By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
It has been observed that one important measure to check health hazards associated with Tobacco Smoking is the need for Government at both National and Subnational levels to apply heavy taxes on Tobacco products in the Country.
Other measures identified is the enforcement of the existing laws regulating its consumption within and outside public places with a view to protecting those who do not smoke.
These were some of the main discussions that took centre stage in Bauchi on Thursday 2nd May, 2024 at a One (1) Day Policy Sensitisation on Tobacco Control, organised by Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), with support from Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA).
Speaking on behalf of the Executive Director of CISLAC Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, Murtala Mohammed, the Centre’s representative in Bauchi said that CISLAC is hopeful the sensitisation workshop will create awareness on the harmful effects on Tobacco use and the extent to which citizens can play active role in influencing policies that may address the health hazards inherent in tobacco use.
The ED said that available statistics on Tobacco use and its inherent dangers calls for multi sectoral effort towards mitigating the scourge of smoking.
He observed that WHO estimated that Nigeria has over 13 million smokers in 2012 , with over 16,000 deaths attributable to smoking and that about 18 billion cigarettes are being sold annually in the country.
In one of the presentations on Tobacco Control in Nigeria, resource person Mr. Solomon Adoga said that though Nigeria had been a party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and had also passed an act of legislation to that effect in 2015, enforcing some of the stipulated laws has been a big challenge because Tobacco has been listed as a legal product.
Adoga mentioned that one of the main objectives of the 2015 ACT is to protect Nigerians from the devastating consequences of use and exposure to tobacco products among other objectives.
There was a goodwill message from the Director Public Health, Bauchi State Ministry of Health, Dr. Abdullahi Dan’asabe, where he called on participants to take the advocacy further down to their respective communities and also sustained the tempo.
He commended CISLAC and Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) for organising the sensitisation workshop.
Our correspondent reports that the One Day engagement attracted participants from relevant State MDAs, Religious/Community leaders, youth/ women groups, members of the academia and students of tertiary institutions.