Professor of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Ilorin, Prof. Ademola Awoyemi, has decried growing rate of occupational health hazard in Nigeria, warning that if the trend was left unchecked, Nigeria might be sitting on gunpowder.

Speaking on "Occupation and Health: the Interplay, Interlock and Interaction" during 117th Inaugural Lecture of the university, Awoyemi, also lamented decline in the number of community health professionals, a situation, which he sad, was capable of ruining overall health status of Nigerians.

The don identified quarry, hospital, sawmill, and traditional cloth weaving, military and paramilitary services as sectors most prone to occupational health hazards.

Awoyemi said: "The health problems found out to be associated with the stone quarry industry included respiratory health problems, musculoskeletal conditions and trauma.

"A recent review of causes of sickness and absenteeism in 2011, exactly 20 years after my first study, confirmed that malaria is still the commonest cause of sickness and absenteeism. But it is now closely followed by hypertension and then diarrhoea . This new finding has shown the growing importance of non-communicable diseases in causation of diseases over the years."

Describing population of workers as the pivot of the economy, the don urged government and private employers of labour to lay more emphasis on the provision of occupational health services to workers, in order to improve the health status of Nigerians. He added that the occupational health bill should be reviewed in regular intervals.