Monitoring tobacco industry activities in Nigeria
In addition to collecting data on smoking prevalence and other measures of tobacco use, it is also necessary to monitor the activities of the tobacco industry. In Africa, the industry has in recent years greatly increased its presence and engaged in aggressive marketing campaigns, targeting youth in particular.
In Nigeria, one nongovernmental organization, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth (Nigeria ERA/FOTEN) has successfully identified front groups created and used by the tobacco industry to help carry out its activities. It has highlighted the industry’s unfair practices towards tobacco farmers and indifference to the use of child labour, revealed the existence of industrysponsored music concerts and other events that appeal to youth where cigarettes and tobacco-related merchandise have been distributed freely, and uncovered industry cooperation programmes with various government institutions and corporate social responsibility initiatives.
ERA/FOTE has also greatly strengthened the capacity of many smaller organizations to become engaged in industry monitoring and grassroots advocacy, and is spearheading formation of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations active in the fight against tobacco.
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