Group chides Alao-Akala over BATN

A Non Governmental Organisation, Journalists Action on Tobacco and Health (JATH) yesterday chided Oyo State Governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala over his statement that his administration would resist the closure of British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN).
The Oyo State governor had said that the tobacco company was contributing to the economy of his state and that he would frustrate moves to close down the company.
JATH, in a statement signed by its Programme Manager, Mr. Yinka Olugbade, said that Alao-Akala’s statement shows that he was not well-informed by his advisers.
According to the group, "what the governor is interpreting as moves to close down BAT is the National Tobacco Control bill sponsored by Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, which has passed the second reading at the National Assembly, which has nothing to do with the closure of BATN."
The group said that Governor Alao-Akala ought to have found out the real intent of the bill before attempting to shoot it down.
"This bill is all about properly regulating the activities of tobacco companies operating in Nigeria and not only BATN. The bill seeks to prohibit sale of cigarette to underage. It seeks to make it an offence to sell cigarettes in pieces. It seeks to make tobacco companies put graphic warnings telling people of harmful effects of tobacco smoking in order for them to make informed decision about whether to smoke or not. It also seeks to ensure that tobacco products are not readily available because of its cheap prices," said JATH.
The group described as unfortunate that Alao-Akala has allowed himself to be used by BATN as part of its propaganda to escape regulation.
The group faults Alao-Akala’s claim that BATN has contributed to job creation all over the country, arguing that more people have lost their lives as a result of smoking of cigarette.
The group said "BATN has only employed about 1,000. Countless others have died directly or indirectly through cigarette consumption. So, Governor Alao-Akala should find ought his facts before commenting. That he made the comment after embarking on a facility tour of BATN also shows that he was out on a mischief mission. He should go and get a copy of the bill and read before making comments."

http://thenationonlineng.net/web/articles/4695/1/Group-chides-Alao-Akala-/Page1.html

OGUN slams N188bn Suit on 5 Tobacco Firms

National Tobacco Control Bill - MAN vs. Tobacco Lobbyists

MAN warns over Anti-Tobacco Bill -says action will affect country’s GDP

The rank of those calling for caution by the Senate in the treatment of the anti-tobacco bill, has been swelled by the apex manufacturing body, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).

...MAN BOSS

In making his call, the Chairman of MAN, South-West Zone (comprising Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi states), the tobacco-producing area of the country, Chief Isaac Adaegbo Akinpide, said that the tobacco bill currently at the Senate is geared towards killing tobacco production in the country.

Speaking with reporters he said: “MAN recognises the need to regulate the tobacco industry, but in doing this, government should be careful that it does not kill the legal industry. If the legal industry disappears, people will still smoke in this country so there will be a demand for tobacco products and the vacuum will be filled by smugglers.”

The MAN chairman also highlighted the economic import of the move, if it materialises in the Senate. He asserted, “over the past few years, approximately 50 per cent of the workforce in the nation’s manufacturing sector have been thrown out of jobs and in 2008, the manufacturing sub-sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was a paltry 4.13 per cent down from 10 per cent which it stood at in the preceding years.”

He urged the Federal Governments to be more careful with its policies so as to protect local industries. “The tyre industry suffered the same fate with Michelin in Port Harcourt and Dunlop in Ikeja closing their factories. These developments can be attributable to dysfunctional government policies which do not take into consideration, the impact they will have on the economy,” he explained.

A couple of weeks ago, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Industries, Senator Kamorudeen Adedibu (PDP, Oyo South) in condemning the bill, stated that it is a ‘misplaced priority.’ Many other Nigerians have in different fora, advised that the Senate apply caution, even as it is a general consensus that the tobacco industry needs to be regulated. SOURCE

Tobacco Lobbyists and the National Tobacco Control Bill

-By Jakpor, a public health advocate, Lagos

It is becoming evident by the day that beneficiaries of the tobacco industry will stop at nothing to keep the tobacco business going even if it means distorting hard facts that have far-reaching implication on our well-being as a people.

Articles that have popped up in the media since news broke that the National Tobacco Control Bill 2009 received overwhelming support from members of the Senate did not only confirm this assertion but also deepened my conviction that indeed the bill is coming at a very auspicious time.

It is coming at a time that independent findings by well-meaning and concerned organisations, including a recent one by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) confirmed that like no other time in history, tobacco companies are aggressively marketing cigarettes to children across Africa and conscripting them into smoking through parties and deceptive concepts.

Here in Nigeria, the successful campaigns to bring down tobacco billboards and halt advertisement on set notwithstanding, tobacco firms have always conned their way around the law. British America Tobacco (BAT) –the market leader here, has been successfully replaced TV, newspaper and radio adverts with indirect adverts –branding of T-shirts, kiosks and vehicles in its colors and logo. The company also recently owned up to organizing secret smoking parties with an unstated mission: To recruit the swarm of underage that are deluded into believing that smoking is “hype” and “classy”.

It was on this foundation that the National Tobacco Control Bill, sponsored by Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Olorunnimbe Mamora, makes it an offence to sell or market tobacco products to persons under the age of 18 and imposes a fine not exceeding N50,000 or imprisonment of a term not exceeding six months or both on violators. It also prohibits all advertisements, sponsorships, testimonials and promotion of cigarettes in the country.

In the week since the Senate threw its weight behind the bill, I have glossed over the water-less arguments of the tobacco foot soldiers trying to hack away at provisions in the bill until I stumbled on an amazing report that prompted me to put pen to paper.

In the widely published report, Chairman, South-West Zone of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Chief Isaac Adaegbo Akinpide was quoted: “MAN recognizes the need to regulate the tobacco industry, but in doing this, government should be careful that it does not kill the legal industry. If the legal industry disappears, people will still smoke in this country so there will be a demand for tobacco products and the vacuum will be filled by smugglers.”

While I may not want to believe that the view of the MAN chief represents all MAN member groups (even in his South West), this shocking statement at a time Nigerians are counting the cost of the health impacts of tobacco is very disappointing.

For one, his argument on economic and job losses that will worsen the approximately retrenched 50 per cent of workforce in the nation’s manufacturing sector since 2008 does not have any bearing with the issues at stake: increasing number of deaths due to tobacco and the need to rein in on this development through stiff laws like obtains in other parts of the world.

Time and again, MAN as a body has blamed the parlous state of the manufacturing sector on inconsistency in government policies and divided interest. What inconsistency is more than a government that on one hand promises to uphold the health of its citizens and on the other hand, welcomes a merchant of death? That is what the open arms that the Obasanjo administration gave to BAT in 2001 when it applauded a $150 million cigarette manufacturing plant in Ibadan represents. Since that time, more youths have taken to smoking and the rest of course is history.

The issue of smuggling is an insignificant one which Nigerians know too well: Cigarette smuggling can be laid on the doorsteps of the tobacco industry whose internal documents confirm is actually behind the booming smuggling business.

But then, an issue that is even more surprising that tobacco lobbyists avoid like a plague is that recommendations in the bill is not actually a novel innovation by our Senators. The World Health Orgnisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which Nigeria signed on June 28, 2004 and ratified on October 20, 2005 recognizes the need for parties to the protocol to enact laws that will clip the wings of the tobacco firms.

WHO initiated the FCTC in 1999 in response to the global tobacco epidemic and it was subsequently endorsed unanimously by WHO member states on 21 May, 2003 to become a legally-binding international public health treaty. The WHO FCTC requires nations to implement a range of tobacco control policies including banning smoking in public places, raising taxes on tobacco products, banning tobacco advertising, and labeling cigarette packets with health warnings.

The Conference of Parties to the FCTC which met in Durban, South Africa last year with a strong delegation from the Nigerian government also strengthened Article 5.3 of the protocol which protects the treaty and related public health policies from tobacco industry interference and even prohibits government partnership or collaboration with the tobacco industry. Ever since, the slogan of the tobacco industry has been “revenue will be lost by governments”
Fortunately this argument did not sell in neighboring Ghana where, even before the COP3, because of the same antics they have been accused of in Nigeria, the Ghanian government delisted BAT from the Ghanian Stock Exchange and threw it out of that country.

The same deceptive arguments also did not hold in the United Kingdom and other countries of Europe that sent them packing after decades of operation.

It is safe to remind the few Nigerian beneficiaries buying up newspaper space to encourage the production and sale of a confirmed killer product that the same companies they front for admitted their crimes in the United States of America where they pay $206 billion to the coffers of 46 states annually in fines for their past, present and future death-inducing actions. This started in 1998 under what has come to be known as Master Settlement Agreement, and will continue for another 14 years.

Going by statistics from the WHO which puts tobacco-induced deaths at over 5.4 million annually (more than 75 per cent happening in developing nations), it becomes quite clear that proponents of a so-called foreign direct investment in form of tobacco products do not understand what pro-people investment really is.

One of the greatest producers and exporter of tobacco leaves is Malawi, a nation that is competing for permanent status in the list of poor nations in the World Poverty Index, Clearly, tobacco has not brought Malawi wealth and will not bring us wealth either.

If the production and marketing of tobacco products is actually the definition of what a foreign direct investment is, the Lagos State government for instance, will not be expending N216,000 annually on the 9,527 tobacco-related cases in 11 out of 26 public hospitals as revealed in a 2006 survey.

If it is actually an investment worth celebrating, tobacco growing communities in Iseyin and Ago Are in the same Oyo State which houses the $150 million so-called investment will not remain as backward and rustic as it was maybe in the time of the Late Bishop Ajayi Crowther of blessed memory.

Since 2001 when BAT commissioned a $150 million plant in Ibadan, Oyo State and upgraded its Zaria factory to produce 7,200 sticks per minute, the smoking rate among youths also assumed a frightening dimension.

In 1994, seven years before the commissioning of the Ibadan Plant, the smoking rate among youths was four per cent. The publicity blitz and deceptive marketing that followed the commissioning pushed the figures to 18.1 per cent among the age groups 13-15 years by the end of 2002.

Unfortunately, like most cancer patients dying gradually in the hospitals today, the unsuspecting youth will come to know years from now when they develop terminal ailments, that their future had been mortgaged by the organizers of the smoking parties.

We can easily dismember tobacco lobbyists’ position on the need to save the tobacco companies litigation and subsequent closing of shop in other to save the contentious 300,000 dependants of the alleged 2,500 tobacco industry staff that will be thrown into the unemployment market if the companies eventually does pack up.

One even wonders how those figures where manufactured when BATN recently revealed that less than a thousand Nigerians are in its direct employ because of the fully automated nature of the Ibadan plant. The thousands of tobacco farmers that may have been conscripted into the list of threatened workforce as Nigerians have come to know, are poor farmers who are only victims of a monopolistic company that has condemned them to irredeemable poverty.

Today, BAT is sole buyer of the farmers’ leaves, dictates ridiculous prices and supplies them fertilizers like a child tied to the umbilical cord of a mother. But unlike the later, this union is a torturously life-long.

Be that as it may, the fictitious 302,500 people can still not equate the many more thousands that die annually from cancer and other tobacco-related illnesses and many more that will die.
It will make more sense for tobacco lobbyists concentrate on getting their benefactor to diversify into other areas of agriculture that its foundation claims success in improving instead of the waste of newspaper space.

The National Tobacco Control Bill is an idea whose time has come and the Senate’s decision to fast-track the process of translating it into law is a fresh breath away from the stagnation and deliberate hurdles thrown the way of the multi-billion naira suits by the tobacco giants.

The patriotism of the honorable members of the House in standing for the rights of Nigerians to a poison-free air is commendable. Mamora and his team will have their names written in gold in the annals of this nation.


SOURCE

TEXT OF PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY SENATOR OLORUNNIMBE MAMORA ON THE NATIONAL TOBACCO CONTROL BILL, 2009.

Distinguished gentlemen of the press, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this very important press briefing. Today we are witnessing a very important milestone in the history of public health in Nigeria. Today, our dear country can hold her head up in the comity of nations that have put public health and safety of her citizens before profits. Today we are witnessing the birth of a very important bill, The National Tobacco Control Bill, second reading of which was taken earlier today by the Senate.

Dear friends, since 1999 when Democracy was established in Nigeria and the rule of law restored, many bills have been passed in the National Assembly, some of which I had my input. Today it is with joy and humility that I have presented to the senate a lead debate on a comprehensive tobacco control Bill that when finally passed and enforced will help save the lives of millions of Nigerians, especially the youths, and safeguard our collective future from a common pandemic threatening the 21st century- the tobacco pandemic.

Some of you may wonder why this bill is so important. I will answer that question by telling you about the dangers that tobacco poses to our country, Africa and the entire human race. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates cigarette smoking currently kills 5.4 million people every year. Over half of that causality will be recorded in developing countries like ours and if we fold our hands and do nothing, this century we are going to lose about 1 billion people to tobacco related diseases.

In Nigeria, you may be aware of the activities of the British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) since the company began full scale manufacturing of cigarettes in Ibadan, Oyo state. While this 'investment' might have provided job opportunities for less than 1000 Nigerians, it is also responsible for the deaths of many thousands more. In 2006, Lagos state government discovered through a survey covering 11 hospitals in the state that 2 persons die each day from a tobacco related disease. The volume has since gone up. The 'investment' has also targeted our young people. You may wish to note that Lagos State Government in its characteristic responsible manner has gone to court on this matter.

Over the last years, you might have been aware of such programmes directly geared towards the young and vulnerable. The Wild & Wet, Rothmans groove, St Moritz fashion & Style, Experience IT promotion, EXPERIENCE Freshness all night party etc. That is not all; there have been attempts to reward youths who smoke cigarettes by the tobacco industry. Other events include 'Buy one for the price of two' and sale promotions where smokers win gifts such as flashy handsets, motorcycles, DVD camcorders, plasma TVs and several packs of cigarettes.

Recent statistics on youth smoking in Nigeria also presents a very sad picture. More of our young people are taking up smoking everyday. Not only that, about 100,000 of our young people including school children here in Abuja will pick up one of the over 15 billion cigarettes sold daily worldwide. Once they start they will get hooked, because the tobacco industry which manufactured the cigarettes has put a potent chemical inside it called nicotine which ensures the smoker is hooked on cigarettes.

Of course that is the plan of the tobacco industry. In Europe and the United States, strong tobacco control laws have forced the major tobacco industries to relocate to Africa and Asia. Also, profits are dwindling because the old customers have either died of their habit or totally quit smoking. The young and highly impressionable young people of Africa became the target and one of the ways they have successfully used to achieve this objective apart from the ones I have enumerated above is to sell cigarettes in sticks. By doing this they make cigarettes closer and readily available to our youths, they especially make sure that cigarette packs look attractive and pleasant in order to attract the young people.

Ladies and gentlemen, Tobacco is the only consumer good that kills half of those who use it according to the manufacturer's instructions. Realising these, countries around the world have set the pace to curtail the activities of the tobacco industry through legislations such that we have just taken the second reading today in order to reduce the death and economic burdens it placed on them. It is especially important for Nigeria to put forward laws that would protect our citizens, reduce deaths associated with smoking, save cost on treating people who got sick from tobacco and March on towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and achievement of the Seven Point Agenda of President Yar'Adua administration.

The bill will strengthen the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy as enshrined in our constitution to wit “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purposes of government” (S.14.2b).

This bill is important, not only for us but for the future generations to come. It is a comprehensive bill that covers all aspects of health as regards tobacco consumption. This bill covers such areas as advertising, smoke free public places, sponsorship, youth smoking, packaging, number of cigarettes a pack can contain, display of signs in public buildings, litigation and enforcement.

This Bill, seeks to repeal the Tobacco Smoking (Control) Act No.20 of 1990/CAP. T6, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and the domestication of the World Health Organisation initiated Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC).

The FCTC came into force on February 27, 2005 .Nigeria signed the FCTC in June 2004 and ratified the treaty in October 2005 The FCTC is the global benchmark for the manufacturing, sale and distribution of tobacco products. Nigeria as a party to the treaty is obligated to implement all the provisions of the treaty. It currently has 168 signatories and 160 parties; an unprecedented record in the history of global treaties.

When this bill is passed, it will be an offence to sell or market tobacco products to persons under the age of 18. The sale of cigarettes by the sticks is also prohibited. All forms of adverts, sponsorship, testimonials, sales promotion are prohibited. Every cigarette pack is mandated to carry a special pictorial warning that covers half of the packet warning smokers about the dangers of smoking.

Besides, the rights of non smokers are guaranteed. We know the dangers associated with second hand smoke. Smoking does not only affect those who smoke, but also people who stay and inhale the smoke from their cigarettes. That is why there is a provision for smoke free public places so that people can enjoy clean air anytime they are out on their work without having to breathe the contamination from cigarettes. Ghana our next door neighbour would have gone smoke free effective January 1, 2009. Kenya, South Africa, Niger are all implementing smoke free policies
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this bill is that tobacco manufacturers will no longer be able to sell or put into the stream of commerce either by themselves or their agents any tobacco product within a one thousand metre radius of any place where minors congregate. This is a major achievement because our minors are exposed to cigarettes everywhere they go.

Gentlemen of the press, I will like to seize this opportunity to say thank you to all those who have contributed towards achieving this goal. I want to thank members of the tobacco control community especially for their consistency and steadfastness. I also want to thank you members of the media for all your support and I am counting on you for your support in the future. I also want to call all Nigerians to cooperate with us in enforcing and implementing this important public health laws.

I am optimistic that the future is bright, I am hopeful that with the commitment of the members of the National assembly towards delivering the dividends of democracy to our people , more public oriented bills such as this will continue to emanate from the National Assembly.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for listening and please enjoy the rest of the day.

Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora
Senate Deputy Minority Leader
Sponsor

NIGERIA: THE HEALTH, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL MENACE OF SMOKING - TIME FOR CONCERTED ACTIONS

Written by Dr Olusegun Fakoya
Saturday, 04 October 2008


From available information, it appears as if the Federal Capital Territory remains the only part of Nigeria conscious of the harmful effects of smoking. The recent prohibition of smoking in public places remains a commendable step but actions are still necessary to combat the monster called smoking. The Third World is further impoverished by the harmful effects of smoking on the health of the populace. The undeveloped economies of these nations can also not cope with the surge on the insufficient health facilities occasioned by the myriad of health-related problems induced by smoking. While the recent efforts of the Nigerian government, especially in recent times, remain commendable as regards some appreciation of the menace of smoking, however, all hands must be on deck to counter the resurgent ability of the super-rich tobacco industry. The ability of the tobacco industry to stage a come back was buttressed by the statement credited to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, that as a reaction to the recent ban on public smoking in the FCT, tobacco companies made unsolicited overtures to his office. There is no doubt that more concerted efforts are needed on the parts of the Federal and State governments to ensure that Nigeria becomes a smoke-free country. This is a position devoid of religious or other parochial overtones. It is simply borne out of the need to create a healthy nation that can aggressively tackle its myriad of socio-economic problems.

Epidemiological and Health Implications of Smoking
A habit, which at one time was considered fashionable and acceptable has been proven after many years of study and linkages with many ailments to be as deadly as the scorpion sting. Smoking is a universal problem, which though may have peculiar geographical approaches in terms of solutions, but yet remain one with universal determination in tackling. To date, no nation has ever admitted benefiting economically from smoking and hence the numerous efforts by nations in tackling this man-made monster. The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention describes tobacco use as "the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide”. To further reinforce this view, let us consider the following facts about smoking:

- About 93 million sticks of cigarette are produced yearly in the country and every one of those cigarettes is consumed here in Nigeria.

- World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that about 1.3 billion people in the world are currently smoking and most of them are in developing countries.

- Tobacco kills close to five million people yearly worldwide with over 70 percent occurring in developing countries including Nigeria. It is the cause of death of 17.7 per cent of all deaths in developed countries.

- By 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) expects the worldwide death toll from smoking to reach 10 million.

- Tobacco is responsible for over 25 diseases in man, including hypertension, heart attack, cancer and other conditions such as asthma, emphysema. It is also responsible for some pregnancy-related problems and other conditions such as tuberculosis, blindness, deafness and nutritional and psychological disorders.

- Tobacco kills 50 per cent of lifetime smokers and half of these deaths occur among people in their middle age (35-69years).

The extremely high tar content of the Nigerian tobacco was highlighted by the trio of Awotedu, Higenbottam and Onadeko in a study conducted in 1983 (J Epidemiology Community Health 1983; 37:218-20). It should be emphasised here that the dangers of smoking are directly proportional to the tar content of cigarettes. Tobacco smoke pollution has been classified as a known human carcinogen in the USA. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and affecting the health of smokers in general. Smoking also harms people of all ages. For instance, toxic ingredients in cigarette smoke travel throughout the body, causing damages in several ways. Nicotine reaches the brain within 10 seconds after smoke is inhaled and it has been found in every part of the body, breast milk inclusive.

Smoking has been implicated in the following disease conditions or states:

Tooth Loss
Diabetes
Impotence
Stomach Ulcers
Ocular Histoplasmosis (Fungal Eye Infection)
Acute Necrotising Ulcerative Gingivitis (Gum Disease)
Hearing Loss
Osteoporosis
Duodenal Ulcer
Reduced Sperm Count
Dysmenorrhoea (Painful periods)
Early Menopause
Psoriasis
Colon polyps
Cataracts
Asthma
Reduced Fertility
Buerger’s Disease
Angina
Optic Neuropathy (Vision loss)
Premature wrinkling
Crohn’s Disease

This month (October 2008), Dr Julie Pasco of the University Of Australia, Melbourne published the outcome of a research that showed that smoking increases the risk of major depressive disorder by 93% in women who smoke, compared to those who do not smoke. The odds are said to more than double for those who smoke in excess of more than 20 cigarettes a day. Dr Pasco concluded: “It is becoming increasingly clear that smoking is not innocuous to mental health and may in fact aggravate mental illness or contribute to its onset”.

It is common practice for cigarette packets to carry warnings approved by health authorities but none ever lists the diseases caused by smoking. In appreciation of this significant deficiency, Reuters reported on Saturday 27 September, 2008 the efforts of the British authorities to further inform its populace on the dangers of smoking via warnings on packets. This report states as follows: “Gruesome pictures of rotting teeth and throat cancer tumours will appear on all tobacco products in Britain from next month as the government steps up its campaign to encourage the country's 10 million smokers to quit. The images will be printed on the back of cigarette packs to illustrate written health warnings introduced in 2003, the Department of Health said on Saturday. The photos also include a flaccid cigarette to depict male impotence and a comparison of healthy and tar-filled lungs”. The concerns of the British authorities are justified considering that
smoking is Britain's single killer, causing the premature death each year of 87,000 people in England alone.

The introduction of photo warnings was a desperate action by concerned governments over a habit that refused to abate despite numerous interventions. Canada was the first country to put photo warnings on cigarettes in 2001. In Europe, Belgium and Romania followed suit but Britain will be the first in the European Union. Britain intends to put photo warnings not only on cigarette packs, but also hand-rolling tobaccos and cigars. Britain is taking this extra step despite the ban on smoking in enclosed places imposed in July 2007.

Another positive action to combat the menace of smoking was the recent effort by the leaders of one of the most populous nations on earth. On the 2nd of October 2008, India became the latest country to take measured actions at combating smoking. A ban on public smoking came into effect nation-wide. The law aimed at fighting tobacco use which has been responsible for a fifth of all deaths in the world’s third-largest consumer of tobacco. India has nearly 240 million of tobacco users (more than the entire population of Nigeria). A fine of £2.00 was also imposed on those caught breaking the fan. A token penalty may be, but significant nevertheless.

The Nigerian Situation

In spite of the worldwide concerted efforts by concerned governments, Nigeria remains amongst nations that have expressed concerns but done precious little to tackle the blooming epidemic of smoking. As a nation, our indulgent attitude coupled with prevalent illiteracy has not really helped the situation. The smoking culture in Nigeria seems to be waxing stronger instead of waning. Our men still smoke blissfully, totally ignorant of the potential dangers. Another significant fact is the now prevalent attitude of our female folks to smoking. Without sounding chauvinistic, gone were the days when no decent woman dares smokes in the streets of Nigeria. These days, this is now a common place thing. Not on this, the disservice inherent in the attitude of the female actresses in our home made videos to smoke on the screen is frighteningly appalling. This is an antisocial act that calls for urgent curbing. This unwanted attitude gives erroneous glamorous air to the habit of smoking. It negates the efforts of the governments and concerned peoples of Nigeria to nip smoking in the bud.

Sam Olukoya’s report in one of the national dailies in January this year highlighted the enormity of the battle to contain smoking faced by the Nigerian society. It is a chilling reminder of the little impact of government’s efforts so far. He told the story of two Nigerian youths and their attitude to smoking vis-à-vis the warnings on cigarette packets relating the danger of this dreaded habit: “Taju Olaide (17) says that he was unaware of the warning because he is uneducated and therefore cannot read what is printed on the cigarette packs he buys. “I don't care about what they write on the cigarette packs because I cannot read. What is important to me is the cigarette inside the pack." Similarly, another

youngster, Uche Okeke, says that even though he has read the warning, he is not bothered by it. "I don't believe smoking cigarettes makes me liable to die young. Many old people who smoke are alive and well." These statements smacks of defiance and ignorance and no doubt, reflects the non-impact of the much orchestrated warnings on tobacco cigarettes in the country. Positions like this have forced the government to admit that the warning on cigarette packets have achieved nothing in fighting the tobacco surge.

The youth market gives Nigeria the unenviable tag of a veritable tobacco market in Africa. Statistics show that youths form over 40% of the Nigerian population and 18% of the youths smoke. This figure is actually on an upward spiral. Unless drastic steps are taken. Students in the Universities and Secondary schools are addicted to smoking while the primary schools are gradually being infiltrated. This development is of significant social concern and also portends dire economic consequences.

A strong determinant of the success of tobacco control in Africa is the need to have baseline information on tobacco on the continent. Anne-Maria Schryer-Roy, a Consultant with the African Tobacco Situational Analysis (ATSA) recently stated that little or no information exists on the continent to track progress on tobacco control activities in many sub-Saharan countries. This has led to dearth of sound information and evidence to assist policy makers in their efforts to effectively address country-level needs and implement a targeted tobacco control program. The two-year ATSA initiative is a partnership between IDRC (the International Development Research Centre) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Equally, Nigeria lacks baseline information on tobacco smoking pattern and attributes consequently making formulation and implementation of a national policy on tobacco difficult. To redress this situation, the Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF) and the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) are to conduct a Nigerian Tobacco Situational Analysis (NTSA). The Executive Director of NHF, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, said the situational analysis project was to Identify opportunities (short and long-term) to avert a tobacco epidemic in Nigeria, provide opportunities for support, provide information to support national and regional efforts for evidence-informed tobacco control and explore opportunities for strengthening collaboration among actors involved in tobacco control in Nigeria. The NTSA would also address presence of existing research, health policies and systems, infrastructure for tobacco control, the stakeholders for the tobacco control, government positions and the existence of tobacco control legislation amongst other issues. This NTSA has been endorsed by various stakeholders in the struggle for tobacco control as a step in the right direction.

It is pertinent to state that tobacco companies carry on their business in Nigeria as if their mere presence in the country is a privilege to the citizens. It is however, the view of Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, programme manager of ERA (Environmental Rights Action), that the product harms the national economy as costs far outweigh whatever benefits accrue to tobacco transnationals who are the beneficiaries of the tobacco trade. According to him, tobacco destroys national manpower, destroys the environment and also ruins social relationships. Although Nigeria has the Tobacco Smoking (Control) Act, Decree 20 of 1990, the Code of Advertising Practice (APCON), 1993 and APCON Resolution at its 89th meeting held on July 11, 2001, all these have not proved to be effective control mechanisms for tobacco control in Nigeria. A laudable development is the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) which was signed by Nigeria in June 2004 and ratified in October 2005.

The Nigerian Tobacco Market

British American Tobacco Nigeria (BAT) merged with the Nigerian Tobacco Company (NTC) in November 2000 to form the single largest tobacco company in Nigeria; it held a massive share of retail volume sales of cigarettes in 2005. The rest of the market is currently fragmented. Its dominance can be largely attributed to the popularity of its brands, which enjoy a long history in Nigeria, and its new factory, which has ensured a steady supply of its products to the market. Also, the company has embarked upon vigorous and creative marketing campaigns that have strengthened brand awareness and improved sales.

The Nigerian government welcomed tobacco investment and showed an active support for tobacco multinationals. BAT was granted a concessionary import duty that lasted until the end of 2003. Upon completion of the ultra-modern cigarette plant built by BAT in 2003, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo described the US$150 million investment in Nigeria as a significant and trail-blazing initiative, which other investors should emulate. Perhaps to heed this call, in 2005, the Gallaher Group Plc and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) were registered to operate in Nigeria.

A significant portion of British American Tobacco is owned by the Swiss luxury group, Richemont, the family business empire of the South African billionaire Anton Rupert, who died in 2006.

The Enemy of the Nigerian nation

Mr. Lanre Oginni, Executive director, All-Nigerian Consumer Movement, stated that the tobacco industry has violated practically every article of the eight consumer rights, which were incorporated in the 1985 United Nations Guidelines for consumer protection and which were amended in 1999 to include sustainable consumption. He maintained that the tobacco business is a huge consumer fraud. He stated that those employed in tobacco factories or selling tobacco on the streets often earn starvation wages. Far from being rich from their vocation, many of those working in tobacco-related environment are facing multi-generational poverty compounded by illiteracy and poor health.
To illustrate the overtly conducive atmosphere for tobacco market in Nigeria which remains out of tune with global reality, the British American Tobacco (BAT) recently demanded tax waivers from the federal government. Additionally, BAT continues to explore areas not covered by the APCON directive or existing laws to advertise its products. Those areas include delivery vans, point of sale, traffic signs and umbrellas. It has continued to associate tobacco with arts, music, fashion, etc. It has also colour-coded all its brands in Nigeria that the colours speak for the products.
BAT has continued to demonstrate its willingness to exploit further loopholes (in its battle for survival) to continue to market its deadly products to identified target customers, especially the youths and the poor, further creating a vicious cycle of preventable deaths, diseases and poverty. It has continued to use its corporate social responsibility projects to hypnotise the public, creating confusion about the needs for tighter tobacco control.
Nigeria is in a race against a heartless and powerful tobacco conglomerate which admitted at the FCTC hearing in 2000 that: “‘we agree that smoking is addictive and causes diseases in smokers, but we do not have legal responsibility for those that claim they have been injured. We should not be responsible for their choices”. The onus thus lies on the federal government of Nigeria to be proactive in instituting measures aimed at protecting the populace.
Suggestions for Control
The situation calls for concerted and measured actions on the part of all Nigerians. The need for continued and sustained public health education on the dangers of smoking cannot be over-emphasised, especially with the prevalent ignorance exhibited by the critical segment of the Nigerian population. Other practical measures could include:
- Complete ban of advertisement, including points of sale.
- High taxes on cigarettes to discourage more people going into the venture.
- Protection of non-smokers from the often underestimated harmful effects of second-hand smoking.
- Expansion of smoke-free public places.
- Assistance to tobacco farmers to discourage the planting of tobacco.
- Assistance to pro-tobacco victims to ameliorate the resultant harmful effects of smoking.
- Provision of adequate support to states instituting litigations for damages.
- The domestication of the FCTC and passage of the draft National Tobacco Control Bill by the National Assembly. Effective enforcement of the said bill when passed into law is also imperative.

- Introduction of bold warnings that would up take no less than 30% of the space on cigarette wrappings. In particular, the introduction of photographic warnings showing cancerous growths caused by cigarettes as obtained in countries like Thailand, Brazil, Canada and lately Britain, will go a long way in making an informed decision on the part of (potential) smokers.

It is important to state that litigation remains the cornerstone of efforts to checkmate the tobacco industry excesses but this could only be achieved once necessary legislation framework is in place

It is also pertinent to state here that in 1998, 46 American states instituted a law suit against tobacco companies to recoup healthcare spending on tobacco-related illnesses. In a settlement, four tobacco companies agreed to pay $206-billion to the 46 states over 25 years and to cease advertising targeting youth. Since then, United States juries have awarded millions of dollars in damages against tobacco companies in compensation to Americans affected by smoking through death and disease. Since then, suits have followed in other countries, Nigeria being one.

The lawsuit filed by the Nigerian government was in conjunction with the civil society group Environmental Rights Action, the Nigerian affiliate of the environmental group Friends of the Earth. The suit, filed at a federal court in the capital, Abuja, is against big tobacco companies International Tobacco, Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, its Nigerian subsidiary British American Tobacco ( Nigeria) and the lobby group the Tobacco Institute. The suit seeks relief to regulate tobacco smoking, given the high number of under-aged children in what is Africa's most populous country. The government is also claiming $44-billion in compensation from the tobacco companies.

For Nigeria, the implication of unrestricted smoking environment is ominous as tobacco-related ailments take about 20 years to manifest. Thus the government should anticipate a huge epidemic of tobacco-related diseases in the coming years. The resultant strain on public healthcare would be enormous as the majority of these smokers are poor people who have no means to access treatment themselves. They will depend on the government to bear the cost. With the current pathetic state of our healthcare system, the impending chaos is best imagined. Perhaps, it is thus appropriate to suggest that at this juncture, an outright ban on smoking would be most relevant. This is probably the only effective way of forestalling the inevitable doom associated with our current kid-glove approach to the unimaginable disaster that smoking is.

This treatise is essentially a contribution in support of the numerous efforts by individuals and non-governmental organisations at achieving a smoke-free environment in Nigeria. It is principally directed at the general public, researchers and healthcare providers in Nigeria. Its goal is to touch on the health and socio-economic implications of smoking in Nigeria and efforts geared at achieving a smoke-free environment. I fully accept any shortcoming in this write-up.

ERA lauds Senate over anti-tobacco bill

Press Release
February 12, 2009

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended the Senate for giving overwhelming support to the National Tobacco Control Bill 2009, which scaled the second reading last Wednesday, saying the bill, when passed into law, will have "far-reaching" implications on the well-being of Nigerians.

ERA/FoEN, in a reaction to the Senate mandate to its Committee on Health to process a bill to control the manufacture, sale and advertising of tobacco products, among others, said the decision marks a "turning point" in the torturous campaign to put a rein on tobacco-related deaths in the country.

The bill makes it an offence to sell or market tobacco products to persons under the age of 18 and imposes a fine not exceeding N50,000 or imprisonment of a term not exceeding six months or both on violators. It also prohibits sale of cigarettes by the sticks, all forms of advertisements, sponsorships, testimonials and promotion.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Olorunnimbe Adeleke Mamora who sponsored the bill noted strongly that while the much-hyped British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) operations have provided jobs for less than 1,000 Nigerians, it is responsible for the death and ill-health of several thousands .

"This is a positive rhythm coming from the Senate because the overwhelming support the bill received is a clear indication that the Distinguished Members of the Senate have acted in tandem with the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians that appropriate legislation are urgently needed to curtail the activities the tobacco industry and rescue millions of Nigerians from the pangs of tobacco addiction," said ERA/FoEN Programme Manager Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi.

Oluwafemi said that the Senate opted for a fast-track of the passage of the bill shows they understand the magnitude of the tobacco menace on the lives of Nigerians and particularly the under-aged that are conscripted into smoking through dubious marketing tactics.

"This laudable step by the Senate strengthens our belief that our campaign to ensure that government domesticates provisions of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which Nigeria signed and ratified alongside over 160 countries will become a reality as soon as possible.

"We urge Members of the Senate not to allow themselves be to distracted by tobacco industry lobbyists and look forward to a complete ban on sale of cigarettes in sticks and the introduction of warning labels that will cover 50 per cent of cigarette pack and ultimately, high taxes on tobacco products, Oluwafemi noted.

Philip Jakpor
Media Officer
ERA/FoEN