Civil society groups in the frontline of the campaign against the menace of tobacco and other nicotine products have exposed the industry’s new bait to ensnare youths, kids and other unsuspecting persons, with the launch of a new report.

The report, “New Smoke Trap: New and Emerging Nicotine and Tobacco Products, Youth Exposure and Policy Gaps in Nigeria”, was put together by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), in conjunction with Vital Strategies.

During the media presentation in Lagos, yesterday, the Executive Director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, in his welcome address, noted the products under scrutiny as e-cigarettes commonly known as vapes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products.

He pointed out that the fight against combustible tobacco forces the industry to invent more dangerous nicotine products concealed in attractive sweet-flavoured packages that are very attractive to even children.

According to him, in the process of compiling the report, which took place in Lagos, Enugu and Abuja, 781 tobacco and nicotine-related products were documented, of which 573 fell under the category of New and Emerging Nicotine and Tobacco Products (NENTPs).

Considering the marketing strategy of the industry, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Vital Strategies, Dr Mary-Ann Etiebet, urged the media to also use the same digital ecosystems to escalate the campaign against the nicotine products, which The Guardian learnt were more dangerous than ingesting insecticides.

Noting that the tobacco industry’s survival depends on sustained addiction, Etiebet said, “the time to save the future through the youths who are exploited by the industry, is now.”

The Director, Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research, School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, South Africa, Prof. Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, in the global lessons for regulating NENTPs, called for regulation of nicotine, not just tobacco products, but also market restrictions and evidence-driven marketing narratives.

The report identified regulatory fragmentation among health, trade, standards, and consumer protection agencies as another vulnerability. While health authorities view the products as public health risks, other agencies often treat them as ordinary consumer commodities, creating opportunities for regulatory arbitrage.

CAPPA, consequently, sought sweeping reforms, including extending regulatory oversight to all nicotine products, integrating emerging products into the excise tax framework, closing digital advertising loopholes, strengthening age-verification systems, and harmonising cross-agency enforcement.

The group is also calling for nationwide public education campaigns to clarify that the absence of smoke does not mean the absence of harm. (The Guardian)

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