By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja
The Kogi State Government will distribute more than 3.14 million free insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) to households across the state from November 8 to 15.
It is the first mass free-net campaign in nine years, and it is part of a renewed push to cut malaria infections and deaths.
The state is working with Malaria Consortium and the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) on the ITN Universal Coverage Campaign.
Health Commissioner Dr Abdulazeez Adams Adeiza announced the campaign on Thursday at a media parley in Lokoja.
He was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Mr Maji Enoch.
He cited the 2025 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey, which put malaria prevalence in Kogi at 8.9 per cent.
The national rate fell from 22 per cent in 2021 to 15.2 per cent in 2025.
Even so, Nigeria still carries a heavy share of the global burden.
According to 2025 World Health Organisation figures, it accounts for 24.3 per cent of malaria cases worldwide and an estimated 30.3 per cent of the 579,000 malaria deaths recorded each year.
Adeiza called malaria a major public health and economic challenge. It keeps people away from schools, workplaces, farms and markets, he said, and drains households through treatment costs and lost working hours.
That is why the nets matter. Sleeping under a treated net remains one of the most effective ways to prevent the disease, he said, citing studies suggesting that ITN use can cut malaria cases by 50 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, which has more than 90 per cent of global cases.
Getting a net will be simple. Personnel in uniforms bearing the campaign logo will visit homes to register residents and hand out the nets free of charge.
Each household should make sure an adult aged 18 or older is at home to register and collect.
Once the net arrives, Adeiza advised beneficiaries to air it in the shade for 24 hours before hanging it.
They should then sleep under it every night, all year round, and tuck it in properly around the sleeping area.
Olubunmi Ojelade, SBC and External Communication Advisor for Malaria Consortium in Kogi, said each net lasts about three years.
Dirty nets should be washed gently and dried in the shade, not in direct sunlight, she said, and washed no more than four or five times a year.
She urged the media to step up awareness and sensitisation so that residents get accurate information and use the nets correctly.
Ojelade praised the Kogi Government’s strong political commitment to complementing donor efforts.
But she warned that the state’s 8.9 per cent prevalence remains a concern that needs sustained action.
Adeiza urged residents to take part fully and make sure the nets are put to proper use
