The University of Lagos has joined a consortium of institutions and government agencies to conduct a three year research project examining the health risks of extreme heat across 10 selected settlements in Lagos State.

The collaboration, formalised at a stakeholders meeting, brings together the University of Cambridge, the University of Lagos, the Lagos State Government, the Lagos Urban Development Initiative, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority and several other Lagos State ministries and agencies. The project, themed the Hotsteppers Project, is funded by Wellcome Trust and is centred on reimagining Lagos as a cooler and healthier city.

The Principal Investigator for the project and Chair of Global Public Health and Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Cambridge, Prof. Tolullah Oni, outlined the research objectives and its intended outcomes for urban infrastructure and public health planning.

"Over the next three years, we want to spotlight how heat connects to health in Lagos, the experiences of people who are moving through transit hubs, and the heat risks. We would also be looking at what cooling assets exist, and we would bring all of that together with people's lived experiences to then say, in a particular intervention site, what can we do very quickly, low cost, to reduce heat exposure in a meaningful way," Oni stated.

She added that findings from the research are expected to inform LAMATA's infrastructure decisions and contribute directly to the Lagos State Health and Climate Plan.

The Co Principal Investigator and Professor of Geography at the University of Lagos, Peter Elias, noted that heat had historically been absent from government climate adaptation frameworks.

"Most of the climate adaptation plans and policies of the government did not embed heat. There is pollution, flooding, but heat has not been given a priority. So, I'm happy that our team is leading this project to really put out there the far reaching implications of heat waves on different aspects of human life," Elias said.

The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Climate Change and Secular Economy, Mrs. Titilayo Oshodi, confirmed that the state government maintains an existing climate action strategy and urged the research team to integrate government insights into their planning.

"Hotsteppers also need to take in what we have shared with them to expand the scope of what we are doing so that the insights that have been shared are integrated into their plan so that we can have a longer sustainable partnership together," Oshodi said.