STAKEHOLDERS MAKE FINAL PUSH FOR TOBACCO CONTROL BILL BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU,OLADUNNI KOSOKO

STAKEHOLDERS MAKE FINAL PUSH FOR  TOBACCO CONTROL BILL

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU,OLADUNNI KOSOKO

MR OKEKE ANYA OF CISLAC IS FIGHTING SERIOUSLY TO MAKE THE ANTI-TOBACCO BILL A REALITY

Stakeholders under the aegis of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center [C.I.S.L.A.C]and the Environmental Rights Action [E.R.A]have called on  The National Assembly to expedite action on the Tobacco Control Bill now on the final stage of passage.

While briefing a cross section of the press recently at the Lagos Airport Hotels in Lagos ,Nigeria,Program Coordinator of CISLAC, Mr Okeke Anya  went down memory lane to recall all that them body and its partners had done before now to make the Tobacco bill ‘s passage a reality.

He explained that presently there were two bills in the National Assembly which bears similar semblance

And this were the private member bill and the executive bill. But quickly added that there were some school of thought who were now saying that perhaps it was time both bills were brought together for effective harmonization.

He noted that a lot of people wanted to know if the law will actually go ahead to ban smoking in public places. Aside the possibility of banning smoking in public places..

He assured that the bills have passed the first and second round of readings in the lower and upper chambers of the National Assembly  aside from a lot of public hearing held in consonance with meetings organized by the various sub committees responsible in the legislative chambers.

He affirmed that he was sure that a lot of actions regarding the bill will soon take center stage after the general elections in Nigeria.

His words:”we need to move from the bill to an act because it is a life long process as we need to continually wor5k on this,in Nigeria our laws are always in two forms, the law of a state covers the state but that of a nation is on the entire country”

“we have also been trying to push out our project in states where the laws on Tobacco is  not properly outlined”

He added that though majority of members of the National Assembly may not be coming back to office  but he was sure that the bill will be passed as politicians may want to use it to as part of there legacies while in public office.

In a related issue, Director of Accountability ,Environmental Rights Action[E.R.A],Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi  said that there was a lot of politicking regarding the tobacco bill as a friend of his who attended a transnational meeting of one of the tobacco producers in Geneva recently told everybody that the bill had been truncated w2hile celebrating.

He revealed that if the bill was eventually passed it may amount to nothing as the bill on anti-tobacco can have a lot of technicalities involved.

He took a swipe at politicians who were in the habit of running to tobacco growers while in pursuit of donations to fund there activities.

He added that it was imperative that stakeholders continue to engage the polity so that they will know the proper steps to take regarding Tobacco related issues.