Nigeria: 7 Years After, Federal Govt, States Yet to Implement Tobacco Control Act

Seven years after the ban on tobacco smoking in public places was signed into law by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the federal and state governments vested with the enforcement and implementation powers are yet to do so.

Sadly, the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act which was signed into law in 2015 after nearly a decade of debate has not been gazetted by the federal government to enable its speedy enforcement of the specific provisions.

LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that the enforcement of the law was initially stalled by a controversial clause in the law which states that it requires parliamentary approval of the regulations.

Consequently, the eighth National Assembly approved the draft NTC Regulation before it wound down on May 29.

The Tobacco Control Regulations 2015 made provisions for restriction of smoking to designated areas in indoor public places and workplaces. It also prohibits smoking in public transport, outdoor spaces like restaurants and bars, playgrounds, amusement parks, public parks, bus stops, vehicle parks, seaports and any public gathering, including the sale of single sticks of cigarettes and sale of cigarettes in kiosks among others.

A recent report revealed that the country’s health system spends N526.4 billion ($1.71 billion) annually on smoking related illnesses. This translates to about N1.5 trillion in three years.

The regulations which included a ban on the sale of cigarettes in single sticks and prohibition of sale to anyone below age 18 among others was introduced in 2017.

The Act contained a list of regulations to be implemented by the government, which included “prohibition of the sale of tobacco products to and by anyone below age 18; ban of the sale of cigarettes in single sticks; cigarettes must be sold in packs of 20 sticks only. Smokeless tobacco shall be sold in a minimum of a pack of 30 grammes and ban of the sale or offer for sale or distribution of tobacco or tobacco products through mail, internet, or other online devices.

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Others are the prohibition of interference of tobacco industry in public health and related issues and smoking anywhere on the premises of a child care facility, educational facility, and healthcare facility. Others prohibited for smoking are playgrounds, amusement parks, plazas, public parks, stadia, public transport, restaurants’ bars, and other public gathering spaces. There is provision for prosecution of owner or manager of any of the places listed above who permits, encourages or fails to stop smoking in the above listed places, among others

LEADERSHIP Sunday checks revealed that the law is not enforced as smoking in public places and outdoor spaces remain a common practice irrespective of the health implications.

A former health minister, Prof Isaac Adewole, had during his tenure written to the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice Abubakar Malami and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) over the enforcement of the Act.

In the letter addressed to Malami and the former inspector-general of police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, Adewole, Adewole, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, requested for their collaboration in the enforcement of the law.

That letter read thus; “It has become imperative to strengthen our collaborative efforts and to urgently start implementing and enforcing the provisions of the NTC Act 2015 in order to protect and promote the health of the citizens

“Though the NTC Act 2015 requires regulations for full implementation, I have announced on behalf of Nigeria the enforceable provisions in accordance with the law during the commemoration of the 2017 World No Tobacco Day,” he said.

Adewole’s letter was also sent to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

A source in the NDLEA said that the agency has no mandate to enforce the ban on public smoking because cigarette is not classified as a drug.

The situation is compounded by the failure of the federal government to allocate into the Tobacco Control Funds which the law provides for. It is from the Fund that personnel are to be engaged for the enforcement of the law in collaboration with the state governments.

When contacted on the states’ failure to play their parts, the attorney-general and commissioner for justice in Kwara State, Barr. Salman Jawondo said there is the need for the government to carry out massive enlightenment campaign before it can implement the ban on the smoking of cigarettes in public places.

He said, “There has been no enough public awareness on this. We need to educate people more before implementation the law. Because the law is about changing the people’s attitude and security operatives cannot be everywhere to enforce the law.

Despite the slogan of “those who spoke are liable to death,” people still smoke cigarettes. It involves people, security operatives cannot be everywhere. We need to first carry out massive enlightenment programme on the harmful effects of cigarette smoking,” Jawondo stated.

An environmental activist, Philip Jakpor, has said the states were yet to begin the enforcement of the ban on smoking in public places because the Federal Ministry of Health and the State Ministries of Health were yet tie loose the nuts.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Port Harcourt, Jakpor said, “We in the tobacco control community are also asking that same question because the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and the National Tobacco Control Regulations 2019 are federal laws that the states are also supposed to enforce.

“We anticipate that the Federal Ministry of Health and the state ministry will tie the loose nuts and the knotty issues to make the enforcement of the laws happen.”

The Imo State government said it has put strict measures in place to enforce the law prohibiting the citizens from smoking in public places.

The commissioner for information and strategy, Hon. Declan Emelumba, said the state government in collaboration with owners of hotels banned smoking in their facilities and their environs and persuaded the owners of outfits such as eateries and other recreational centres to discourage their customers from smoking in public places.

Emelumba said a committee will soon be put in place to arrest and hand over defaulters to the appropriate authorities.

The chief press secretary to the speaker, Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Jibrin Gwamna, said a holistic approach has been taken by a member, Hon Abdullaziz, representing Keffi East, who sponsored a private bill to ban public smoking in the state

He said the bill has passed through the first reading by the lawmakers.

In Enugu State, it was gathered that measures have been put in place to enforce the law prohibiting smoking of tobacco in public places.

A government source who did not want his name mentioned, said the government has banned smoking of hard drugs especially Nkpurumiri in anywhere.

He assured that soon smoking of any kind of substance in public places will be banned.

The Bauchi State government has said that it is creating awareness about the existence of the law banning smoking in public places in the state.

The commissioner for information Dayyabu Ciroma said due to the commitment gap toward implementing the law from previous administrations in the state, most people are not aware of the existence of the law.

He said while government deploy awareness creation tools about the law, it is working, on the other hand, to put in place a proper mechanism for its effective implementation.

Tobacco control advocates say to block any lacuna that could be exploited by the tobacco corporations to continue to recruit kids and others into smoking, a swift gazetting of the regulation should be done so that enforcement can commence immediately.

One of the advocates, Mr Ikpeme Idam said, “The delay in gazetting the regulations is discomforting to Nigerians who had anticipated that the passion exhibited by the 8th National Assembly in its passage would equally drive the timely commencement of its enforcement.”

Idam who lamented that there has been an uptick in tobacco industry activities to portray themselves as stakeholders in public good said, whenever the yearly Valentine celebration sets in, there is further escalation of tobacco industry activities to market the deadly product.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently disclosed that around 1.2 million non-smokers die from exposure to tobacco smoke, adding that tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke contribute to about 12 percent of all heart disease deaths.

The global health body also said tobacco use harms nearly every organ in the human body, saying even smoking one cigarette a day can seriously harm a person’s health.

“Tobacco use can lead to lung, mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, bowel and other cancers. It increases the risk of chest and lung infections, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other conditions. There is no safe form of tobacco,” WHO said.

An environmental right activist, Dr Ikpason Ogba, said Nigeria loses over $700 million annually to stroke, heart disease and diabetes. He added that for every $1 gained from tobacco business, about $3 is expended on healthcare cost, noting that the tobacco industry makes huge profit without taking responsibility for the harm they do to public health.

On the trending shisha and Mkpuru Mmiri (flavoured tobacco) among young Nigerians, Ogba said the country should not accept tobacco consumption in whatever disguise, as there is a need to protect the future of the country.

Despite the economic and public health threats posed by tobacco, available data showed that over 20 billion sticks of cigarettes are consumed annually in Nigeria, with 5.6 per cent of adults (4.5 million) currently using tobacco products. The data also showed that about 81 per cent of the entire population of the country are exposed to second-hand smoke when visiting bars and nightclubs and 29.3 per cent (6.4 million) when visiting restaurants.

In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for instance, people still smoke indiscriminately in motor parks, within hotel premises and bars. This is even as other retailers indiscriminately sell sticks of cigarettes in kiosks in neighbourhoods and motor parks.

This flagrant disregard for the regulation is not only restricted to the FCT as the same is observed in almost all major cities across the country. This has therefore raised concerns over the enforcement of the Tobacco Control Act.

The programme manager (Democratic Governance), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Okeke Anya, said, though implementation has been very slow, the Act also made a provision handicapping the Federal Ministry of Health in implementing immediately, through the provision for development of regulations.

He said the Act provides that regulations for the involvement of the law had to go back to the National Assembly, saying it was not until 2019, after four years of that Act, that the National Assembly passed a regulation for enforcement of the Act.

Anya said the regulation is just two years now, noting that there was a lot of time loss because there were certain things the ministry could not do.

He said, ‘There is also a problem regarding funding as the Act made provision for the setting up of Tobacco Control Funds which the government is supposed to budget for.

“Government has been very slow in budgeting for the Tobacco Control Funds. You need personnel, you need resources to carry out an effective implementation of the law. Now, if those monies are not there, the resources are not there for them to get the required equipment, and you can also find out that it may also hamper the kind of effectiveness of implementation.

“We have always been calling on the government to ensure that they make provision for a tobacco control unit in the ministry of health because they are saddled with the issue of implementation. However, it is not only the ministry of health. If you recall, recently, there is a 50 percent graphic warning on packets of cigarettes in the country, that is part of the provisions of that Act, that you should not just have ‘smokers are liable to die young’ inscription in packets of cigarettes but it should have tutorial health warning that these are the diseases that tobacco smoking can cause.

“Most of the cigarette companies we have now in the country have those health warnings. That is part of the implementation of the Act but yes, there are still people buying cigarettes in pieces, these are the other areas that if we have a robust implementation committee, they can tackle this area.

“There was provision for tobacco to be taxed, there has been a little increment for tobacco tax but it is not enough , so these are also part of what needs to be done to ensure that we have a robust implementation of the national Tobacco Control Act,” he stressed.

On the need for enlightenment, Anya said there is also a provision for the act that seeks public education for the people to be aware. He noted that the ministry of health and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) have a role to play to ensure that people know that this law exists and know the repercussions of certain things they do in respect to flattering this law.

A public health consultant, Uyi Osadolo, said there was a need for public education on the effects of tobacco. This, he said if achieved, will create a kind of stigma around smoking and for smokers as people will not allow someone to smoke around them knowing that exposure to cigarette smoking makes them secondary smokers.

He, therefore, stressed that implementation of existing policies on tobacco control is key to a tobacco free nation and a generation free of smokers, thereby tasking the government on firm action.