Three groups – Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), have urged President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene and ensure speedy re-passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) by the National Assembly.
In a letter addressed to the President, which was made available to journalists in Lagos, the groups lamented what they called “the lack of progress” in the enactment of the bill.
According to the groups, the president, by working towards quick passage of the bill, would have established lasting legacy as president of Nigeria, prevent million deaths and protected the health of millions of Nigerians and future generations.
The letter jointly signed by Executive Director, CISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani; Director, ERA/FoEN, Akinbode Oluwafemi and Member, NTCA Board of Trustees, Adeola Akinremi said Nigeria signed and ratified the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) in 2004 and 2005, respectively.
The groups said “in the last year, we have observed the lack of progress in the enactment of the NTCB and we are deeply concerned that if the process is not expedited, Nigeria will miss yet another opportunity to protect millions of its citizens from the impending tobacco-related epidemic. Information reaching us is that at the Senate and the House of Representatives, efforts have been on-going for the re-passage of the NTCB.
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