Visual storyteller Taiwo Aina-Adeokun traveled across Nigeria over several months from 2025-26, documenting areas of the country where heavy plumes of smoke, containing the sooty pollutant black carbon, are a part of daily life. In some cases, the soot comes from Nigeria’s smoked-food culinary traditions. In others, it is a byproduct of the country’s oil industry. “I didn’t stay inside the smoke for too long because my eyes were watery and red and I was coughing,” Aina-Adeokun told Mongabay by phone. “I’m sure if we did a medical scan, we’d find effects in [residents’] system, like a respiratory problem. But most of the people there have been in this business for decades, so they are used to being in the smoke.” “Once we breathe [the soot particles] in, they go into our lungs and affect our respiratory health,” Tom Grylls, an air pollution specialist at the Clean Air Fund, told Mongabay in a video call. “But because they’re so small, they can go beyond the lungs and into your bloodstream and therefore are linked with effects on your heart and on your nervous system.” Black carbon primarily impacts low-income households with limited access to electricity. It also disproportionately affects women, since much of residential exposure occurs while cooking, a task that women often dominate across many cultures. Port Harcourt in Rivers State, a region in Nigeria around 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of Lagos, is also famous for its smoked food, including cow skins. Burning wood creates the signature smoky taste…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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