WANTED: A Tobacco Control Bill in Nigeria

A look through government and law-making since 1999 shows a number of battles fought over time to get proper legislation in place on a diverse range of issues such as the EFCC Act, NAFDAC Act, FOI Bill to mention a few.

The most recent law that took quite a while to enact we would like to review is the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. The aim of this law was to empower Nigerians to serve as whistleblowers while also opening up the opaque processes that shrouded issues of national interest in a domain outside of accountability & transparency. In the cause of getting an FOI, there were ups & downs with campaigners experiencing defeat snatched from the jaws of victory as in 2007 after many years, a failure to secure Presidential seal meant the bill passed by the National Assembly did not become law.

A quick research shows that since 1999, the bulk of successfully enacted legislation were bills either sponsored by the Executive arm of government or bills with strong executive interest. Whether this is because an executive interest in a bill gives it needed political capital or it fires up the legislative arm to speed up consideration of this bills is another matter but suffice to say, the job seems to get done more often than not.

It is in light of this, that one might consider developments regarding tobacco control legislation in Nigeria a two-edged sword as last month, March 2014, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved that a draft bill on tobacco control be passed onto the National Assembly for their consideration.

While this follows a trend with strong batting averages when it comes to bills successfully becoming law, it increases the number of bills currently under consideration by the National Assembly on the critical issue of Tobacco Control (TC) legislation as in particular, the House of Representatives has been moving consistently concerning the draft bill sponsored by one of its own, Hon. Yacoob Bush-Alebiosu.

This means that on the single issue of tobacco control, there is a critical need to get all draft bills in the National Assembly harmonized ASAP as with a plethora of committee sittings, public hearings & plenary session needed to take place at both the Senate and House of Representatives, time is the essential factor here that we do not have an endless supply of. This will ensure there is no duplication of effort in passing through all the required steps in our bill-making process. Also, it is critical to ensure that none of the draft bills becomes a stumbling block to the others as failure to get any of them successfully through the loops may mean major challenges to a TC Bill being enacted without hassles.

It might be time & resource saving to consider incorporating strengths of each of the draft bills into ONE harmonized version that will then be considered by both the Senate & House of Representatives going through all the required loops. Taking this route is a more strategic approach to delivering in a TIMELY manner a much needed & wanted law for Nigerians.

In other news
TC SELFIE PHOTO CONTEST: 7days to go

I am sure you are aware but just in case for some reason, you have not turned in yours yet, this is a REMINDER. There is an ongoing 'selfie' photo contest for our project. Please check the project website (www.tobaccoctrl.ng) for full details.

BECOME A CAUSE CHAMPION!

Join Fela Durotoye and Stella Damasus to share information on Tobacco Control to ensure a comprehensive Tobacco control law is passed and signed into law by signing up to become a cause champion. Together we can protect present and future generations from this preventable death now.

To become a cause champion, simply sign up by sending your 1) Name 2) Email 3) Telephone No and 4) your location to info @ socialresponsibilitymanagers.org

- Twitter: Follow @TobaccoCtrl on Twitter

- Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/tobaccoctrl 

- For more facts and Tobacco Control tips visit www.tobaccoctrl.ng

Let the change begin

Across Africa, the Tobacco Control campaign is gaining ground with the recent passage of bills in Senegal & Ghana that is aimed at protecting citizens and significantly reducing the smoking menace. However, opponents of these efforts have employed delay tactics to curtail the progress of the passage of Tobacco control bills in some of the African countries like Zambia and Malawi, where the action on smoking and its health implications has competed for attention with other issues.

The goal is to ensure this does not happen in Nigeria as the enforcement of meaningful tobacco control legislation not only solidify locally our agreement with the FCTC but also ensures we are better placed to benefit millions of lives affected directly & indirectly by a lifestyle choice with grave consequences for all.

We must be willing to follow examples of like Ukraine that banned tobacco corporate social responsibility initiatives and adopted other tobacco control measures witnessing smoking rates country-wide take a nosedive. In a survey, the Ukrainian government found the national smoking rate during the period between January and September 2013 was 15 percent lower than the same period in 2012. Now, that’s a huge drop in one year and effectively thousands of lives were saved. Nigeria must adopt these measures if she wants the lives of her citizens preserved and even our children unborn. These evidence-based policies are supported by a critical provision of the FCTC – Article 5.3 – which states that the tobacco industry has an irreconcilable conflict with public health. The guidelines to FCTC implementation recommend government officials reject real and perceived partnerships with the tobacco industry and ban on tobacco industry corporate social responsibility.

Let’s not allow history to repeat itself and allow anything distract us from the task at hand. With the fate of thousands of young Nigerians at stake, the time to act is now. Just as neighboring countries like Ghana have implemented tobacco controls that are the first step in saving their youth, we urge Nigeria’s Parliamentarians and policymakers to step up and follow suit. Do not fall prey to misleading tactics by the Tobacco Industry and derail Nigeria’s most critical opportunity to save the lives of its people. It’s time to pass the National Tobacco Control Bill.

Within the next two weeks, there will be a public hearing on the draft of the tobacco control bill by The House of Representatives. We will be publishing WIDELY the full details of the hearing when released and urge you to PARTICIPATE in this by marking the date in your calendar and planning to attend so YOUR VOICE is added to the swelling number of citizens calling for a TC bill NOW. We implore you to please share the date with your friend & family too so they can LEND their VOICE as well.

Join Fela Durotoye and Stella Damasus to share information on Tobacco Control to ensure a comprehensive Tobacco control law is passed and signed into law by signing up to become a cause champion. Together we can protect present and future generations from this preventable death now. To become a cause champion, Simply sign up by sending your 1) Name 2) Email 3) Telephone No and 4) your location to info@socialresponsibilitymanagers.org

- Twitter: Follow @TobaccoCtrl on Twitter

- Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/tobaccoctrl 

- For more facts and Tobacco Control tips visit www.tobaccoctrl.ng

PS

We would like to wish everyone a wonderful Easter holiday.

Lets Make The Change Together

As we approach 2015 with the end of the seventh session of Nigeria’s National Assembly in sight, the country lies at a unique crossroad facing a critical moment. A number of draft bills are undergoing deliberations & discussions that would hopefully be completed before the end of this session.

One of these bills at the verge of being passed into law is the National Tobacco Control Bill: a groundbreaking measure that could save the lives of millions of young Nigerians most especially children and pregnant women, over the coming decades from tobacco-related disease and death.

The bill, currently awaiting passage by the Senate and House of Assembly, contains critical provisions including smoke-free public spaces, graphic health warnings and a ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Nigeria once again has the opportunity to show in clear terms the health & wellbeing of her people is paramount. It’s time for Nigerian policymakers to re-evaluate their priorities and match their words with action as duly elected representatives of all Nigerians. For the swift passage of Nigeria’s National Tobacco Control Bill will demonstrate Nigerian policymakers are truly committed to saving lives and representing the interests of the public.

If passed, Nigeria’s National Tobacco Control Bill would protect millions of young Nigerians from the devastating fate a lifestyle of smoking and/or exposure to cigarette fumes will have on their health. Its provisions contain proven measures that will bring Nigeria in line with many of its international obligations under the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, also known as the global tobacco treaty, which has the potential to save 200 million lives when fully implemented. With these figures, the need for the TC bill is reinforced and we hope that our lawmakers would expedite the bill-making process securing passage of the bill seeing the effect it will have to the general public who are their constituents.

It is time for us as a Nation to stand our ground on this issue, we must put heads together towards ensuring that the lawmakers does what is right, even if it’s not for us right now, but for our unborn children, we must ensure that Nigeria is the cleanest and safest place to live in.

The House of Representatives will announce shortly the date for a public hearing on the draft Tobacco Control bill before it. We will be publishing WIDELY the full details of the hearing when released and urge you to PARTICIPATE in this by marking the date in your calendar and planning to attend so YOUR VOICE is added to the swelling number of citizens calling for a TC bill NOW. Please share the date with your friend & family too so they can LEND their VOICE as well.

Join Fela Durotoye and Stella Damasus to share information on Tobacco Control to ensure a comprehensive Tobacco control law is passed and signed into law by signing up to become a cause champion. Together we can protect the present and future generations from this preventable death now.

To become a cause champion, Simply sign up by sending your 1) Name 2) Email 3) Telephone No and 4) your location toinfo@socialresponsibilitymanagers.org

Current Happenings on the Tobacco Control Bill

A major deficit to the regulation of tobacco in Nigeria is the inefficiency or lack of legislation. Different bills have been raised in both the Senate and the House of Representatives but unfortunately, they have not been successfully passed into law. There are currently two tobacco bills waiting to be enacted; a 2012 bill sponsored in the Senate by Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and a more recent 2013 bill raised in the House of Representatives, sponsored by Hon. Yacoob Bush-Alebiosu.

However, at the 6th session of the National Assembly which lasted between 2007 to 2011, the National Tobacco Control Bill, was formally presented & finally approved by the Senate for passage at its seating on Tuesday March 15th 2011. This happened twenty five (25) months after its initial presentation to the Senate and was a monumental victory for Nigerians, both young and old, especially minors, public health, tobacco control in Nigeria and for the Coalition Against Tobacco (CAT), which was instrumental to the initiation, creation, drafting, lobbying and followed through this bill from the various plenary sessions debating the bill to the public hearing and eventual approval for passage by both the upper & lower chambers of the National Assembly (NA).

CAT’s January 2008 Abuja inauguration, served as the platform for Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar (then Minister of the FCT) to announce the declaration making the FCT smoke-free, effective June 2008.  He at the event also sought the support and cooperation of the legislative arm of government, which was represented at the event by Senator Mamora (Sponsor of the tobacco bill and current Deputy Chief whip of the Senate) to enact and push for an effective bill regulating the tobacco industry’s’ excesses. Senator Mamora gave his assurances for the expedient passage of the bill, which we are today celebrating. The Bill’s essential components include:

• A  National Tobacco Control (TC) Committee to guide implementation and future TC policies;
• A comprehensive ban of smoking in public places;
• Clearly visible tax stamps on cigarette packs;
• A ban on sales to minors and by minors;
• Prohibition of the sale of cigarettes that are not packaged – but the bill doesn’t specify the number per pack;
• A comprehensive ban on advertising, sponsorship and promotion, including by mail, testimonials, brand stretching, indirect advertising, etc;
• Health warnings covering 50 percent of the display area of tobacco packages, with the Minister of Health empowered to prescribe pictures or pictogram;
• Enforcement provisions to ensure that the law is effectively implemented.

Unfortunately the journey was truncated, as our bill-making process requires action both from the National Assembly (NA) first in discussing and passing a bill. And thereafter, the executive arm of government i.e. the President fulfills its part by giving assent to the bill passed by the NA for such to become law in the land. Because we did not cross these two hurdles back in 2011, we are at the starting blocks AGAIN on a journey to a tobacco control bill before the current NA session ends in 2015.


Knowing previous work that has gone into this without crossing the finishing line and sustained efforts since 2012, this time, the goal is to ensure BOTH legislative & executive arms of government do their part and fulfill their given roles as custodians of the people's mandate who work for a safe environment for all Nigerians.

Therefore, we are mobilizing efforts and intensifying our drive in the attainment of a smoke-free Nigeria NOW. Towards the end of April 2014, the House of Representatives will call for a public hearing to discuss the current bill before it and we URGE you to ATTEND as well as PARTICIPATE in these process by giving feedback directly to your representative and/or also lending your VOICE as YOU join us in the TC RADIO CAMPAIGN and INVITE your FRIENDS & FAMILY to do the same by subscribing via sms. Text (TC Name Email Location Message) to 39405 as together we can make the change we desire.

- Twitter: Follow @TobaccoCtrl on Twitter  and tweet at us using the #TCRadio hashtag

- Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/tobaccoctrl

• For more facts and Tobacco Control tips please visit www.tobaccoctrl.ng