Tobacco.org

• VIDEO: Nigeria's smoking habit 

Tobacco kills close to five million people yearly worldwide with over 70 percent of deaths occurring in developing countries including Nigeria where about 12 percent of the population are addicted to nicotine.

Now the Nigerian parliament seems to have responded with a tobacco control bill.

If passed, this could be the biggest tobacco crackdown in the history of Nigeria.

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BATN executes 82 projects in 34 states 

About 82 projects have so far been executed in 34 states of the country by the British American Tobacco of Nigeria (BATN) Foundation as part of its contributions to the country, Director of the Foundation, Dr. Ladi Hamalai, has said.

The BATN Foundation which is a community empowerment organisation, was established six years ago to improve the lives of Nigerians especially those in the rural areas. Speaking at the commissioning of a workshop and borehole donated by the Foundation to the Business Apprentice Training Centre, Sabon Gari,� Zaria, she said the projects covered four focal areas including agricultural development, provision of potable water, skills development� and environment protection programmes. . . .

Commissioning the project, the Emir of Zazzau, Dr. Shehu Idris, commended the Foundation and urged other multinational organisations in the country to emulate them. He urged the management and students of the school to take care of the buildings and tools donated to them, pledging the support of the emirate.

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• Nigeria Considers Tough Tobacco Control Legislation 

The Nigerian parliament is currently debating sweeping new tobacco control legislation in a bid to break the growing tobacco addiction in the country. The bill has strong backing from anti-tobacco groups and health organizations.

"Change starts from now. I dare to be different. I will remain smoke-free. I am the future, and the future starts now, So help me God. I am smoke free!!!," recite students at Shepherd Secondary School in Ketu in Lagos.

Students of the Shepherd Secondary School in Ketu, a poor neighborhood in Nigeria's sprawling city of Lagos, recite a "no-smoking pledge" at the end of a two-hour anti-tobacco lecture. The program is part of a grassroots initiative by anti-tobacco campaigners to counter growing cigarette smoking, particularly among teens in Nigeria.

About 25 percent of Nigerian teens, some as young as 10, are hooked on tobacco, double the smoking rate among men.

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EDITORIAL: Fast track the tobacco control bill 

The Senate’s decision to commence public hearing last week on the Nigeria National Tobacco Control (NNTC ) bill, which is aimed at domesticating the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control ( FCTC ) has once again brought to the fore the debate on the societal cost of tobacco production and consumption in Nigeria. Nigeria ratified the FCTC treaty in 2005, but little is being done to regulate tobacco production and consumption in the country.

Sponsored by Senator Olorunnibe Mamora ( AC, Lagos ), the proposed law which is an upgrade of the existing, but defective Tobacco Control Act of 1990 seeks to control the production, sale and use of tobacco products in the country. The bill would also, among other provisions, seeks to regulate the involvement of tobacco companies in corporate social responsibility ( CSR ) . . .

We therefore need to borrow a leaf from the west and regulate the infiltration of tobacco firms into the country under the guise of industrialisation. Though we know it would be a tough decision for the Senators to choose between the economy and the health implication of tobacco, there is need however for the lawmakers to demonstrate courage and show commitment in this direction.

As the nation awaits the passage of the bill, government at all levels must also intensify public enlightenment campaigns on the health implication of tobacco consumption. We also expect the health ministry to carry out a comprehensive research and analysis on the impact of cigarette smoking in order to produce a data that would serve as a reference point in the future when the need arise. This is imperative because it would be foolhardy for the country to always rely on data produced by foreign organisations for our national development.

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• How Tobacco Bill Provoked Controversy in Senate  

Wife of former Chief Justice of Nigeria and member of the African Union Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Mrs. Maryam Uwais and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello are engaged in a healthy, even if needless, argument on the propriety or otherwise of disallowing children to participate in the recently-held public hearing on the Tobacco Control Bill in the Senate. Sufuyan Ojeifo examines the tenor of the controversy

The purpose of the public hearing on the Tobacco Control Bill held on July 20 and 21, this year, in the Senate Hearing Room One, was to get stakeholders’ input into the Bill, preparatory to the Third Reading (clause-by-clause consideration and passage).

From the various submissions at the hearing, it was evident that the anti-Tobacco Control Bill groups were in the minority. The majority groups understandably succeeded in swaying public sentiments in favour of the Bill, which was sponsored by Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora. . . .

Specifically, the proposed legislation is entitled: “A Bill for an Act to Repeal the Tobacco (Control) Act 1990 Cap T16 Laws of the Federation and to Enact the National Tobacco Control Bill 2009 to provide for the Regulation or Control of Production, Manufacture, Sale, Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship of Tobacco or Tobacco Products in Nigerian and for other Relates Matters.”

Expectedly, the issue was controversial. Apart from the British America Tobacco Nigeria (BATN), which attempted a diplomatic opposition, there was groundswell of support for the Bill. It agreed that tobacco had impact on public health, but supported appropriate regulation the industry as it would help to reduce the impact.

But the controversy that has unexpectedly bludgeoned its way into the public domain on account of the public hearing, organised by the Senate Committee on Health under the Chair of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, centres on the propriety or otherwise of disallowing some school children to air their views on the occasion.

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• Customs Boss Commends BATN's Contribution to Nigerian Economy (Page 1 of 1) 

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Dr. B.E. Nwadialo, has commended the British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) for its commitment to the development of the Nigerian economy, especially through employment generation and prompt payment of taxes and duties to the government.

He made the commendation during a media chat held after an inspection tour of BATN's state-of-the-art factory in Ibadan, Oyo State recently.

Describing BATN as a good corporate citizen, the Customs boss who was accompanied on the tour by top officers of his organisation, said that his command has been impressed with the company's commitment to the development objectives of the Federal Government through its prompt payment of taxes and duties to the government, pointing out that BATN has never defaulted.

He also disclosed that BATN has for some time now been assisting the Nigerian Customs in its job of policing the nation's territorial borders. This, he said followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the company and the Nigeria Customs Service. . . .

He said that apart from the donation of the vans, BATN has also contributed a lot to the training of officers and men of the command, by sponsoring their participation in international workshops on piracy and smuggling.

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Groups Hail Senate Over Tobacco Bill 

The public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill, conducted this week by the Senator Iyabo Obasanjo Bello-led Senate Committee on Health, has been commended by international agencies and non-governmental organisations.

World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative in Nigeria, who was represented at the Public hearing by Dr. Kayode Soyinka, said the hearing was a significant step by the Upper Chamber to rescue the lives of millions of Nigerians from tobacco addiction.

"We fully support this effort which is to domesticate the WHO-initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Nigeria became a party to this Convention in October 2005 and this bill fully conforms to the provisions of the international treaty," Soyinka said.

In a memorandum to the public hearing, signed by its president, Matt Myers, a leading tobacco control group in the United States, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CFTK), expressed support for the tobacco control bill "in its current form" and urged the Senate to pass it promptly.

CTFK said: "The National Tobacco Control Bill is essential to bring Nigeria into compliance with its international obligations under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)

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Child Rights: Uwais' Position on Tobacco Bill Faulted  

Lawyer-Aides in the National Assembly (LANASS) has faulted the position of the wife of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mrs. Maryam Uwais, to the effect that Chairman of Senate Committee on Health, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, violated the rights of the young persons by not allowing them to present their position at the just concluded public hearing on the Tobacco Control Bill. Uwais had reportedly sent a protest letter to the Senate President, Senator David Mark, on the purported breach of the rights of some secondary school students who had stormed the National Assembly to witness the public hearing. The body, in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, said that while Obasanjo-Bello based her decision on the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, Uwais had anchored her protest on the provisions of Section 3 of the Child Rights Act. . . .

LANASS said that it could not agree more because "these young people are not even supposed to be found in places where such topics are being discussed, ab-initio."

It observed that Uwais in her position cited Section 19 of the Child Rights Act with the footnote-"Responsibilities of a Child and Parent" but that she omitted to mention Section 20 with the footnote-"Parent, etc., to provide guidance with respect to Child's Responsibilities."

Accusing Uwais of insincerity for citing only Section 19 without taking it together with Section 20, LANASS argued that it is only when "both sections are read together as a whole that sufficient legal analysis of that part of the Act might have been done."

The body also tackled Uwais for berating Obasanjo-Bello for purportedly misconstruing the Senate Committee Public hearing as a court.

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Groups Hail Senate over Tobacco Bill  

The public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill, conducted this week by the Senator Iyabo Obasanjo Bello-led Senate Committee on Health, has been commended by international agencies and non-governmental organisations.

World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative in Nigeria, who was represented at the Public hearing by Dr. Kayode Soyinka, said the hearing was a significant step by the Upper Chamber to rescue the lives of millions of Nigerians from tobacco addiction.

“We fully support this effort which is to domesticate the WHO-initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Nigeria became a party to this Convention in October 2005 and this bill fully conforms to the provisions of the international treaty,” Soyinka said.

In a memorandum to the public hearing, signed by its president, Matt Myers, a leading tobacco control group in the United States, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CFTK), expressed support for the tobacco control bill “in its current form” and urged the Senate to pass it promptly.

CTFK said: “The National Tobacco Control Bill is essential to bring Nigeria into compliance with its international obligations under the Framework

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35m Nigerians may die smoking 

The health implications of smoking have been reiterated with the World Health Organization (WHO) putting the number of Nigerians that are likely to die from tobacco-related diseases in the next 10 years at 35 million.

Since 1962, there have been damning reports about the health hazards of smoking. For example, the Royal College of Physicians attributes cigarette smoking to cause lung cancer and bronchitis. According to the College, cigarette smoking is the most likely cause of the recent world-wide increase in deaths from lung cancer." This was the submission of the counsel to the Ogun State Government, Barrister Bashir Ramon during a one-day enlightenment workshop by the Environmental Rights Action and the Coalition Against Tobacco in Abeokuta.

He spoke just as participants at the workshop commended the state government for litigation against tobacco companies in Nigeria. Quoting from the WHO, Barrister Ramon also disclosed that 175 million people in the world may also die as a result of related diseases.

"It is alarming, sad and must be prevented. With 175 million people in the world who may likely die of the same related diseases, our government should not fold her arms and allow the havoc to continue," he said. He also told participants that out of four Africans, there is a Nigerian, meaning that in the total population of Africans; (175 million), Nigeria has one quarter of it. "If you look at this, you would discover that Nigeria has a greater number of people facing the terrible effect of tobacco smoking," he noted. Shedding light on why the state government had gone to court, Ramon said: "We are not in court for monetary sake. We are in court for the betterment of our people and future of our young ones who are innocently smoking their future."

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• Big Tobacco Sets Its Sights on Africa 

In recent years, the world has increasingly been cleaving into two zones: smoking and nonsmoking. In the U.S. and other developed countries, Big Tobacco is in retreat, chased to the curbs by a combination of lawsuits, smoking bans, rising taxes and advertising restrictions. Fewer than 20% of adult Americans now smoke -- the lowest rate since reliable records have been kept -- and a tobacco crackdown is under way in Europe, Canada and elsewhere. In April, Congress boosted federal cigarette taxes threefold, from 32 cents a pack to $1. In June, President Barack Obama signed a law giving the FDA the power to regulate cigarettes like any other food or drug.

But the West is not the world, and elsewhere smoking is exploding. In China, 350 million adults are hooked on tobacco, which means the country has more smokers than the U.S. has people. Smoking rates in Indonesia have quintupled since 1970. In Russia, boys as young as 10 start lighting up. This year, tobacco companies will produce more than 5 trillion cigarettes -- or 830 for every person on the planet.

It's in Africa, however, that the battle for the hearts, minds and lungs of new smokers is being waged most aggressively -- and Nigeria offers a telling look at how the fight is unfolding. . . .

Big Tobacco's footprint in Africa has been hard to miss for a while. British American markets its wares — which include Dunhill and Pall Mall — in a vast crescent sweeping from South Africa to Congo and west to Ghana, as well as throughout North Africa. In 2003 the company planted its stakes deeper, building a $150 million factory in Nigeria. Philip Morris, whose brands include Marlboro and Chesterfield, has a smaller presence on the continent. "We are a minor, minor player," says spokesman Greg Prager. But that could change. The company does no business in Nigeria, but it controls about 15% of the market across North Africa and has a scattered 10% share elsewhere. It has also built a new factory in Senegal.

That expansion increasingly happens through the single-stick model, and that's the traffic that causes the most worry.

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BATN Foundation Empowers Epe Community With Fish Farming Project 

The British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) has handed-over a Fish Farm to the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation Cooperative Society in Epe, Lagos State.

Speaking at the handing-over ceremony, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Enock Ajiboso, commended the Foundation for its support to the Epe community. He said the BATNF has shown itself as a good corporate citizen of this country, adding that the ministry has sufficient statistics that showed that the project is a profitable one and expressed confidence that the farmers will make optimum use of this facility.

On the import of the project on the micro-economy of the community, the commissioner noted that the Fish farm is very important because it has been developed for the grassroots, promising that the ministry will also offer its support to the farmers. "The Ministry is open for discussions on how best this wonderful facility can be utilised," he stated.

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Tobacco Control Bill, Will Erase 500, 000 Jobs 

Many jobs would be swept away across the country if the Senate enacts the Nigeria Tobacco Control Bill now before it into law.

Saka Muniru, representing the Ibadan Progressive Union, told the Senate Committee on Health that the closure of the British American Tobacco Company factory located in Ibadan, Oyo State, alone would ultimately lead to loss of more than 500,000 jobs.

He said this at the two-day public hearing organised by the Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello led committee on a Bill for an Act to Amend the Tobacco Control Act 1990 Cap. T16, Laws of the Federation, and to enact the National Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2009. . . .

"The simple question is, ,when do you begin to worry about (the) economy; is it when you are dead or when you are alive? And we have to make that decision" Mark noted.

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• BATN Backs Tobacco Control Bill  

British American Tobacco of Nigeria (BATN) pledged on Tuesday to comply with a new legislation that seeks to control tobacco use in the country when it becomes operational.

BATN Area Head of Regional Affairs, Tony Okwoju, made the pledge before the Senate Committee on Health headed by Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello.

The committee concluded its two-day public hearing on a bill to enact National Tobacco Control at Tuesday's sitting.

Okwoju said in addition to paying N80 billion tax, the company in 2002 established the BATN Foundation which to date has completed 77 community projects in 34 of the 36 states in Nigeria. . . .

"There are provisions in the bill, which we believe are either extreme and would have unintended consequences or will only make it difficult or impossible for the legal industry to operate, without necessarily achieving the desired objective of reducing the impact of tobacco on public health.

"We have seen cases where extreme regulation has resulted in an increase in the levels of illicit trade"

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Public hearing on Tobacco Bill begins at Senate tomorrow 

THE first public hearing on the proposed National Tobacco Control Bill holds at the Senate tomorrow.

Senator Olurunnibe Mamora has sponsored the bill at the Upper House to check unrestricted marketing, selling and smoking of tobacco in whatever form.

A World Health Organsation (WHO) research has shown that 175 million people would die in the next 10 years as a result of tobacco smoking.

The bill, which has received strong support from the Environmental Right Action (ERA) and Coalition Against Tobacco, two non-governmental organisation (NGOs), aims at ensuring that long-term damaging effects of tobacco on its smokers is curtailed.

Co-ordinator of Coalition Against Tobacco, Mrs. Olatoyosi Onaolapo, who spoke with journalists at the weekend in Abeokuta, disclosed that the organisation had embarked on intensive lobbying to ensure the passage of the bill as a matter of urgency.

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