The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has raised concerns over the rapid proliferation of new-generation nicotine and tobacco products in Nigeria, warning that regulatory loopholes are exposing young people to addiction risks.
Speaking on Thursday at the launch of CAPPA’s report titled ‘New Smoke Trap: New and Emerging Nicotine and Tobacco Products, Youth Exposure and Policy Gaps in Nigeria’ in Lagos on Thursday, the organisation’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said Nigeria is witnessing an aggressive expansion of nicotine delivery products, including e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products.
Oluwafemi warned that these products are increasingly visible in everyday youth spaces and are being normalised through lifestyle marketing.
“The products under examination include e-cigarettes commonly known as vapes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products, all of which are now highly visible in supermarkets, embedded in nightlife environments, and aggressively promoted across digital platforms that are disproportionately accessed by young people, thereby normalising nicotine consumption within everyday youth culture,” he said.
He explained that while Nigeria has made significant progress in tobacco regulation through the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and the National Tobacco Control Regulations 2019, those frameworks were primarily designed to address traditional tobacco products.
According to him, “that framework continues to serve a critical purpose, particularly with respect to traditional products like cigarettes. However, it was created to deal with one specific way of delivering nicotine through the burning of tobacco leaves.”
Oluwafemi noted that tobacco companies have since adapted their strategies by repackaging nicotine products as safer and more fashionable alternatives.
“As regulatory scrutiny intensified globally and social stigma around smoking deepened, the tobacco industry recalibrated its strategy by diversifying its portfolio and rebranding addiction as innovation,” he said.
He stressed that despite industry claims of reduced harm, nicotine remains highly addictive and poses serious health risks, particularly for young people.
“Nicotine remains the central commodity, and its neurobiological impact, particularly on adolescents and young adults, is well documented,” he stated, adding that youth targeting is “not an incidental marketing decision but a structural feature of a profit model that depends on recruiting new users.”
Presenting findings from CAPPA’s surveillance conducted in Lagos, Enugu and the Federal Capital Territory between October and December 2025, Oluwafemi revealed that the study documented 781 nicotine and tobacco-related products, with 573 classified as new and emerging nicotine and tobacco products.
He disclosed that e-cigarettes accounted for 522 of the identified items, highlighting the scale of market penetration across the country.
Oluwafemi also raised concerns about the marketing of synthetic nicotine products as tobacco-free, describing such claims as misleading.
“Scientific consensus confirms that synthetic nicotine is pharmacologically identical in structure and effect to tobacco-derived nicotine. It is equally addictive,” he said.
The CAPPA executive director warned that weak age-verification systems on digital platforms are worsening youth exposure, noting that many of the products are promoted online with minimal restrictions.
He further dismissed arguments that emerging nicotine products serve as smoking cessation tools, cautioning policymakers against adopting foreign models without considering Nigeria’s realities.
“Our findings demonstrate that in Nigeria these emerging products are not primarily serving as bridges for entrenched adult smokers seeking to quit. Instead, they are being aggressively normalised among young people,” he said.
Oluwafemi urged Nigerian authorities to strengthen regulatory frameworks to cover all nicotine products and prevent new addiction cycles among young populations.
“We therefore state unequivocally that the uncritical endorsement or permissive regulation of these products would jeopardise Nigeria’s hard-won gains in tobacco control and risk entrenching a new cycle of nicotine dependence,” he warned.
He called for coordinated action among regulatory agencies, stricter digital advertising controls, expanded taxation of emerging nicotine products, and intensified public awareness campaigns.
Oluwafemi also emphasised the role of the media in shaping public understanding of the risks associated with emerging nicotine products, urging journalists to sustain scrutiny of industry narratives.
“We invite you to engage critically with the findings of this report as Nigeria confronts a new phase in the struggle to protect its people, especially its youth, from the evolving architecture of nicotine addiction,” he said.
Sunday Ehigiator
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