FG stops N9.6trn tobacco investment?

Lanre Adewole, Abuja - 17.01.2008

The Federal Government has stopped a foreign company from building a tobacco company worth $80 billion (about N9.6 trillion) in Osun State. It has also outlawed smoking in public places in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

Minister of Health, Professor Adenike Grange, made known the decision of the government to reject the foreign investment last year, while speaking on Wednesday at the inauguration of a group, Coalition Against Tobacco (CAT) in Abuja.

However, financial analysts argue that the N9.6 trillion which the minister said a tobacco firm intended to invest in Nigeria was too bogus to be believed.

It was at the same event that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, announced the decision to ban smoking in public places and offices in the nation’s capital, adding that a bill on it would be sent to the National Assembly soon.

The event, packaged by the wife of former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mrs. Mariam Uwais. saw stakeholders rallying against tobacco consumption in Nigeria, with the Federal Government committing itself to pursuing its suit against major tobacco companies in the country to a logical conclusion.

The government is asking for $5.3 billion damages from four tobacco companies. The Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate, Semator Olorunnibe Mamora, assured the gathering of speedy consideration of the bill promised by Modibbo.

Also at the event, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC), Professor (Mrs.) Dora Akunyili, revealed that there was no single cigarette producing factory again in the United Kingdom, wondering why the companies chased out of their home countries should be allowed to find a home in Nigeria.

She added that the World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics showed that 5.4 million human beings died of tobacco related diseases in 2006, averaging one death every 6.5 seconds.