The anti-smoking law signed by Lagos State government in 2014 was highly applauded by many. But one year after, the endemic smoking, especially in public places, seems to persist. Lawyers and other stakeholders attribute the unpleasant habit to faulty enforcement of the law, reports Senior Correspondent, ONYEWUCHI OJINNAKA.
One year after, there are mixed expressions over the enforcement of the Lagos State anti-smoking law, which Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) signed into law on Monday, February 20, 2014. The anti-smoking bill was initiated by Gbolahan Yishawu and passed by the House of Assembly in January 2014.
The import of the law, which has 16 sections, is to discourage and prohibit cigarette smoking, especially in public places and in the presence of people below the age of 18 years, by youths and adults living in the state.
The law prohibits smoking in public places such as schools, public toilets, commercial vehicles, restaurants, hotels, stadia, libraries, motor parks, cinema halls, supermarkets and other public places recognised by law. Some of the sections stated that it is an offence to smoke in public and designated places, and that anybody who contravenes the law shall be guilty of the offence and liable to pay fine or go to jail.
According to the law, any person who smokes in the presence of a child under 18 years commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of N15,000 or one month imprisonment.
Expressing his view on whether people are complying with the law, a Lagos-based lawyer, Thompson Bernard, said people are no longer smoking because of health reasons, and not necessarily because of the law. For him, the health hazard has really reduced the rate of smoking not only in public places but in private homes.
Also stating his position on the anti-smoking law, another legal practitioner, Akin Adepoju, said he is unaware if anyone has been prosecuted for smoking before and after the law was signed. He said the law should have served as a deterrent but nobody has been arrested, adding that prosecution determines whether the law is effective or not. He also faulted the enforcement, saying that there is no effective way of monitoring compliance.
“There is no enforcement. The public is not even aware of their rights. The public can enforce the law and not necessarily the law enforcement agents,” Adepoju added.
For an executive committee member of taxi drivers union at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos, Akinola Fatai, before the law, people were smoking rampantly, but in recent times, the rate of smoking has reduced. Members of the union do not allow people to smoke around the taxi park.
But the vice chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), TBS Section, Adelakun Adebajo, confirmed that people still smoke unabated, especially in mornings and evenings. According to him, some women sell gins and cigarettes, and they always get patronage from touts that operate in the motor parks.
A food vendor, who refused to disclose her name to TheNiche, said she does not allow people to smoke in her restaurant because it affects her customers who are non-smokers.
Provisions of the law
For effective ban or control of tobacco smoking in public places, the law compels owners or managers of public places and institutions to put or erect a signboard boldly written ‘No Smoking’ and other symbols that connote that cigarette smoking is prohibited in such places.
Section 4 of the law states that, “it shall be the duty of those who own or occupy public places to ensure that approved signs are displayed conspicuously at each entrance and in prominent locations throughout the premises to inform smokers about the prohibition.”
However, the law provides that in such public places, the owners or managers should create an area outside the public domain where people could smoke without creating harm or hazards to others.
“Any person who repeatedly violates the provisions of the law shall on conviction be liable to a fine of N50,000 or six months imprisonment or both.”
For non-compliance by owners of public places, the law states that such offenders shall be fined N100,000 or six months imprisonment or other non-custodial punishment that the judge may deem fit.
Where the offence of refusal to place the sign or symbol is committed by a corporate body, the director, manager, company secretary or any person concerned in the management of the affairs of the corporate body would be liable. In this case, he would be fined the sum of N250,000 upon conviction.
The law further states that it is an offence to obstruct duly authorised officers from carrying out their duties under the provision of this law. It also gives authorised commissioners of the state the opportunity to designate more places as non-smoking areas for the sake of effective implementation of the law.
Besides, the law gives the state Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the powers to implement it, while giving aggrieved residents who have complaints against officials of the state saddled with implementing it the opportunity to report to the state Ministry of the Environment.
Smoking hazards
The anti-smoking bill attracted commendable reactions when it was signed into law. The signing of the law was expected to go a long way in curtailing the excesses of smokers and possibly reduce the rate of diseases and mortality caused by smoking. Tobacco smoking is very dangerous and injurious to health. It is associated with diseases such as bronchitis, cancers of the mouth, lungs, nose and even lips. It causes mouth and body odour and, socially, it has caused many broken homes.
Apart from direct smoking, second-hand smokers also suffer the same effect. Second-hand smokers are people who are not directly smoking, but directly inhale the smoke puffed out by smokers around them.
According to public health experts, second-hand smoking contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including at least 69 known to cause cancer. It causes serious diseases, including lung cancer, heart disease, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), low birth weight and serious respiratory conditions. Smoking is a social habit and sellers of cigarettes and their customers (smokers) abound in the motor parks, restaurants, secondary and tertiary institutions.
While reacting to the anti-smoking law, the British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) commended Governor Fashola for signing the bill, saying the law was transparent and a good example of balanced and effective law.
According to the company’s director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs in West Africa, Freddy Messanvi, “the bill itself was neither excessive nor discriminatory.”
Enforcement
Lawyers and health experts had wondered how the new law would be enforced, especially as some of the law enforcement agents are chain smokers (in public), not minding the rights of others to clean air. They had urged the state government to follow up the enforcement of the law with series of public enlightenment activities and campaigns to let citizens know about the new law. Both the citizenry and the enforcement agencies should be well enlightened, to avoid violent clashes.
Health organisations, despite commending the law, also expressed fear on the implementation by the relevant law enforcement agencies. They also expressed worry over perceived recklessness and excesses of law enforcement agencies in carrying out their duty of enforcing the law.
One of such organisations is the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), which expressed concern over compliance and implementation of the law. Its former president, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, had commended the Lagos State government for the law, but expressed concern over its enforcement. His worry was not unconnected with the sub-optimal levels of public awareness and health education on the dangers associated with tobacco smoking.
“We are also worried over the absence of cigarette smoking withdrawal programmes, particularly as it affects the fate of citizens who have not been prepared for the drastic withdrawal from the highly addictive and cancer-inducing substances contained in cigarettes,”Enabulele said.
Also speaking on the enforcement, Messanvi said he hoped that there will be adequate campaigns and education of all Lagosians, especially those who trade in tobacco or who will enforce the laws. “For laws to be effective, it must be enforced in a just manner as this is the only way it can achieve its intent,” he added.