Senate yesterday urged the federal government to ensure total prohibition of tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) within and around schools.
Areas the upper legislature urged total ban include windows, stores and kiosks, advertisement of smokeless or flavoured tobacco and their logos or symbols on nontobacco objects.
The lawmakers particularly advised the ministries of health and education at the federal and state levels to work together to ban advertisement and location of point of sales (PoS) of tobacco products within 100m of all schools in the country.
These were sequel to a motion titled: “The need to immediately ban tobacco companies from targeting school children in Nigeria”, sponsored by Oluremi Tinubu (APC, Lagos Central) and cosponsored by five others at the plenary.
Other resolutions include admonishing the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant enforcement agencies to urgently ensure a framework for the monitoring of the implementation of the ban on single sticks and cigarette packs with less than 20 sticks as detailed in the National Tobacco Control Act 2018. The senate also called on the Federal Ministry of Health to promote and advertise the “No sale of tobacco to minors” signage, and equally warned tobacco companies to henceforth stop tobacco adverts and saleswithin 100m away from all schools across the country.
In her lead debate on the motion, Senator Tinubu said the senate was “worried that there is a deliberate ploy by tobacco companies to position tobacco adverts and signs within 100m of schools to stimulate children and youth into early interest in the use of tobacco products”.
She said the survey carried out by the Nigeria Tobacco Research Group in five states across four geopolitical zones unearthed the location of tobacco products PoS within visible distance of schools, with several being 100m or less away from schools.
In his contributing, James Manager (PDP, Delta South) said “the motion is very apt, because it is about children and they are vulnerable to the dangers of tobacco smoking”. In his remarks, the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the plenary, said it was regrettable that the Federal Ministry of Health which should have taken preventive measures to save Nigerians, especially the underage, was lacking in its responsibility on the tobacco issue.
