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Showing posts with label Senate Deputy Minority Leader Olorunnimbe Adeleke Mamora. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Senate Deputy Minority Leader Olorunnimbe Adeleke Mamora. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

SMOKING HAZARDS


SMOKERS SHOULD REALIZE THAT IN ADDITION TO CAUSING THEMSELVES HARM. OTHERS MAY SUFFER AS A RESULT.

Friday, February 27, 2009

ERA Commends Senate over anti-tobacco Bill



Thursday, February 12, 2009

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

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Senate Debates Bill On Tobacco Control, Sale

by Hanson Okoh
February 13, 2009


Senators on Wednesday considered legislation which seeks to control the manufacture, sale, advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco or tobacco products in Nigeria.
The bill on the subject has passed through Second Reading.
It was entitled, "National Tobacco Control Bill, 2009".
Deputy Minority Leader, Olorunnimbe Adeleke Mamora (AC, Lagos East), is the sponsor of the bill.
If passed into law, it would become an offence to sell or market tobacco products to persons under 18 years with a fine of N50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both for whoever flouts the law.
The bill also proposes to prohibit the sale of cigarettes by the stick as well as ban all forms of adverts, sponsorship, testimonials, and sale promotion connected with tobacco.
In the bill, cigarette manufacturers may be compelled to carry a special pictorial warning that covers half of the packet, informing smokers on the dangers of smoking.
Leading debate on the bill on Wednesday, Mamora said tobacco related diseases were on the increase hence the need to shield Nigerians from its harmful effects.
"The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates cigarette smoking currently kills 5.4 million people every year.
"Over half of that casualty 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 one billion to tobacco related diseases.
"In 2006, the Lagos State Government discovered through a survey covering 11 hospitals in the state that two persons die each day from tobacco related disease," Mamora said.



SOURCE