By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
Stakeholders have called for the strategic deployment of data to counter the tobacco industry’s increasingly sophisticated tactics aimed at recruiting young Nigerians, warning that evidence based policies are critical to strengthening tobacco control and protecting public health.
The call was made at a stakeholders’ workshop hosted by the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), which brought together representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Nigeria Customs Service, the Federal Ministries of Education, Planning, and Industry, Trade and Investment, alongside civil society organisations and development partners.
Delivering goodwill remarks on behalf of Development Gateway, the Regional Programme Leader for the Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI), Seember Ali, said effective tobacco control depends on the intersection of reliable data, sound policy, and strong political commitment.
“Tobacco control is not new territory for us. It sits at a crossroads we know well at Development Gateway—the point where data, policy, and political will have to meet if public health gains are going to survive contact with the real world,” she said.
Ali explained that Development Gateway develops digital tools that transform evidence into practical action for governments, civil society organisations and the media.
“We want a policymaker to walk away with a clearer answer to a difficult question. We want an advocate to walk away with a number that makes their case undeniable. We want a journalist to walk away with a story worth telling,” she added.
She warned that the tobacco industry has shifted from traditional advertising to sophisticated digital campaigns and algorithm-driven marketing that specifically targets young Nigerians.
According to her, the TCDI dashboard and the forthcoming DaYTA insights, presented by Dr. Malau Toma Mangai of the Federal Ministry of Health, provide government agencies and advocates with real-time evidence on the challenges confronting young people.
“My ask this morning is simple: engage with this data as if it were a weapon, because it is,” she said.
Ali also commended the Federal Ministry of Health for its leadership and thanked all partners for their commitment to protecting Nigeria’s next generation from the harmful influence of the tobacco industry.
In his welcome address, CSEA Executive Director, Dr. Chukwuka Onyekwena, said tobacco control has evolved beyond a public health concern into a national development issue affecting economic growth, governance, education, fiscal policy, security and human capital development.
“Protecting Nigerians from the devastating consequences of tobacco use demands a genuine whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach,” he said.
Onyekwena noted that CSEA had expanded its tobacco control interventions because tobacco consumption continues to place enormous pressure on the nation’s healthcare system, reduce workforce productivity and push many households into poverty through catastrophic health expenses.
While acknowledging Nigeria’s progress through the National Tobacco Control Act, the National Tobacco Control Regulations and its commitment to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, he stressed that legislation alone would not deliver the desired results.
“The effectiveness of tobacco control ultimately depends on implementation, enforcement, inter-agency coordination, sustainable financing, continuous surveillance and the ability of policymakers to respond to emerging industry strategies with credible evidence,” he said.
He commended the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria Customs Service, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and the Ministry of Education, while emphasising that civil society organisations, the media and young people remain indispensable in sustaining momentum for tobacco control.
A major highlight of the workshop was the presentation of the Tobacco Control Data Initiative dashboard by Halimat Abdulrasaq, Project Manager of TCDI Nigeria.
She described the platform as a comprehensive repository for tobacco control information, covering seven thematic areas: Tobacco Harm, Adult Prevalence, Youth Prevalence, Taxation, Shisha Use, New and Emerging Tobacco Products, and Industry Interference.
Also speaking, Executive Director of the Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Philip Jakpor, who facilitated the technical session, said the TCDI platform was developed through rigorous research to equip policymakers, researchers and advocates with credible data needed to strengthen tobacco control interventions.
He described the dashboard as a “living document” that will continue to evolve in response to emerging tobacco industry strategies.
Onyekwena said the goal was to catalyse measurable improvements in policy implementation, regulatory enforcement, public awareness, research utilisation and multisectoral collaboration.
Meanwhile, CSEA and Development Gateway urged participants to maximise the breakout sessions to interrogate available data and develop practical, evidence-based recommendations to strengthen tobacco control in Nigeria.
