The Federal Government on Wednesday said it had stopped the establishment of another cigarette factory worth $80bn last year in Osun State.
Similarly, in its drive to stop smoking in public places, the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Capital Territory, and a non governmental organisation, Coalition Against Tobacco said they would soon present a draft bill to the National Assembly for the outlaw of smoking in the country.
Also, the FCT administration has outlawed all forms of smoking in public buildings and restaurants as well as the drinking of alcohol in public parks within the territory.
The Minister of Health, Professor Adenike Grange; FCT�s Minister, Alhaji Aliyu Modibbo Umar, and his counterpart in Sports, Dr. Abdulraman Gimba, presented government�s position on cigarette smoking at the inauguration of the Coalition Against Tobacco on Wednesday in Abuja.
Speaking at the inauguration held at Transcorp Hilton Abuja, Senators Olorunnimbe Mamora and Chris Anyanwu, the Directors General of National Agency for Drugs, Administration and Control, Prof Dora Akunyili, Special Adviser to the President on Millennium Development Goals, Mrs. Amina Ibrahim, and Director-General of Consumer Protection Council, Mrs. Ify Umeanyi, all called on members of the public to support government in its drive to stop the advancement of tobacco companies in the country.
Grange told the gathering that the government, being a signatory to the World Health Organisation�s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, was determined more than ever, to stop further setting up tobacco companies in the country.
�It is the determination of the FMoH to ensure the full domestication of the FCTC in Nigeria. The Federal Executive Council in March, 2006 approved a joint memo by the Ministers of Health and the Commerce and Industry, that any future investment in tobacco and alcohol industry must get the approval of FEC.
�Based on that memo, the FMoH was able to stop the setting up of another cigarette factory in Osun State worth $80bn in 2007. �I would like to state that this is still the current policy of the FMoH.
�It may interest you to know that the FMoH has concluded work on a comprehensive draft bill on tobacco control in Nigeria. �The bill is being fined-tuned and would be presented to the National Assembly soon.�
Modibbo, in his presentation said his visit to the British American Tobacco Company, when he was the Minister of Commerce, revealed that the company was producing about 93 million sticks of cigarette annually for the consumption of Nigerian smokers.