution is a dangerous gap.
To safeguard Kano State’s environment and its people, decisive legal reform and proactive governance are no longer optional; they are essential.
Let Kano take the lead and set the precedent for other states to follow as we have done in setting the pace in climate action initiatives.
Isah writes from Kano. He can be reached via harunamanu55@gmail.com
