Faced with increasing opposition from Western governments and consumers, multinational tobacco companies are now turning their attention to new markets in Africa, and Nigeria with a population of over 140 million is considered a prime catch for them. Consequently, they have adopted dumping practices and massive advertising to lure more people into developing smoking habits and in so doing, expand the tobacco markets.
The resistance to this push gave birth to the Tobacco Control campaign. The campaign works to draw the attention of the public to the health hazards of smoking, and also functions as a pressure to ensure that the government is not only aware of latest international rules and conventions governing the tobacco industry, but also apply them to protect the citizenry from the multinationals.
