Tobacco.org

ABAH: Tobacco: The party is over 

Soon, the city stood with bated breath to watch what was to become the most significant event in tobacco control history in Nigeria: Abuja taking the lead in joining the prestigious league of major capitals and cities across the world to declare its public places smoke-free.

The starting-off rally would awe even the venerable rainmaker. Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, the six-footer minister of the FCT, and the brain behind the ban, towered above tobacco control activists, government officials, students, banner-bearing youths, and several others numbering over 5,000 as they matched solemnly, a la funeral procession, from the Millennium Park to the Eagle Square. . . .

But no matter how they manipulate the truth, the fact remains that for them, the party is over. If the Western public and governments would wake to the reality that tobacco does not belong in modern life, and give it an aggressive push, Nigerians will bury it on this vibrant Sub-Saharan soil. What transpired in Abuja is only a shadow of even greater affront against this evil in this land of greatness. Raised taxes on tobacco packs and the industry, ban of sale-by-stick, comprehensive advertisement ban, all in line with the provisions of the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Convention (to which Nigeria is a signatory) will all soon follow, naturally. Their arsenal of lies and deception, like that of the failed rainmaker's pouch, will soon be exhausted.

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