Why Tobacco Coys Still Thrive In Nigeria Despite Strong Laws

Despite having one of Africa’s most comprehensive tobacco control laws, Nigeria remains fertile ground for tobacco companies as the firms  continue to expand their influence, reinvent their image, and penetrate government spaces while pushing products that kill thousands annually.

A new report, the Nigeria Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2025, revealed that the laws may be strong on paper, but enforcement is weak, uneven, and in some cases, nonexistent.

When Nigeria passed the National Tobacco Control Act in 2015 and followed it with its implementing regulations in 2019, many public health experts celebrated. The law banned tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. It introduced 60 per cent  pictorial health warnings, protected minors, restricted smoking in public places, and aligned Nigeria with global standards.

However, a decade later, tobacco companies appear even more visible.

According to the 2025 Index, Nigeria’s interference score rose to 62, worsening from 60 in 2023 and 53 in 2021. The higher the score, the more influence the industry has on public policy.

LEADERSHIP gathered that one of the clearest ways tobacco companies continue to thrive is through corporate social responsibility (CSR), a loophole that allows them to rebrand harmful operations as philanthropy.

From drilling boreholes in communities to funding fish farming and women’s cooperatives, the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) and other industry-linked fronts are deeply embedded in Nigeria’s development landscape.

Public officials often attend these events, pose for pictures, and give speeches, actions that indirectly legitimise the tobacco industry and help it rebuild trust.

This violates Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which Nigeria is legally bound to enforce.

The NTCA reports that 5.6 per cent of Nigerian adults smoke, including 10 per cent of men. But the worry is the next generation: flavored products, attractive packaging, and nicotine alternatives are slowly expanding the market.

Speaking at a one-day stakeholder engagement and launch of the Nigeria Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2025, recently in Abuja, the NTCA Coordinator, Olawale Makinde, said the industry has evolved its strategies, now using subtle digital tactics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to bypass the National Tobacco Control Act (NTCA) 2015, which bans all forms of tobacco promotion, advertising and sponsorship.

“We are aware that the tobacco industry does not sleep, and they are still not sleeping. Their tactics are becoming more softened, more digital and deeply embedded in our corporate social structure,” Makinde said.

Makinde said tobacco companies are exploiting CSR to gain political access, compromise integrity in public health policymaking, and weaken the protections guaranteed under Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

He raised concern that youths aged 0 to 35 remain a primary target of the industry. Currently, 5.6 per cent of Nigerians aged 15 and above smoke, with the prevalence disproportionately higher among men (10 per cent) than women (1.1 per cent).

Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, described CSR as one of the industry’s most effective tools for re-entering public spaces and gaining legitimacy.

“Tobacco companies use the strategy of deny, delay, dilute and discredit science. They use corporate social responsibility to relaunch themselves into the market,” he said.

Assistant Executive Director of CAPPA, Zikora Ibeh, said government vulnerability was evident during the 2024 legislative hearings on proposed amendments to the National Tobacco Control Act.

“Representatives from BATN and affiliated front groups actively participated in the public debate, advocating for weaker provisions under the guise of reform,” she said.

Meanwhile, CAPPA has urged the federal government to significantly increase funding for tobacco control, warning that current allocation is insufficient to counter expanding industry tactics, including the rapid spread of vapes, e-cigarettes and other emerging products targeted at youth.

CAPPA’s new report, New Smoke Trap, shows that international companies are exploiting policy gaps to flood the Nigerian market with highly addictive nicotine products.

Oluwafemi warned that “We are dealing with a fast-changing nicotine market clearly targeting young people. Without adequate funding for regulation and enforcement, Nigeria risks a new wave of addiction.”

The Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) estimates that Nigerians spent N526 billion treating tobacco-related diseases in 2019.

Yet, the Tobacco Control Fund created to finance enforcement and public awareness remains underfunded and not fully operational.

The index and CSOs recommend full enforcement of transparency rules for all interactions with tobacco companies, a complete ban on tobacco industry CSR across all government sectors, removal of tobacco companies from policy and regulatory committees and stronger conflict-of-interest safeguards for public officials.