Nigeria risks new wave of addiction as CAPPA sounds tobacco warning

By Oguadimma Chisom 

Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called on the federal government to increase funding for tobacco control, warning that Nigeria’s current budgetary allocation remains grossly inadequate to address the growing public health threat posed by tobacco and emerging nicotine products.

In a statement released over the weekend, Robert Egbe, Media and Communications Officer at CAPPA, urged the government to boost tobacco control funding to at least N300 million per year and maintain steady increases in future budgets. According to him, the current allocation is far below what is required to fully implement the National Tobacco Control Act (NTCA) 2015.

The statement comes after CAPPA unveiled a new report revealing that global tobacco firms are leveraging policy gaps to introduce addictive products and include e-cigarettes, vapes, and other smokeless nicotine devices into the Nigerian market, particularly targeting youths.

CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, cautioned that the unchecked expansion of these products, combined with weak enforcement and underfunding, presents a grave danger to public health.

“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.

He emphasized that 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 nongovernmental organization (NGO) warned of the economic burden of tobacco and nicotine, saying Nigerians spent over N526 billion treating tobacco-related diseases in 2019 alone.

CAPPA decried Nigeria’s persistent underfunding of tobacco control, noting that it undermines vital activities such as awareness campaigns, enforcement of smoke-free regulations, oversight of industry practices, and research.

They also stressed that the Tobacco Control Fund (TCF), established under the NTCA to support these efforts, has yet to be fully operationalized and remains under-resourced.

“The Tobacco Control Fund was designed as a sustainable financing mechanism to protect Nigerians from the harms of tobacco. But without adequate budgetary allocation and full operationalization, it cannot deliver on its mandate,” Oluwafemi added.

CAPPA emphasized that increased investment would enable key bodies, including the National Tobacco Control Committee (NATOCC) and the Tobacco Control Unit in the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, to carry out their statutory responsibilities, including nationwide sensitization campaigns, compliance monitoring, enforcement of advertising bans, and prosecution of violations.

The group also emphasized the need for sustained investment in alternative livelihoods for tobacco farmers, noting that transitioning to safer and more sustainable crops requires technical support, training, and financial backing.

CAPPA, therefore, reiterated its call for stronger fiscal and regulatory measures, including raising tobacco taxes to at least 100 percent and ring-fencing a portion of the revenue for public health interventions and tobacco control programs.

It urged policymakers to treat tobacco control as a public health priority, warning that failure to act decisively will 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,” Oluwafemi added.