By Robert Egbe | September 22, 2025
Nigeria’s decision to channel SIN taxes levies on alcohol, tobacco, and sugary drinks—into health financing marks a bold step toward prioritising public health. The policy also reflects long-standing calls from Nigerian advocates and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to hold unhealthy industries accountable for their toll on lives.
The urgency is stark. Nigerians spend an estimated N1.92 trillion ($1.26 billion) annually treating non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Nearly 30% of all deaths in the country are linked to NCDs, with tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks as major contributors.
The Heavy Toll of Tobacco
Tobacco use alone fuels a devastating list of illnesses: cancers, heart disease, stroke, chronic respiratory ailments like COPD, type 2 diabetes, and complications in pregnancy. Globally, tobacco claims more than seven million lives each year, with 300,000 deaths in Africa. Most smokers live in low- and middle-income countries, where Big Tobacco aggressively markets its products.
In 2015, the world’s six largest cigarette companies reported $62 billion in profits exceeding the national budgets of several small countries. These profits bankroll relentless advertising, youth-targeted campaigns, lobbying against regulation, and deceptive promotion of “reduced risk” products like vapes and heated tobacco, which entrap new generations in nicotine addiction.
Despite this, Nigeria’s funding for tobacco control remains paltry. In 2024, the government allocated just N13 million to the Tobacco Control Fund far below the minimum N300 million required to operationalize it.
Canada’s Landmark Settlement
Nigeria can look abroad for inspiration. In 2024, Canada reached a C$32.5 billion ($23.7bn) settlement with three tobacco giants JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, and Imperial Tobacco Canada. Finalised in August 2025 after a 27-year legal battle, the settlement compensates provinces, territories, and former smokers for healthcare and economic costs.
This follows the 1998 U.S. Master Settlement Agreement, where four leading firms agreed to pay $206 billion over 25 years with payments continuing indefinitely.
As WHO’s Adriana Blanco Marquizo noted, the Canadian deal has “far-reaching” implications: proof that Big Tobacco can be held liable for the destruction it causes.
Nigeria’s Legal Footprint
Nigeria already has precedent. In 2023, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) fined British American Tobacco companies $110 million for breaching health regulations—the largest penalty ever issued by the regulator.
But experts argue Nigeria must go further:
Legal groundwork: Build airtight cases quantifying healthcare costs and damages, modelled on Canadian and U.S. litigation.
Civil society mobilisation: Groups like CAPPA and the Nigerian Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) must keep up advocacy pressure.
Robust data: Document true costs of tobacco in hospitalisations, productivity loss, and premature deaths.
International collaboration: Partner with global networks to counter Big Tobacco’s legal firepower.
Justice for Victims
Canada’s model also includes a Tobacco Claims process, allowing victims of smoking-related illness—or relatives of those killed by tobacco to seek direct compensation without upfront legal fees. Nigeria could adapt this to deliver justice to victims while boosting public support for stronger controls.
The New Threat: Vapes & Nicotine Products
The next battlefront is not just cigarettes but vapes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches—products marketed as “safer alternatives.” Experts warn these are tactics to hook youth and weaken tobacco control.
Any Nigerian settlement must explicitly exclude industry-backed “harm reduction” initiatives and instead fund counter-marketing, research, and enforcement. With Nigeria’s youthful population already targeted by flavoured e-cigarettes, failure to act could seed a generation addicted to nicotine.
A Defining Choice
The path ahead is clear: Nigeria can continue underfunding tobacco control or it can follow Canada’s lead and make Big Tobacco pay for decades of harm. Success would not only finance healthcare and strengthen advocacy but also save millions of lives.
The question is whether Nigeria’s leaders will place citizens’ health above the lobbying power of an industry that thrives on addiction. Canada has shown it is possible. Nigeria must decide if it has the will.
Robert Egbe is a tobacco control advocate at Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA).
