The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa on Thursday urged the Nigerian government to be cautious and have nothing to do with tobacco industry recommendations on so-called harmless alternatives to cigarettes.
Last week, Philip Morris International’s Sub-Saharan Africa Managing Director, Bahman Safakish, said the company was not ready to stop manufacturing of cigarettes because “ending cigarette sales would automatically create a niche market for competitors and illicit traders who do not appreciate the need to replace the combustible hazardous smoking with the electronic vapour-producing device.
“In one breath it claims it is transitioning to the much-discredited so-called less harmful alternatives; in another breath we hear it is raking in billions of dollars from the manufacturing of cigarettes. Then before we could catch our breath, the company is making recommendations to legislate tobacco control. Is that not ironic?”
The CAPPA boss cautioned that the Nigerian government should not fall for the bait of PMI and other tobacco entities advancing policies for alternatives to cigarettes.