Tobacco: Celebrating 20 years of death and diseases? By Olayinka Oyegbile, PhD
The true face of smoking is disease, death and horror, not the glamour
and sophistication the pushers in the tobacco industry try to portray –
David Byrne
Notwithstanding the heavy toll of cigarettes and other deadly nicotine
products on consumers, the tobacco industry continues to employ
duplicitous tactics to further undermine public health efforts and carry
on business as usual. The Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2023,
published by Pan-African watchdog Corporate Accountability and Public
Participation Africa (CAPPA) with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies
through the Centre for Good Governance, unveils a range of such
deceptive tactics adopted by the industry. They include leveraging
corporate social responsibility activities to launder its image and
utilizing misleading harm reduction arguments to masquerade as public
health advocates and infiltrate critical policy discussions.
On the one hand, faced with irrefutable scientific evidence, the
industry reluctantly admits the deadly harm of its products and
professes an ironic willingness to reduce the harm in newer products,
and comply with tobacco control laws. On the other hand, it actively
engages in notoriously devious conduct that contradicts its confessions.
This much is evidenced in a recent case in point epitomizing the
industry’s underhand approach of circumventing advertising and promotion
restrictions imposed by Nigeria’s National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and
the National Tobacco Control Regulations 2019.
Imagine celebrating 20 years of manufacturing the world’s leading cause
of preventable death: tobacco and other nicotine products. This is
exactly what British American Tobacco (Nigeria) Limited (BAT Nigeria) –
a prominent player among the world’s top five tobacco companies,
collectively known as “Big Tobacco” – did in Ibadan, Oyo State, on
February 6, 2024.
Officially, the multinational said it was marking two decades of its
Ibadan factory’s exceptional value delivery to the Nigerian economy, the
environment, and the communities it serves. The company, in a statement
ahead of the event, described the factory as “a shining example” of its
“commitment to excellence and sustainability in Nigeria,” further
boasting of its significant contributions to the country.
What, of course, BATN conspicuously omits in its narrative of
celebration is that the health and economic costs of smoking-related
deaths and diseases in Nigeria – such as heart diseases, lung diseases,
cancer, etc – far outweigh any supposed contribution it claims to make.
A 2021 research conducted by the Centre for the Study of Economies of
Africa (CSEA) underscores the gravity of this issue, revealing that
tobacco smoking is responsible for 28, 876 of annual deaths in Nigeria.
The CSEA’s research further found that the direct costs of treating
these smoking-related diseases amount to N526.45 billion each year,
which was equivalent to 0.36 percent of the Nigerian GDP in 2019, and
9.63 percent of the country’s annual healthcare spending, placing a
substantial burden on Nigeria’s healthcare system and economy.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was identified as the top
cause of smoking-attributable mortality, followed by ischemic heart
disease, stroke, passive smoking, lower respiratory tract infection, and
cardiovascular deaths of non-ischemic cause. Adding up productivity
losses due to illness, early deaths and informal caregivers,
tobacco-related diseases represented 0.44 per cent of the GDP in 2019,
according to the CSEA study.
Another study on the estimated benefits of increasing cigarette prices
through taxation on the burden of disease, published in 2022 in the PLOS
ONE journal, found that tobacco’s total economic burden accounts for
₦634 billion annually, considering direct treatment costs, productivity
losses (due to early mortality and disability) and informal caregiving
cost. It added that in Nigeria, the tax revenue generated by the sale of
cigarettes (and other tobacco products) was around ₦36 billion in 2019,
which covered only 6.9% of the direct medical costs of smoking, or 5.7%
of the total financial burden.
As for the environmental sustainability of manufacturing cigarettes, the
public and regulators may want to bear in mind that Nigeria is Africa’s
second highest contributor to the $26 billion global costs of
environmental pollution caused by plastics in cigarette butts and
packaging every year, according to data analysed by The African Tobacco
Control Alliance (ATCA).
The ATCA’s conclusion, as contained in a statement issued last year,
followed its analysis of research findings by the Global Centre for Good
Governance in Tobacco Control, published in the Tobacco Control journal.
The analysis found that African countries with the highest smoking rate
contribute the most to the cigarette filter pollution costs, estimated
at $26b annually or $186 billion every 10 years — adjusted for inflation
— in waste management and marine ecosystem damage worldwide. These
countries include South Africa, followed by Nigeria, Sudan, Mozambique,
Kenya, and Ethiopia
Yet, despite the grave consequences and impacts of its operations on
public health and the environment, the industry continues to award
itself accolades, while craftily sidestepping its obligations to
national tobacco control laws.
‘‘Whilst Nigeria’s National Tobacco Control Act and its Regulations have
largely checked the activities of tobacco corporations and entities, the
industry has exploited some weaknesses in these laws and gaps in the
system to interfere in tobacco control,” said CAPPA’s Executive
Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi.
One such tactic, Akinbode noted, “is the tobacco industry’s cunning use
and loud celebration of its CSR activities in the media and public to
whitewash its image, thereby creating a façade of responsibility and
desirability. These initiatives, often endorsed, lauded by, and executed
in collaboration with state authorities, further entrench the industry’s
influence, undermining public health campaigns.’’
Aside the negative health and environmental impacts of the tobacco
industry in Nigeria, one also notes an interesting observation
concerning BATN’s proclaimed contribution to empowering local
communities.
The corporation touted its Ibadan factory’s “exceptional value delivery
to the Nigerian economy, the environment, and the communities it
serves.” However, this claim finds little to no echo among the
tobacco-growing communities in the Oke-Ogun axis of Oyo State, which
purportedly benefit from the factory’s operations.
During a field visit undertaken by CAPPA last May, as part of its
monitoring activities leading up to World No Tobacco Day 2023, tobacco
farmers from Ilu Oke, Ilero, and Iseyin, Oke-Ogun area, recounted how
BATN had allegedly ceased purchasing their tobacco, citing heavy
government taxation as reason for their withdrawal.
These farmers, who had devoted years to cultivating tobacco, articulated
their struggles in pivoting to alternative agricultural ventures after
years of tobacco farming, and without enough support. Their testimonies
also flagged the absence of the tobacco giant’s sourcing offices in the
region, indicating perhaps a strategic decommissioning of the
corporation’s procurement belt.
BATN also claimed that its Ibadan factory has facilitated the export of
its products to “11 countries in the West and Central Africa region, and
more recently, to the United States of America thereby placing
made-in-Nigeria products on the global stage” However, if the
testimonies of retired tobacco farmers in Oyo State are to be
considered, this raises a significant question: If BATN is not
purchasing tobacco from its immediate community—which hosts the largest
concentration of tobacco farms and growers in Nigeria—where then is the
company sourcing the commodity it processes, sells and exports?
Unsurprisingly, tobacco control advocates and groups in the country have
continued to urge the Nigerian government to not only investigate Export
Expansion Grants and benefits unduly awarded to tobacco companies but
also provide substantial support to farmers in their transition from
tobacco farming to other crops required to sustain and nourish public
health.
As evidence shows and the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes,
tobacco consumption remains the leading cause of preventable deaths
worldwide. Now, more than ever, the Nigerian government must fully
commit to implementing and enforcing public health rules. This includes
reviewing ambiguities in tobacco control laws to effectively prevent the
tobacco industry from compromising public health and governance.
• Dr. Oyegbile, an award-winning journalist and playwright, is a Fellow
of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Public Health Reporting and
the American Cancer Society (ACS). Until recently, Oyegbile was Deputy
Editor, The Nation on Sunday. He can be reached via yinka2005@gmail.com.
