Since the current administration began in 2011, there has been a deliberate effort at presenting a scorecard of its work come May every year. This year was no exception as each minister in the federal cabinet made presentations on the work over the past year and its impact on the lives of Nigerians.
The Hon. Minister of Health, Prof.
Onyebuchi Chukwu made his presentation on June 13, 2013 as part of the 2013 Ministerial
Platform to showcase the mid-term achievements of the current GEJ
administration in the health sector. One of this is the eradication of guinea
worm in Nigeria for which the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued Nigeria a
certificate to be presented later in 2013.
However, while we celebrate
this, we wish to call attention to an issue we believe needs to be treated with
greater urgency as we seek to protect the health of Nigerians without
discrimination. This is none other than the enactment of a Tobacco Control Bill
in Nigeria.
In July 2012, Mr. President
delegated to a team of ministers led by the Hon. Minister of Health, the task
of drafting a new executive bill on Tobacco Control for proper legislation. This
was after the efforts pre-2011 has failed to get Presidential approval for the
bill passed by both chambers of the legislative arm of government in that
session.
On June 14, 2013, while making
his presentation at the 2013 Ministerial Platform, the Hon. Minister of Health
was widely quoted as saying 'smoking will soon be banned in Nigeria as the
Federal Government could no longer condone smoking.'
On Saturday 20th July 2013, President Jonathan speaking
in Abuja said that a revised anti-tobacco bill that provides tougher control on
use is ready for legislative action. According to him, the Attorney General of
the Federation has concluded work on the bill, while the Federal Executive
Council would soon give a final approval for onward presentation to the
National Assembly. He also gave the assurance of ample political will to ensure
the bill becomes law.
These statements were widely
reported in the media without any rebuttals from the Presidency nor the Hon.
Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu.
It is therefore of great concern
that in spite of all these words, the team assigned by the President to draft a
new bill on Tobacco Control (aka Anti-Tobacco) Bill and led by the Hon.
Minister of Health is yet to submit
its work to the President & the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for
deliberations and onward passage to the National Assembly by the President.
While it is true work has been
concluded on drafting the bill, failure to present such before FEC to
deliberate and approve for onward passage to the National Assembly has become a
critical cog in the wheel of making the draft bill into law.
Knowing this is the first step with
others following as outlined in our legislative process, we are therefore
appealing to the Hon. Minister for Health to finish the task assigned to his
team by leading the charge in ensuring the draft bill is presentation before
FEC without delay and approved so it can move onto consideration by the Senate
& House of Representatives. This is our CLARION CALL!
To join us in making this strong
appeal to the Hon. Minister of Health, add your voice by visiting his facebook page, like our post, drop your comments and share
widely with others. Lets help make Nigeria a SMOKE-FREE zone TODAY!
No comments:
Post a Comment