Health advocates have raised the alarm over the growing threat of nicotine addiction in Nigeria following the influx of more than 573 new and emerging nicotine products into the country’s retail and digital marketplaces within just three months.

The warning was issued in Lagos during the presentation of a new report by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), which cautioned that regulatory gaps are exposing young Nigerians to potentially dangerous substances and accelerating the normalisation of nicotine use.

Titled “New Smoke Trap: New and Emerging Nicotine and Tobacco Products, Youth Exposure and Policy Gaps in Nigeria”, the report detailed findings from structured surveillance carried out between October and December 2025 across Lagos, Enugu and the Federal Capital Territory.

Researchers documented 781 nicotine and tobacco-related products during the period, with 573 identified as new-generation nicotine devices such as e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products.

E-cigarettes alone accounted for 522 variants, underscoring what experts describe as a rapidly expanding and potentially hazardous market.

Speaking at the launch, CAPPA Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, warned that the country is witnessing the emergence of a “layered nicotine ecosystem” quietly embedding itself into everyday consumer culture.

“These products sit beside snacks, electronics, and cosmetics. They are sleek, flavoured, and framed as lifestyle accessories. But beneath the design is nicotine, the same addictive substance that has driven tobacco profits for decades,” he said.

The report highlighted particular concern over nicotine pouches, often promoted as “tobacco-free”, yet marketed online in strengths ranging from 3mg to as high as 100mg per pouch.

Some brands reportedly fail to clearly disclose nicotine levels on packaging while advertising high-strength options digitally, a practice experts say heightens the risk of accidental overconsumption and addiction.

Although fewer in number, heated tobacco devices are being positioned as premium lifestyle products targeted at affluent early adopters, raising fears that nicotine use could spread across multiple socio-economic groups.

CAPPA warned that many of these products are exploiting loopholes in the National Tobacco Control Act, which was primarily designed to regulate combustible tobacco rather than modern nicotine-delivery technologies.

“Our existing framework was constructed around the burning of tobacco leaves,” Oluwafemi noted, stressing that it does not adequately address newer systems engineered to operate at the margins of current definitions.

He also pushed back against claims that alternative nicotine products serve as harm-reduction tools.

“In Nigeria, these products are not replacing cigarettes at scale. They are layering new consumption formats onto an existing environment and drawing in young people who have never previously smoked,” he said. “They are entry points, not exit ramps.”

Also speaking, Professor Lekan Ayo-Yusuf of the Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research said the development mirrors a familiar global pattern in which industry innovation moves faster than regulation.

“Regulate nicotine, not just tobacco products. Where countries adopted product-neutral definitions covering all nicotine delivery systems, they closed loopholes early. Nigeria has that opportunity now,” he advised.

Ayo-Yusuf further warned that youth uptake tends to rise where marketing restrictions are weak, particularly in digital spaces.

“Protection must extend to digital environments. Age verification must be meaningful, not symbolic. Delayed regulation protects markets and institutionalises nicotine dependence,” he added.

CAPPA therefore called for urgent regulatory action, recommending that all nicotine delivery systems — whether tobacco-based or not — be brought under clear oversight.

The organisation also urged authorities to integrate emerging products into the excise tax framework and impose explicit rules on digital advertising, influencer promotions and online sales.

It further advocated stronger coordination among health, trade, standards, taxation and consumer protection agencies, warning that fragmented institutional interpretations currently allow many products to slip through enforcement cracks.

With over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population under 30, CAPPA cautioned that failure to act decisively could reverse hard-earned tobacco-control gains and entrench a new generation in nicotine addiction. (The Sun)

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