‘Nigeria’s next public health emergency is already in markets, smartphones’

What if Nigeria’s next major public health emergency is not lurking in hospitals or spreading through infectious diseases, but sitting on supermarket shelves, hidden in school bags, displayed in nightlife venues, and promoted through smartphones?

This is the warning from Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), which says Nigeria is already facing a growing nicotine crisis driven by the rapid spread of new and emerging tobacco products such as vapes, electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and nicotine pouches.

Marking the 2026 World No Tobacco Day, CAPPA cautioned that while cigarette smoking remains a significant health concern, tobacco companies have quietly shifted strategies, introducing products designed to appear cleaner, safer, and more socially acceptable, particularly to young people.

According to the organisation, the danger is no longer a future possibility but a present reality unfolding across retail outlets, online platforms, entertainment centres, and social media channels.

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CAPPA’s latest report, ‘New Smoke Trap: New and Emerging Nicotine and Tobacco Products, Youth Exposure and Policy Gaps in Nigeria’, documented 781 nicotine and tobacco-related products during a surveillance exercise conducted in Lagos, Enugu, and the Federal Capital Territory. Of this figure, 573 were identified as new and emerging nicotine and tobacco products.

The report paints a picture of a fast-expanding market operating in plain sight.

Unlike traditional cigarettes, many of the products are packaged in colourful designs and come in sweet flavours such as mango, strawberry, bubble gum, mint, vanilla, and candy. Some resemble everyday consumer items, including flash drives, cosmetics, pens, toys, and electronic gadgets, making them easier to carry and use discreetly.

Akinbode Oluwafemi, CAPPA executive director, said the tobacco industry’s business model has remained unchanged despite changes in products and marketing strategies.

“The industry has changed its language, changed its products, changed its smells, and changed its packaging. But its objective remains the same: to make profit by making people addicted to its products of death and disease,” he said during a World No Tobacco Day press briefing in Lagos, on Tuesday.

He warned that tobacco companies are increasingly targeting younger demographics through flavours, attractive packaging, lifestyle messaging, and social media campaigns.

“Many of these products are sold in sweet flavours, packaged in bright colours, and promoted through social media channels popular with young people. They are designed not merely to compete for existing smokers but to create new nicotine users,” Oluwafemi said.

The concern aligns with the theme of this year’s World No Tobacco Day, “Unmasking the Appeal: Countering Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction,” which focuses on exposing strategies used by the tobacco and nicotine industry to attract new consumers.

Public health advocates fear that Nigeria’s large youth population and rapidly growing digital economy could make the country particularly vulnerable to the aggressive marketing of these products.

According to CAPPA, the battle is increasingly being fought not only in stores and markets but also on smartphones where young Nigerians consume content on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X.

The organisation noted that digital marketing often moves faster than regulatory enforcement, allowing nicotine products to gain visibility and social acceptance before authorities can respond effectively.

Beyond digital platforms, CAPPA also raised concerns about the growing association of tobacco use with prestige, success, and cultural identity.

The organisation pointed to the increasing visibility of cigar smoking at major social and cultural events, including the Ojude Oba Festival, where images of prominent individuals smoking cigars have gained widespread attention on social media.

While acknowledging the cultural significance of the festival, CAPPA warned that repeated exposure to such images risks normalising tobacco use and associating nicotine products with wealth, influence, and social status.

“When tobacco products become symbols of aspiration and admiration, young people are less likely to see the health risks first. What they see is success, prestige and acceptance,” the organisation noted.

The warning comes as the World Health Organization continues to urge governments worldwide to ban flavours and additives in tobacco and nicotine products, arguing that such ingredients play a significant role in attracting young users and encouraging addiction.

CAPPA acknowledged recent efforts by Nigerian authorities to include emerging nicotine products within the country’s excise tax framework but argued that taxation alone would not solve the problem.

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According to the organisation, products can remain fashionable and widely accepted even when taxed if governments fail to restrict advertising, youth-oriented packaging, flavouring, online promotion, and access by minors.

The group called on the Federal Government, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the National Broadcasting Commission, state governments, and other regulators to strengthen enforcement of existing tobacco control laws.

It also urged authorities to consider stronger restrictions on flavoured nicotine products, expand public smoking regulations to cover emerging nicotine devices, intensify monitoring of digital marketing channels, and increase funding for tobacco control programmes.

For public health experts, the warning is clear. The greatest nicotine threat facing Nigeria today may not be the cigarette of the past but a new generation of products marketed through technology, culture, flavours, and social media.

And unless regulators move faster than the market, the country’s next public health emergency may already be sitting in stores, trending on social media feeds, and quietly finding its way into the hands of a new generation of users.