By Danjuma Attah, Gombe
Gombe State Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism says it is considering the prohibition of any business activity that involves tobacco products in the Multi-billion naira Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park by the time it comes alive.
This commitment was made by the Gombe State Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism when a team from the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), paid an advocacy visit to the Commissioner.
The State Ministry of Justice has similarly made a commitment towards controlling the consumption and usage of tobacco products using legal framework.
Both Ministries pledged to swing into action as soon as modalities are put in place towards controlling tobacco consumption for the sake of public health and mutual benefits through taxation.
The Commissioners who were represented by their Permanent Secretaries during the advocacy visit said that the commitment is borne out of the need to create a safe environment for the people.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Babayo Hassan Abubakar, expressed his belief to the CISLAC team that a lot can be achieved from the partnership especially for the benefit of the youths and children.
He explained that the coming of CISLAC was more of a wake up call on the role the ministry can play in tobacco control measures using it’s regulatory mandate of business in the State.
At the Ministry of Justice, the Permanent Secretary, Mohammed Isma’il Hina, explained the readiness of the ministry to move into action as soon as it receives directives from any of the line ministries such as Health, Environment, Trade and Industry.
Earlier, Solomon Adoga and Murtala Mohammed, Senior Programmes Officers in CISLAC, outlined the need for the collaborative approach on ways of making tobacco products less accessible and affordable as well as making gains through increased taxes making it a win-win situation.
According to Adoga, tobacco products are cheapest in Nigeria, making it very accessible and affordable and that is the reason why even children go for it. He stressed however that higher taxation at the State level will make it less attractive.
CISLAC has been in the forefront in the campaign on tobacco control measures in Gombe State and so far, it’s advocacy has taken it to the State Ministry of Environmental, Ministry of Health as well as Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism. The advocacy visit to the Ministry of Justice this time around is for the second time.
