[Intl-tobacco] Tobacco MNCs to Invade Nigeria

[Robert Weissman]

*Proliferation of Tobacco Companies And Economic Devt*

*This Day* (Lagos)
ANALYSIS
August 8, 2005
Posted to the web August 9, 2005

By Crusoe Osagie
Lagos

/ As speculations that more tobacco giants are bracing up for the
Nigerian market grows more intense, Crusoe Osagie asks if proliferation
of tobacco companies will lead to the much desired economic development. /

The stage is almost fully set for two other tobacco giants Gallaher of
the United Kingdom and Japan Tobacco International to wield their weight
against the British America Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) who have dominated
the Nigerian local market since 2002 when they made the $150 million
factory investment in Ibadan the Oyo state capital.

BATN, after the siting of their multi-million dollar state of the art
tobacco factory in Nigeria almost immediately took control of over 70
percent of the cigerette market in the country.

THISDAY investigation reveals that the two tobacco giants have been
offered mouth-watering incentives to encourage them to operate in
Nigeria to the end of breaking the BATN's near monopolistic hold on the
tobacco market.

Similar to what has happened in the telecommunications industry in the
country where the first few operators who came to the market were forced
to bend the rules they hitherto presented as impossible to tilt, such as
the per seconds billing, and reduction of call tariffs, these big
tobacco manufacturers are expected to stir fierce competition in the
tobacco market and break BATN's monopoly.

However, lofty as this economic move may be considering the short and
medium term economic prosperity that may result and the number of jobs
that will be created, an important question that must be asked is the
question of the cost that will accompany these developmental move.

If elementary economics teaches that development is measured by the
impact of any improvement on the lives of the people, then we will be
undoing development when we try to acheive it at the cost of human
health and human lives.

It is in this light that it becomes ilogical to encourage competition in
the tobacco market since the ultimate end will be an increased
population of sick people and reduced life expectancy.

One group that has been in the front line of the campaign to reduce as
much as possible the casualty that Nigeria will suffer from the growing
tobacco market in the country is the Professionals Against Tobacco (PAT).

The battle of the tobacco giants that is alergely been staged by the
government is described by PAT as the proverbial battle between two
elephants, which leaves the grass underneath their feet, in this case
Nigerians, as the only victims.

The group claims that the present administration seems to be putting the
lives of the citizen, on the line in search of economic growth.

"This is why we are launching this campaign because in a frantic bid to
attract foreign investors, the Federal Government through the Federal
Ministry of Finance, offered or granted concessions to foreign tobacco
companies who might want to operate in Nigeria," says a report from PAT.

Against the backdrop of campaign against Tobacco, Federal Government has
been accused of aiding tobacco investment in the country by encouraging
the influx of such companies.

The Professionals Against Tobacco (PAT) made this accusation while
criticizing the Federal Government for opening the door of investment in
Nigeria to the two foreign tobacco companies.

The group, a coalition of Lawyers, Journalists, Doctors, Bankers,
Accountants, Engineers, Teachers etc, said that by allowing the tobacco
companies, Gallaher and Japan Tobacco International to build their
factories in Nigeria, the FG is endangering the productive race of the
country, in addition to killing future political leadership. The group,
therefore, vowed to resist both the government and the foreign investors
from establishing in Nigeria.

Mr. Tim Okojie-Ave, the association's head of research and publicity,
said that the two companies had been given approval by the government to
build their companies in Nigeria, noting that with BAT Nigeria already
on ground, the future of the Nigerian youth is in danger.

"It is already a cause for concern that the Nigerian youths are
endangered generation because of the high tobacco consumption rate. If
the youths are smoking this way without these companies being on ground
here, what will be the result if the companies are here in Nigeria?," he
querried..

According to him, PAT will do everything possible to protect the health
of the Nigerian youths and the nation against products that are
hazardous, through enlightenment campaign aimed at discouraging
proliferation of tobacco factories in the country.

Okogie-Ave said that it has been of concern to most of them that are
fighting the incorporation of tobacco companies in Nigeria because most
of the time, records show that arrested criminals do confess of having
smoked before embarking on criminal activities like robbery, rape,
murder, kidnapping and abduction. This confessions, he said, is in
addition to scientific findings that millions of people die annually
from tobacco- induced diseases, such as terminal diseases which include
tuberculosis, cancer of the lungs etc.

According to him: "The planned entry of Gallaher Group Plc and Japan
Tobacco International (JTI) into the Nigeria tobacco industry is
uncalled for as tobacco companies are not part of the dividend of
democracy but a gas chamber meant to suffocate the youths and the
Nigerian public.