The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) has called on President Bola Tinubu to lead the charge in strengthening and implementing tobacco control laws to safeguard the health of Nigerians. During a press briefing commemorating World No Tobacco Day, NTCA chairman, Akinbode Oluwafemi, represented by Chibuike Nwokorie, urged the president to tackle various tobacco control issues.
This year’s World No Tobacco Day theme, ‘Grow Food, Not Tobacco’, emphasised the dangers of tobacco farming. According to Oluwafemi, despite tobacco industry marketing portraying tobacco farming as prosperous, Nigerian tobacco farmers live in poverty. He added that tobacco cultivation has declined in Western countries but has grown in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria. Tobacco farming occurs in Kwara, Osun, Oyo and Sokoto states.
Green tobacco sickness afflicts tobacco farmers due to nicotine and other toxins being absorbed into their bodies while tobacco leaves are wet via cultivation and curing. Additionally, tobacco growers can develop respiratory and neurological disorders when exposed to tobacco leaves. Tobacco cultivation transforms arable lands into barren wastelands, just when the world faces more than 300 million people at risk of hunger, of which over 25 million live in Nigeria.
The NTCA secured passage of the National Tobacco Control Act in 2015 and the National Tobacco Control Regulation in 2019. Oluwafemi charged President Tinubu with implementing tobacco control laws contained in the Acts as they aim to protect Nigerians’ health. Oluwafemi also stated that there was a critical gap in knowledge regarding the extent of tobacco farming in Nigeria. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) oversees the promotion of alternatives to tobacco farmers. The FMARD needs to ascertain the extent of tobacco farming in Nigeria, so viable measures can be taken for re-cultivation in nutritious and healthy crops and livestock.
The NTCA called on the FMARD, the Federal Ministry of Health, the Standards Organization of Nigeria, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps and all implementing agencies of the National Tobacco Control Act to communicate and collaborate adequately to enforce the law.
In conclusion, Nigeria needs a sustained effort to reduce tobacco use in the country, and the Nigerian government has a crucial role in successfully achieving this goal. The call from the NTCA to strengthen and implement tobacco control laws is a positive step in the right direction.
