Tobacco bill: ERA/FoEN demands presidential assent

As governments and public health advocates plan towards this year’s World No Tobacco Day (May 31) the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria has sent a strong appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to use this year’s commemoration to sign the across the globe Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) to assent to the recently passed National Tobacco Control Bill.

In a press release issued in Lagos and signed by ERA/FoEN Director, Corporate Accountability & Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi, the organisation urged President Jonathan to sign the National Tobacco Bill (NTCB) to celebrate the global event.
ERA/FoEN also asked the Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu to take the lead in the processes that will lead to the signing of the bill ahead of the World No Tobacco Day.
The2012 WNTD has as theme: Industry Interference, and urges government to protect their public health policies from vested and other tobacco industry interests.
Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “Nigeria has made giant strides in fulfilling our international obligations by attempting to domesticate the FCTC through the National Tobacco Control Bill, but we are afraid these gains that we have worked for as civil society organizations, legislators and the Ministry of Health will be reversed if the President does not sign this bill to commemorate this year’s WNTD.”

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Group urges President Jonathan to sign Tobacco Bill

 President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan 

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth advises President Goodluck Jonathan to sign the tobacco control bill into law

As governments and public health advocates plan towards this year’s World No Tobacco Day on May 31st, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has sent a strong appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to use this year’s commemoration to sign the recently passed National Tobacco Control Bill into law.

In a statement issued on Monday in Lagos and signed by Akinbode Oluwafemi, ERA/FoEN's Director, Corporate Accountability & Administration, the group urged President Jonathan to sign the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) to celebrate the global event.

The NTCB, sponsored by Olorunimbe Mamora, was passed by the sixth session of the National Assembly on May 31, 2011. It seeks to regulate the manufacture, sale and marketing of tobacco products in Nigeria.

“Countries all over the world have made specific and strategic efforts to combat the dangers of smoking especially among the youths by putting laws in place to regulate the production and marketing of tobacco products,” said Mr. Oluwafemi.

“The enactment of national laws and the domestication of the World Health’s Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are singular efforts in this direction,” he added.

“Nigeria has made giant strides in fulfilling our international obligations by attempting to domesticate the FCTC through the National Tobacco Control Bill, but we are afraid these gains that we have worked for as civil society organizations, legislators and the Ministry of Health will be reversed if the President does not sign this bill to commemorate this year’s World No Tobacco Day.”

The theme of this year's event ‘Preventing Industry Interference in Tobacco Control policies’ is instructive because Nigerians are worried that the bill which was passed with overwhelming public support is yet to be signed into law by the President, the group noted.

“This is a bill that would have direct impact on Nigerians. It is the dividend of democracy for Nigerians,” Mr. Oluwafemi said.

The group also called on the President to ensure that Nigeria does not renege on its international commitments to the FCTC, “as this could damage the country’s international reputation” while it can do “irreparable damage” in the country’s public health.

“We call on President Jonathan to demand today for the National Tobacco Control Bill.

“The President cannot allow the tobacco industry to influence and derail his transformation agenda by providing qualitative healthcare for Nigerians.

The whole world is waiting for Nigeria; the African continent is awaiting our leadership. The President should provide this leadership,” Mr. Oluwafemi said.

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Group demands Jonathan’s assent on tobacco bill

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to use this year’s commemoration of the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on May 31, to sign the recently passed National Tobacco Control Bill into law.In a statement issued in Lagos and signed by ERA/FoEN Director, Corporate Accountability and Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi, the group also asked the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu to take the lead in the processes that will ensure that the bill becomes law.

The group said: “Countries all over the world have made specific and strategic efforts to combat the dangers of smoking especially among the youths by putting laws in place to regulate the production and marketing of tobacco products. The enactment of national laws and the domestication of the World Health’s Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are singular efforts in this direction.

“Nigeria has made gi-ant strides in fulfilling our international obligations by attempting to domesticate the FCTC through the National Tobacco Control Bill, but we are afraid these gains that we have worked for as civil society organisations, legislators and the Ministry of Health will be reversed if the President does not sign this bill to commemorate this year’s WNTD.”

He explained that the theme for this year’s event: “Preventing Industry Inter-ference in Tobacco Control policies,” is very instruc-tive because Nigerians are worried that the bill which was passed with over-whelming public support is yet to be signed into law by the President.

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PRESENTATION OF THE SHADOW REPORT ON STATUS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FCTC ARTICLES 5.3, 6 AND 13 IN NIGERIA

Group faults BATN over investment in Nigeria

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has faulted claims by British America Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) that its investment in Nigeria has been beneficial to the country.

ERA/FoEN in a statement said it was necessary to put the facts right following remarks by the Managing Director of BATN, Beverley Spencer-Obatoyinbo, at an investment forum last Thursday.

She had said at the forum that the company’s investment initiative in had turned out to be "a win-win situation" for the company and Nigeria.

BATN had in 2001 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government to establish a $150 million tobacco factory in Ibadan.

Since then, the company has been targeting young Nigerians in a bid to recruit them as replacement smokers.

It has successfully done this through musical concerts, fashion shows and other promotional events like the Secret Smoking Parties that ERA/FoEN alerted the nation about when the events held in Ajegunle and Victoria Island, both in Lagos.

In a statement in Lagos, ERA/FoEN described the company’s claims as "sheer dishonesty", insisting that BATN continues to rake in profits as Nigerians harvest death and the health burden associated with the failure of the Federal Government to regulate the activities of tobacco companies operating in the country.

ERA/FoEN’s Director, Corporate Accountability and Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said, "It is extremely fallacious and vexing for BATN to describe its stranglehold on the huge and largely uninformed Nigerian consumer market as a win-win situation.

‘’That remark is unfortunate and can be likened to a victory song by a company that has an avowed mission of conscripting new smokers through the glamorization of a deadly product."

Oluwafemi noted that: "For instance, in Lagos, one among the Nigerian states targeted by BATN for its image blitz, a 2006 survey in 11 government-owned hospitals revealed that at least two persons die daily from a tobacco-related disease.

‘’The survey also revealed that the Lagos government expends at least N216, 000 treating each of the 9,527 tobacco related cases documented while individual patient spends an additional N70,000."

Oluwafemi reiterated ERA/FoEN demand for the signing of the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) by President Goodluck Jonathan.

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Environmental activists task Jonathan, legislators on tobacco bill

THERE are fears that the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) passed by the sixth session of the National Assembly (NA) about six months ago might have been swept under the carpet and might never by assented into law by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Environmental activists in the country expressed this fear, alleging breach of constitutional duty, which mandates that a bill passed by the two houses of NA be sent to the President, who should “within 30 days thereof signify that he assents or that he withholds assent (with reasons)” to the bill that is presented.

The activists under the aegis of Environmental Rights Actions/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) said that nothing was yet to be communicated by the Presidency to the parliament on the NTCB, like several other bills passed at the twilight of the last assembly.

They therefore task the President to “work with the N/A to complete the process of the signing of the bill. Sign the bill immediately it is forwarded to his desk for signing and set in motion the structure and machineries to ensure the effective implementation of the bill all over Nigeria.”

Director of Corporate Accountability and Administration, ERA/FoEN, Akinbode Oluwafemi also called on the N/A; Special Adviser on N/A to the President, Senator Joy Emordi and every other official of the N/A to expedite the process of the bill and forward it to the President.

Oluwafemi said that Nigeria has till date failed to set a leadership role for the rest of Africa by taking preventive measures on the tobacco epidemic, safe environment through comprehensive tobacco control legislation.

The tobacco control bill seeks to regulate the manufacturing, sales and marketing of tobacco products in the country. The bill has measures that will tackle youth smoking, prohibition of the sale of cigarettes to persons under the age of 18 among other provisions.

Oluwafemi added: “Our nation is at that crossroad where we have to make a decision whether to complete the processes for the enactment of laws that would protect the present and the future generations from harms caused by multinational whose sole motive is profit and death through the use of tobacco.”

Programme Officer, ERA, Seun Akioye added that the consequence of inaction is already with Nigeria, as the country already adds to World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 5.8 million estimate of people that die each year due to a tobacco related disease.

“According to figures from a 2006 survey conducted in 11 hospitals in Lagos, two persons die each day from a tobacco-related disease.

Our government can however step up this challenge and enact a law that will protect the young, the poor and those who have been deceived into tobacco addiction by the tobacco multinationals glamorous tobacco advertising. This bill is for today, tomorrow and the future. This bill is for our children and us, “ he said,

 

 

 

By Wole Oyebade via  GUARDIAN

ERA urges Jonathan to speedily sign Tobacco Control Bill

...Says death toll from tobacco consumption rising

Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to speedily sign the National Tobacco Control Bill forwarded to him for assent by the National Assembly, a move which it says will check the rising death toll resulting from tobacco consumption in the country.

The comprehensive bill, sponsored by Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, was on May 31, 2011 passed by the sixth session of the National Assemby, and seeks to regulate the manufacture, sale and marketing of tobacco products in Nigeria.

It however requires the president's approval before it can be fully enforceable. Speaking with newsmen yesterday at a press briefing which held in Lagos, Akinbode Oluwafemi, director, corporate accountability and administration, ERA/FoEN, said the time had come for the nation to enact laws that would protect present and future generations from the harm caused by multinationals driven by profit rather than the protection of life.

"The consequences of not doing the right thing are dire, especially for a developing country like ours," he said, adding that the World Bank has declared that over 5.8 million people die each year of tobacco-related diseases globally; while a 2006 survey conducted in Lagos revealed that two persons die of same on a daily basis.

Oluwafemi therefore called on the president to work with the National Assembly towards completing the process of signing the bill, and set in motion the structure that would ensure full compliance across the country. "Our government should stand up and be counted for the protection of the young, the poor and those deceived into tobacco addiction by enacting a law that will protect all," he said.

SOURCE: BUSSINESSDAY

Sign Tobacco Control bill now, Mamora urges president

Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, who  sponsored the National Tobacco Control Bill, said the country has a lot to benefit from the signing of the bill.

What prompted you to sponsor the National Tobacco Control Bill in the Senate?

It is out of concern for the welfare of Nigerians in general. I felt as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria then and a medical practitioner, I should take up the challenge.

What was the bill out to achieve?
Essentially to control tobacco smoking and the use of tobacco, to regulate the sale, manufacturing, advertising and promotion of tobacco in the country. It was passed in May, this year by the Senate and was concurred by the House of Representatives. It is now before Mr President for his signature.

How do you feel now that the President has not assented to the Tobacco Control bill?
Naturally, I don’t feel good about it. But I am hopeful that Mr President will invariably sign the bill, thereby making it become an Act of the National Assembly. Signing the bill into law has a global dimension because it will put Nigeria on a high pedestal in terms of being a member of the international body of the nations that has taken interest in the health of its citizenry. The bill has socio-economic importance apart from health implications. The President should not only sign the bill but should also ensure that the provisions in the law are enforced.

Transmit tobacco bill for presidential assent, ERA tells NASS

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth (ERA/FoEN) has asked the National Assembly to immediately transmit the recently passed National Tobacco Control Bill to the Presidency for signing into law in order to save millions of lives endangered by tobacco use.

In a release issued in Lagos and signed by the Director Corporate Accountability & Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi, the group warned that failure to send the bill to the President for his signature would have negative consequences for public health in Nigeria and roll back any gains made by the passage of the bill in the first instance.

ERA/FOEN’s call is coming on the heels of a similar call by the American Cancer Society (ACS) for comprehensive policy to tackle the cancer epidemic in developing countries. The ACS made the call in New York at a meeting to deliberate on the United Nations High Level Meeting on Non Communicable Diseases (NCD).

The ACS said tobacco use in developing countries account for about 80 per cent of all cancer deaths.

“The two chambers of the National Assembly have put the health of Nigerians above partisan politics and profits of the tobacco multinationals by passing into law the National Tobacco Control Bill. It will be a waste of public resources expended into the process and a betrayer of public health if the Principal Officers in the National Assembly fail to transmit the bill to the president for signing.”



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Why President Must Sign Anti-Tobacco Bill

ERA lauds Reps over passage of Tobacco Bill

•As world celebrates tobacco treaty

ENVIRONMENTAL Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended the House of Representatives for giving concurrent passage to the National Tobacco Control Bill, sponsored by Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, describing it as a milestone in the history of public health in the country.

The bill was passed by the Senate on March 15, but the House of Representatives yesterday passed it into law, through a concurred resolution.

The passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill by both houses of the National Assembly has also placed Nigeria on the global map of countries that have domesticated the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

ERA/FoEN’s Director of Corporate Accountability and Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said: “We commend the forthrightness of the House of Reps for seizing the opportunity of this year’s commemoration of the World No Tobacco Day to give this nation a law with far-reaching consequences on our well being. Though this took long to come, we are in no doubt that this bill will stem the gale of tobacco-related deaths.

“We cheer the House of Reps and the honourable lawmakers who deemed it fit to stamp their feet in the annals of history by passing a bill which will reduce smoking and its attendant health risks. This House of Reps will also be remembered for taking a bold step that will safeguard the health of Nigerians today and in the future.”

He, however, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to quickly append his signature to the Tobacco Law and to promptly constitute a National Tobacco Control Committee, which would guide its enforcement.

The National Tobacco Control Bill, when signed into law by the President, will repeal the Tobacco Control Smoking Act of 1990, which was promulgated under the military and championed by former Health Minister, the late Prof. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti.

Oluwafemi said that the current bill was a comprehensive law providing for regulations of supply and demand measures of tobacco products.

Meanwhile, the global community yesterday commemorated the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) with this year’s focus on a new International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ report exposing Big Tobacco’s tactics to interfering with world’s first public health and corporate accountability treaty.

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