This morning I summoned courage
and walked to the nearby kiosk to confirm different remarks I had heard about
the availability and affordability of cigarettes.
Me: Sonu customer
Seller: Sonu madam
Me: I wan buy cigarette
Seller (Chuckling strangely):
Which one?
Me: Which ones you get?
Seller: Aspen
Me: How much
Seller (About to remove a stick
for me): Ten naira
Me: No I don’t really want to buy
I just wan know the price
Seller: Okay I get Benson, N10,
pack na N200. I also get London N10, pack na N200. All of them na same price.
Me: You get empty pack wey you
fit dash me?
Seller (Stretches hand to give me
an empty cigarette pack): I get. Take
Me: Nagode
I have been getting different
reactions as a result of the posts on tobacco and one particular reader reached
out to inform me that many people are lured into the habit of smoking as a
result of the extremely low cost of cigarettes and they remain stuck to the
deadly lifestyle partly due to same reason. It was shocking to discover a stick
of cigarette (N10) was cheaper than the cheapest loaf of bread (N50) and smallest
sachet of milk (N15). I’m not sure if there’s any other vice that beats this
rate, not even excessive alcohol consumption or prostitution.
I wonder why cigarettes are so
cheap when it contains among other substances these three deadly chemicals namely:
Carbon Monoxide – the same gas we get from car exhaust fumes
Tar – the same substance used in
road construction (remember tarred road!)
Nicotine – a substance that when
mixed with water immediately functions as an insecticide.
So, imagine car exhaust fumes,
road tar and insecticide all together in one product being sold for N10 a stick
(a stick that guarantees you will want more sticks).
In a country where many struggle
to eat well and access to life’s basic amenities is still a challenge, products
with proven harmful effects like cigarettes should not be so easily available
and affordable.
You can join the campaign for
Tobacco Control today -
On Twitter: Follow @TobaccoCtrl
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