Are you in Nigeria, just arriving or planing to visiting or knows someone…? This piece is for you… Today we’ll be showing you 9 ways to care for your family during the dry season in Nigeria; and other West African countries where dry seasons are experienced.
Every year, Nigeria has a 6months period of raining season and 6months of dry spell (diminishing period of rain to total seization) and this occurs between march to august and September to February respectively. This 6months each of both raining and dry season may vary in length of more rainy days or more dry days.
The dry seasons in Nigeria is characterised by increased heat both day and night (before the onset of the harmattan)
The harmattan which is a period in dry season starting around November spanning all through to march (although it has been observed in some areas for the past 5years not to last that long) is a period of heat waves and low humidity in the day and chills accompanied by increased humidity as opposed to in the afternoons during the very early hours of the day, say between 2-6 am.
These characteristics (amongst others) is typical of a desert which is understandable as the Saharan desert above west Africa is where this conditions arises from (around November) with strong winds blowing from the Sahara across most of West Africa.

Harmattan comes with certain characteristics that many people dread or don’t really like. These includes;
- Dust haze
- Dryness in the day(very low humidity)
- High humidity with fogs and chills
- Low visibility during the early hours of the day and night due to fog
And in the day, sometimes due to dusts.
If you are in Nigeria around this periods, there are certain precautions and heads up one needs to take..
Certain categories of people are particularly more vulnerable this period, and these includes, the elderlies, babies, asthmatics and people with certain skin types or conditions..
Ways To Care For Your Family During The Dry Season
- Due to low visibility due to dust in the day and fog in the night and early hours of morning, those driving should use fog light to aid visibility.
- People suffering from asthma should ensure to carry along nose cover , avoid exposure to unfavorable conditions that could trigger an episode and also have inhalers handy
- The elderly and children should be well clothed and well covered… Babies especially should avoid outdoors when possible
- Due to the dry nature of the atmosphere during this period, people with dry skin should always ensure to be well moisturises.
- People who are prone to severe dryness of foot should put on socks
- Moisturising the lips for people prone to dry lips would be a good idea
- Have water handy and always hydrate yourself, as this period, due to low atmospheric humidity, the body looses much water and the body needs to replenish this loose of water…
- Eat plenty of succulent fruits like water melon, cucumber, oranges etc, it helps with hydration and vitality
- Your nose mask from covid-19 can be handy this period to avoid inhaling much dust into the lungs.
Keep windows mostly closed during the day to prevent too much dust from entering into the house. It’s important to prevent any thing that will cause fire outbreaks especially during this period.

You’ve read our 9 ways to care for your family during the dry season in Nigeria. Let us know what you think in the comment section below
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See also: How To Cook Nigerian Black Soup
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