Group warns against tobacco industry still targeting Nigerian youths despite control laws

The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) has sounded the alarm over the tobacco industry's persistent tactics to ensnare Nigerian youth. Despite years of anti-tobacco campaigns and established laws, the alliance highlights that adolescents remain highly susceptible to nicotine addiction. This vulnerability stems from weak enforcement of the National Tobacco Control Act, allowing the industry to exploit social media, entertainment, and lifestyle marketing.

According to the NTCA, tobacco companies continue to leverage "the aspirations, emotions, and fears of young people." Marketing strategies make smoking, vaping, and shisha appear attractive, often featuring appealing flavors and eye-catching branding. Images of these products are pervasive across music videos, fashion trends, and social media platforms, creating a "glamorous facade" that masks the "harsh reality of addiction, disease, and suffering."

“

Today, Nigerian youths are constantly exposed to images of smoking, shisha, and vaping across music videos, fashion trends, and social media platforms, often featuring appealing flavours and attractive branding.

Experts and the World Health Organization (WHO) share these concerns, noting that tobacco companies are increasingly shifting their focus to younger demographics. They are aggressively marketing flavored nicotine products, vaping devices, and nicotine pouches, which are designed to be fashionable and perceived as less harmful. The WHO has specifically warned about the global marketing of nicotine pouches to young people through colorful packaging, influencer culture, and social media campaigns. Nigeria's own efforts, including regulations on tobacco portrayal in films, aim to counter this trend, but enforcement remains a critical challenge.

“

Behind the “glamorous facade” lies “a harsh reality of addiction, disease, and suffering within our communities.”