Early rains signal the beginning of the rainy season, which is a time when mosquitoes can breed successfully.
To this end, the Niger state ministry of education has flagged off distribution of insecticide treated nets to boarding schools and integrated Quranic education centres in the state to reduce spread of malaria.
A short play to show how infective female Anopheles mosquitoes causes malaria was demonstrated by male students of Father O’Connell high school .
A creative sensitisation message crafted to target these students, some of whom like their peers would rather be bitten by mosquitoes while sleeping outside a mosquito net than sleeping under one.
It is a challenge the ministries of education and health have been battling for years not just among students but with general house holds.
Only 59 percent of Nigerian households own an insecticide treated net.
Nigeria is one of four countries that account for more than half of malaria deaths across the globe, with 31.3 percent of the death rates
Today the Niger state ministry of education is flagging off distribution of treated to boarding schools across the state to ensure that the students are prevented from mosquitoes while they sleep.
Principals of schools say the disease is a major cause of school absenteeism and low productivity.