2 BILLION STICKS OF CIGARETTE NOW SMOKED IN NIGERIA DAILY, AS ERA KICKS

2 BILLION STICKS OF CIGARETTE NOW SMOKED IN NIGERIA  DAILY, AS ERA KICKS

………………………ERA PLANS FRESH BANANA PEELS FOR TOBACCO PRODUCERS ,

CONSUMERS AND SMUGGLERS

……………………….LASH BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO FOR CONTINUALLY LYING TO

THE PUBLIC ON HEALTH SAFETY,FERTILIZER RACKETERRING

………………………..PLEADS WITH FEDERAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL TO EXPEDITE ACTION

ON THE TOBACCO CONTROL BILL

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU.

An estimated two billion sticks of cigarette is said to be consumed on a daily basis in Nigeria.

An impeccable source told Paedia Express Multimedia in Lagos, Nigeria that his pal with a tobacco producer told him of the figures.

Yet another source said that the figure may be higher as well over 50 percent of the Nigerian populace are smokers ,with some smoking a whole pack in  a day with each of the pack containing at least  20 sticks of cigarettes.

In a related issue, the Director of Corporate Accountability and Administration ,Mr Bode Oluwafemi  while discussing with a cross section of the Nigerian media at the offices of Environmental Rights Action in Lagos, Nigeria recently said that a lot of very interesting things had taken place in the last few months on the tobacco control bill.

He lamented that sadly he was aware that the tobacco industry producers were working silently to frustrate the gains already made in the system as a result of the impending reforms on tobacco.

He lashed out at the biggest producer in the Nigerian market, the British American Tobacco Nigeria Limited for always using the press to pull  the wool over the faces of Nigerians by lying to them that they were doing them  a lot of good.

He wondered why the tobacco giant was now in the habit of using proxies to promote the supposed prosperity of  tobacco farmers  in pro-tobacco campaigns in the Nigerian press.

His words:”we are not deceived by the media reports as we know that the tobacco industry is hiding behind these groups to say these things because of an existing advertising practitioners council of Nigeria[APCON]directive prohibiting tobacco advertising in the newspapers ,magazines ,television,radio and billboards”

He pointed out that the usage of this fronts by the tobacco producer has become a good way of them fighting there cause  and some of this ills was what made them  to pay a recent visit to Iseyin,otu,okaka and Igbo Ijaiye ,the heart beat of tobacco growing in Nigeria.

He listed some of the shocking discoveries of his team during the visit to the fact that there was not a single millionaire in the area contrary to a general believe created by the tobacco producer.

Mr Oluwafemi also raised other grey areas they discovered during the trip to the tobacco farmers  as the fact that not many farms were seen by the inspecting team,the NPK fertilizers which was supposed to be  sold to the farmers at subsidized rates was sold to them under a high price regime  with farmers engaged by the producers  to ensure that their activities are hidden by the public.

He demanded that the government investigate the findings on slavery, fluctuation of fertilizer prices, volume of tobacco leaves, quick passage of anti-tobacco bill and  a provision of  alternatives to farmers.

His words:”we have said it before that we will continue to support anything that will bring about safety on public health,we want a bill that will reduce the prevalence of tobacco in Nigeria”

“It is a battle for the soul of our people ,we know that they have a lot of money which they can pump to bribing the press, politicians ,and other stakeholders and we will continue to do what is right for the sake of humanity  we believe that with the commitment we are receiving from the Federal Executive Council  the bill will be p[assed very soon as we are not thinking of how anything else for now”

“the core principles in our campaign is to reduce demands ,when you say that people should not smoke ,then you are protecting the life of a man who is not smoking but on the other hand if you increase taxes on it per pack even children will not have access to it”

“There are even laws in South Africa presently   where- by you are not allowed  to smoke in your  house especially when you have non-smokers  and minors ”

In a related development,Mr Seun Hunge who works for Tobacco Control Agency  said that what caught his attention during the trip was that even cattle’s do not eat tobacco leaves thus suggesting that they were more intelligent than humans.

In a related matter, the Media and Communication Manager of the Environmental Rights Action,Mr Philip Jakpor accused British American Tobacco Nigeria Limited of engaging in fertilizer racketeering at the detriment of the local farmers

Mr Gbenga Adejuwon of National Tobacco Control affirmed that a lot of eye sores were discovered by them during the trip to the tobacco farms and insisted that it was time for the government to do something urgently.

2 billion cigarettes per stick is now believed to be smoked daily by Nigerians