The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has renewed its call on the Federal Government to significantly increase budgetary allocation for tobacco control.
CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, made the call in a statement signed by Robert Egbe, Media and Communications Officer, CAPPA, on Sunday in Abuja.
Oluwafemi said that Nigeria’s current budgetary allocation remained grossly inadequate to address the growing public health threat posed by tobacco and emerging nicotine products.
He urged the government to raise the annual tobacco control allocation to at least N300 million and ensure sustained increases in subsequent budgets.
He said that current funding levels fell far short of what is required to effectively implement the National Tobacco Control Act (NTCA) 2015.
Meanwhile, CAPPA’s has highlighted how international tobacco and allied companies are exploiting policy gaps to flood the Nigerian market with highly addictive novel products.
The highlight is contained in its new report, “New Smoke Trap: New and Emerging Nicotine and Tobacco Products, Youth Exposure and Policy Gaps in Nigeria”.
Oluwafemi said that the products included electronic cigarettes, vapes, and other smokeless nicotine devices, targeted at young Nigerians.
He said that the rapid spread of these products, combined with weak enforcement and limited funding posed a serious public health risk.
“We are dealing with a fast-changing nicotine market that is clearly targeting young people.
“Without adequate funding for regulation, enforcement and public education, the country risks a new wave of addiction,” he said.
According to him, tobacco use remains a leading cause of preventable death in Nigeria, responsible for nearly 30,000 deaths annually.
Citing data from the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), the CAPPA boss warned of the economic burden of tobacco and nicotine.
He said that Nigerians spent over N526 billion treating tobacco-related diseases in 2019 alone.
He said that in spite of these costs, Nigeria has continued to underfund tobacco control efforts.
“This is limiting critical activities such as public awareness campaigns, enforcement of smoke-free regulations, monitoring of industry practices, enforcement of existing regulations, and research into emerging trends, ” he said.
Oluwafemi said that the Tobacco Control Fund (TCF), established under the NTCA to support these efforts, was yet to be fully operationalised and remained under-resourced.
“The TCF was designed as a sustainable financing mechanism to protect Nigerians from the harms of tobacco.
“However, without adequate budgetary allocation and full operationalisation, it can not deliver on its mandate,” Oluwafemi said.
He said that increased investment would enable key bodies to carry out their statutory responsibilities.
He listed the bodies to include the National Tobacco Control Committee (NATOCC) and Tobacco Control Unit in the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
According to him, the responsibilities include nationwide sensitisation campaigns, compliance monitoring, enforcement of advertising bans, and prosecution of violations.
The CAPPA boss also emphasised the need for sustained investment in alternative livelihoods for tobacco farmers, noting that transitioning to safer and more sustainable crops required technical support, training, and financial backing.
Drawing from its new report, he said that tobacco companies were intensifying their marketing efforts on digital platforms, using influencers, lifestyle branding, and misleading harm-reduction claims to attract young users.
“This is a deliberate strategy to recruit new users and replace those lost to tobacco-related diseases.
“Government must respond by strengthening regulation and backing it with adequate funding required for enforcement,” Oluwafemi said.
In addition to increased budgetary allocation, he reiterated the call for stronger fiscal and regulatory measures.
These measures include raising tobacco taxes to at least 100 per cent, and ring-fencing a portion of the revenue for public health interventions and tobacco control programmes.
Oluwafemi urged policymakers to treat tobacco control as a public health priority.
He said that failure to act decisively would continue to strain Nigeria’s health system, deepen poverty, and expose millions, especially young people, to preventable diseases.
“Investing in tobacco control will save lives, reduce healthcare costs and protect the next generation from addiction,” he added.
