Tobacco Control: The Battle For Nigeria’s Public Health

For decades, cigarette has been the most recognisable symbol of tobacco use, with its health risks well documented and its advertising, promotion and sale increasingly restricted by law. But the tobacco and nicotine market is changing rapidly.

Vapes, electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches are emerging as new ways of consuming nicotine, often presented as modern alternatives to conventional cigarettes.

Now, a proposed amendment to Nigeria’s National Tobacco Control Act 2015 has sparked a fresh public-health debate, with tobacco-control advocates warning that some provisions could weaken existing safeguards and open new channels for nicotine products to reach consumers, including young people.

The controversy has placed the National Tobacco Control Act (Amendment) Bill 2025 at the centre of a wider battle over how Nigeria should respond to an evolving nicotine market without sacrificing the gains made in tobacco control.

The Nigeria Tobacco Control Community, comprising more than 100 civil society organisations, health advocates and public-interest groups, has demanded the immediate recall of the Bill for a transparent review.

Speaking at a press briefing, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the coalition supported updating Nigeria’s tobacco-control law but rejected what it described as provisions that could create loopholes for tobacco and nicotine companies.

The Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research (ATIM) has also urged the National Assembly to reconsider the proposed amendments, arguing that Nigeria should strengthen, rather than weaken, its tobacco-control framework.

At the heart of the controversy is the proposed inclusion of “tobacco harm reduction objectives” among the purposes of the Act.

The term has become increasingly common in discussions about alternatives to combustible cigarettes. Tobacco-control advocates are concerned that embedding the concept in legislation could create a basis for lighter regulation of emerging nicotine products.

They said that while vapes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches may differ from cigarettes, they can still deliver addictive nicotine and should not be treated as harmless consumer products.

ATIM said Nigeria should focus on evidence-based interventions that have been independently shown to improve population health rather than place a contested commercial concept in its tobacco-control law.

The concern is heightened by the county’s progress in reducing smoking prevalence. ATIM estimates adult smoking prevalence at about five to six per cent, arguing that the country should consolidate those gains rather than risk creating new pathways into nicotine addiction.

One of the most contentious proposals concerns heated tobacco products.

The amendment would define them as non-combustible products and exclude non-combustible items from the legal definition of a tobacco product.

Public-health advocates argue that this could give heated tobacco products a regulatory advantage over conventional tobacco products.Their position is that heating rather than burning tobacco does not remove the presence of tobacco or nicotine.

The World Health Organization regards heated tobacco products as tobacco products and maintains that they should be regulated accordingly.

For Nigeria, the implications could extend beyond its borders. Activists fear that a weaker framework could establish a precedent for tobacco regulation across Africa.

Nigeria’s existing tobacco-control law prohibits tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. The proposed amendment would introduce exceptions for non-combustible products, allowing advertising through adult publications, point-of-sale materials and online platforms, while permitting sponsorship of certain cultural, social and recreational events.

For advocates, this raises serious questions about youth protection.

The Bill defines an “adult publication” as one where at least 50 per cent of readership is adult. Critics argue that this means a publication could still have almost half of its readers below adulthood and qualify to carry nicotine advertising.

The challenge becomes greater online, where content intended for adults can easily reach children. Similarly, an event may be classified as adults-only, but images and videos from it can be shared by influencers and participants and amplified across social-media platforms.

The proposed amendment would also allow online sales and remote orders of non-combustible products, provided age-verification mechanisms are used.

The existing Act prohibits tobacco sales through the internet, mail and other online channels.

Public-health advocates question why products delivering nicotine should receive weaker warning requirements simply because they are newer or non-combustible.

They are equally concerned about provisions in the Bill’s Third Schedule that would allow manufacturers to generate, hold and internally approve safety dossiers for their products.

Beyond the contents of the Bill, tobacco-control groups are demanding answers about how some of the provisions got there.

They said proposals presented during a public hearing on November 22, 2024, did not contain some of the concessions now appearing in the consolidated Bill.

They want the National Assembly to disclose committee reports, stakeholder submissions, voting records and details of consultations that produced the changes.

ATIM has also called for disclosure of meetings involving tobacco and nicotine industry representatives and the evidence relied upon in developing the differentiated regulatory framework.

The organisation stressed that it had not established that the tobacco industry drafted or caused the provisions to be inserted, but said transparency was necessary given the commercial importance of emerging nicotine products.