CSO Tasks President Tinubu on Effective Tobacco Tax Implementation
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, has called on Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to promptly set up machineries for effective implementation of the tobacco tax regime in Nigeria, so as to address the harmful effects the product poses to the nation’s population.
A World Health Organisation, WHO, estimated that 30,000 people lose their lives yearly in Nigeria due to illnesses caused by tobacco, which is more than the 3,000 lives claimed by COVID-19 during the three years of the pandemic.
The Executive Director, CISLAC, Alhaji Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, represented by the Senior Programme Officer, Solomon Adoga made the call during a press conference on a programme tagged “Tobacco Taxation Agenda Setting for President Bola Tinubu’s Administration” held in Kano state, north western Nigeria.
He stressed that the organisation has been championing effective tobacco taxation regimes in Nigeria.
“Nigeria remains one of the leading tobacco markets in Africa, with its young and growing population a constant attraction to the tobacco industry.
“As a global tool for the control of tobacco use, effective tax administration on the products posses a double-edged advantage to the health and economy of nations.”
According to him, “in Nigeria, the burden of tobacco use is even more aggravated by the limited access to adequate health care.
He noted that “amidst the limited state of health care in the country, the prevalence of consumption of harmful products such as tobacco continues to further stretch the already overwhelmed facilities in the country and calls for more concerted efforts on the part of government to control the use of such products.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says, tobacco use kills 6 million people each year, and this could rise to 8 million by 2030 if the global epidemic is left unchecked. Tobacco use has also been identified as the major risk factor for over 80% of premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases.
He hinted that interestingly, CISLAC is aware and impressed that President Bola Tinubu specifically mentioned in his manifesto where he promised to increase health care funding in the country through improved budgetary allocation and categorically identifying consumption tax on harmful products such as tobacco and alcohol as viable tool to mobilize resources for health financing.
Alhaji Musa therefore advised that Government must move to protect its young people and children by ensuring it does not succumb to the interference tactics of the tobacco industry that only aims to undermine effective tobacco control in the country.
