Many vendors of cigarettes and snuff have expressed the opinion that tobacco product producers ought to be held accountable for the rising health concerns related to the use of their goods.
While absolving merchants of any responsibility, they refrained from demanding a ban on the sale or manufacture of tobacco products throughout the nation.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) conducted inspection and education exercises on the necessity for tobacco makers to put visuals of different health concerns on their packages at Etim Edem Park in Calabar where they spoke.
“The enforcers should focus on the tobacco makers to label their goods with all the visuals cautioning customers, not us,” said one of the retailers, Mazi Chinedu Okaka. “I believe that such labels can assist, but in the end, it is the consumers who will decide.”
“Even with taxes on tobacco goods and the resulting high prices of cigarettes, people still buy,” he continued.
Therefore, we are not to blame.
Usman Abdullahi, a different merchant in the Bogobiri neighborhood of Calabar, which is mostly a Hausa-Fulani settlement, said: “Now that they have informed us, they should also take this exercise to the dealers and producers. To sell is our own. The customers should speak with the enforcers. Or they might outright outlaw tobacco goods.
He recommended that the government impose hefty charges on the goods to deter purchasers.
While in Calabar, the FCCPC threatened to crack down on cigarette makers who have not complied with the order to display graphic warning signs on their goods to alert customers to the risks to their health.
Additionally, the oversight agency committed to remove such goods from Nigerian marketplaces.
The crew visited local markets in Bogobiri, Etim Edem Parks, and Spar Shops, among other locations, as part of the inspection and enlightenment activities.
The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance’s Chibuike Nwokorie stated: “We have informed the merchants of tobacco goods, like as cigarettes, snuff, and similar items, that further visits to them won’t be nice.
