How tobacco corporations are reshaping Nigeria’s health policies

The battle for Nigeria’s public health is not being fought in noisy legislative chambers or on the streets where tobacco advertisements once loomed large. Instead, it is unfolding quietly—in conference rooms where meetings go unrecorded, in rural communities where boreholes bear the names of tobacco-funded foundations, and in the soft, persuasive language of corporate philanthropy. A new national assessment has now put numbers—and urgency—to this creeping crisis. The 2025 Nigeria Tobacco Industry Interference Index, released in Lagos by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), reveals that tobacco corporations have deepened their foothold in Nigeria’s policy landscape. The country’s interference score, which stood at 60 in 2023, has worsened to 62, firmly placing Nigeria among the more vulnerable nations in the global ranking at 54th out of 100 countries.

The score may appear small, but its implications are not. It signals a public health environment where influence is not only present but maturing, evolving, and in many cases overpowering the safeguards meant to keep it at bay. For decades, the tobacco industry in Nigeria relied on mass advertising and political patronage to secure its interests. But as regulations grew tighter and public awareness expanded, the industry adjusted—mastering a softer, impossible-to-criticise strategy: philanthropy. The report highlights how the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) has turned corporate social responsibility (CSR) into its most potent tool. Through scholarships, agricultural programmes, youth empowerment schemes, and borehole donations, BATNF inserts itself into governance spaces under the guise of development support.

“These are strategic investments,” CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, warned. “Not investments in people, but investments in access—access to policymakers, government institutions, and future leverage.”

The problem, however, is not the gifts themselves. It is the government’s willingness—even eagerness—to receive them. State commissioners, local government chairmen, and even governors continue to attend tobacco-linked events, offering praise that strengthens the industry’s legitimacy and weakens the boundaries meant to keep it away from policymaking. In one instance cited in the report, a state governor shared a stage with tobacco-linked organisations, smiling for photographs that later became promotional material. Such appearances, the Index warns, “signal complicity, not neutrality.”

One of the most damaging outcomes of this influence was Nigeria’s 2023 suspension of tobacco excise taxes—a decision that reversed years of progress in line with WHO and ECOWAS standards. Taxes are globally recognised as the most effective tool for reducing tobacco consumption. By pausing tax increases, Nigeria effectively shielded tobacco companies from the economic pressure meant to curb sales. The report describes it as “a reversal that shifted the burden of tobacco harm from industry to citizens.”

For a country where tobacco-related diseases claim more than 17,000 lives annually, the consequences are profound. One of the major revelations of the Index is how Nigeria’s regulatory environment has space for strong laws but not strong guardianship. Section 25 of the National Tobacco Control Act mandates full disclosure of every interaction between government officials and tobacco companies. Yet most agencies fail to comply. Meetings occur without documentation. Consultations are held without public awareness.

CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director, Zikora Ibeh, who led the research, described the situation bluntly: “The state legislates against tobacco influence but legitimises it through partnership and silence.” The problem is worsened by the lack of awareness among public officials. Few have undergone training on Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control—the global guideline that demands countries protect their policies from tobacco industry interference. Without training, officials cannot see the danger. And without seeing the danger, they cannot guard against it.

The report also highlights a new and rapidly expanding front: the rise of e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and nicotine pouches marketed as “harm reduction tools.” Tobacco companies are increasingly presenting themselves as partners in innovation, arguing for a place at the policymaking table. This, the Index warns, is a Trojan horse. “The tobacco industry cannot reinvent itself as a public health ally,” Oluwafemi said. “Its business is addiction—whether by smoke, by heat, or by liquid nicotine.” By participating in discussions on emerging products, companies gain the legitimacy they crave, even when evidence on safety remains inconclusive.

The story is not entirely bleak. The report celebrates several hard-won victories. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC)—after a landmark investigation—fined British American Tobacco Nigeria $110 million for anti-competitive practices, one of the largest penalties in Nigeria’s regulatory history. Likewise, the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) banned the glamorisation of smoking in Nollywood films, a major win for public health advocates who had long warned about the influence of smoking imagery on young audiences. These victories prove that Nigerian institutions can act decisively. The challenge is ensuring that such actions are not isolated events but part of a consistent, nationwide commitment to public health.

Perhaps the most deeply unsettling conclusion of the report is that the tobacco industry’s interference is not just a threat to public health—it is a threat to democratic integrity. When corporations with a record of deception and manipulation gain access to decision-making spaces, the balance of power tilts away from citizens and toward profit-driven actors. “What is at stake,” Oluwafemi argued, “is the independence of our public institutions. If policies meant to save lives can be shaped by corporations whose products kill, then our democracy is in danger.”

The 2025 Index does not simply expose a problem; it forces Nigeria to confront a choice. The country can strengthen its resolve, enforce transparency, and rebuild the protective walls that the tobacco industry has quietly eroded. Or it can continue on its current trajectory—one where corporate proximity becomes policy direction. The findings from April 2023 to March 2025 are clear: tobacco interference is worsening, not retreating. The industry is smarter, more strategic, and far more entrenched than before. Nigeria must now decide whether it will reclaim its public health policies or surrender them, piece by piece, to the most harmful corporate actors in the world.