Seven years after the ban on tobacco smoking in public places was signed into law by Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan, the Act has yet to be gazetted. Leadership reports that the enforcement of 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, and the sale of single cigarettes and sale of cigarettes in kiosks.
A recent report revealed that the country's health system spends N526.4bn (US $1.71bn) annually on smoking-related illnesses. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said it has no mandate to enforce the ban on public smoking because cigarettes are not classified as drugs. The situation is compounded by the failure of the federal government to allocate funds into the Tobacco Control Funds, for which the law provides.
Available data show that more than 20bn cigarettes are consumed annually in Nigeria, with 5.6% of adults (4.5m) currently using tobacco products. The data also showed that about 81% of the entire population of the country is exposed to second-hand smoke when visiting bars and nightclubs and 29.3% (6.4m) when visiting restaurants.
Nigeria started trying to regulate tobacco smoking in the 1970s. But it only enacted its first tobacco smoking control decree in 1990. This made it one of the first African countries to regulate tobacco. But the decree became less and less relevant because the government didn’t raise public awareness or prioritise implementation.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Nigeria isn’t doing enough to reduce tobacco use. Here’s why
Tobacco harm reduction in Africa – Has the revolution started?
Cigarette market is soaring in Africa – UCT study