Tobacco companies are deliberately targeting children and young people through glamorous packaging and deceptive advertising strategies, according to anti-tobacco campaigners who launched an awareness drive at a secondary school in Nasarawa State.
Speaking at Klinnicaps Academy in Koroduma on Tuesday, the Executive Director of Cedars Refuge Foundation (CRF), Peter Unekwu-Ojo, accused the tobacco industry of using “manipulative tactics” to hook vulnerable youth.
“These industries are setting young people up against their future. They sandwich their products with glamorous, colourful packaging, enticing flavours and high-profile adverts, hiding the dangerous consequences of addiction,” Unekwu-Ojo told students during the campaign themed “Exposing Lies, Protecting Lives.”
The alarming scope of the problem was highlighted by John Egla, Executive Director of Development Initiatives for Societal Health, who cited 2018 Tobacco Atlas statistics showing over 942 million men and 175 million women worldwide aged 15 and older are smokers, with usage rising across Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria.
Egla attributed this growth to increased affordability and aggressive marketing by tobacco companies targeting young people. “Tobacco is a killer; there is no safe level of smoking,” he warned students.
Cedars Refuge Foundation announced plans to establish Tobacco-Free Clubs in 10 high schools across Nasarawa State as part of the broader intervention. The clubs will provide students with knowledge and advocacy tools to resist the tobacco industry’s influence.
School Principal Patrick Ori welcomed the initiative, noting the importance of early intervention and parental supervision in protecting students’ futures. Dean of Studies Precious Ojiaku urged students to maintain strong moral values and avoid what she called “nicotine hooks and flavour packages designed to entice and trap the unsuspecting.”
The campaign officially established the first Tobacco-Free Club at Klinnicaps Academy, with the foundation distributing educational materials to support ongoing anti-tobacco activities.
The initiative forms part of a wider Smoke-Free Campaign that targets various stakeholders, including hotel operators, market leaders, healthcare centres, and policymakers, to enforce provisions of the National Tobacco Control Act.
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