The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) has called on the Federal Government to increase annual funding for tobacco control to at least N300m, warning that inadequate financing is undermining efforts to curb tobacco use and reduce tobacco-related deaths across the country.
The alliance said only about N28m was allocated to tobacco control between 2023 and 2025, describing the funding as grossly inadequate in view of the growing public health burden associated with tobacco consumption.
Speaking with journalists in Calabar on Thursday, the Communications Officer of NTCA, Emmanuel Onwuka, said the Federal Government allocated N4.7m to tobacco control in 2023, N10m in 2024 and N13m in 2025.
He said, “The breakdown of domestic investment showed N4.7m in 2023, N10m in 2024 and N13m in 2025. This is grossly inadequate considering the huge public health burden caused by tobacco use in Nigeria.”
Onwuka noted that the allocations were insignificant when compared with the estimated N526.4bn spent on treating tobacco-related illnesses in Nigeria in 2019, according to data from the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa.
Citing figures from the World Health Organisation, he said more than 3.5 million Nigerians currently use tobacco, while about 16,100 people die annually from tobacco-related diseases.
He expressed concern that critical tobacco control interventions, including enforcement of smoke-free laws, public awareness campaigns, smoking cessation services, research and monitoring of tobacco industry activities, have continued to rely heavily on funding from international development partners.
According to him, organisations such as Bloomberg Philanthropies, Vital Strategies, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the World Health Organisation have provided sustained support for tobacco control advocacy, policy implementation and enforcement in Nigeria.
Onwuka warned that declining global donor funding could expose Nigeria to increased interference from the tobacco industry and weaken ongoing efforts to protect public health unless domestic financing is significantly improved.
He urged the Federal Government to establish sustainable financing by dedicating a portion of tobacco tax revenues to tobacco control programmes and enforcement, citing Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire as examples of countries that earmark tobacco-related taxes for health interventions.
The NTCA spokesman said dedicated funding would strengthen enforcement of existing tobacco control laws, support public education campaigns, improve cessation services, enhance research and build institutional capacity.
He added that NTCA, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids had consistently advocated an annual allocation of at least N300m for tobacco control.
“The Federal Government should consider increasing annual funding to at least N300m given the country’s rising healthcare costs, productivity losses and preventable deaths linked to tobacco consumption. This sum will help protect lives, reduce healthcare costs and improve national productivity,” Onwuka said.
He also called on the National Assembly and state governments to prioritise sustainable financing for tobacco control to ensure effective implementation of the National Tobacco Control Act, 2015.