The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation. The country's huge population and its weak tobacco control laws make it a target of tobacco corporations. However, the few tobacco control groups that have to resist the tobacco companies operate with low or near zero budgets.

With the paucity of funds, tobacco control groups in the country relied largely on creative media advocacy that rely mostly on earned reports rather than paid media. The Media Advocacy for Tobacco Control Tobacco was designed to mobilize public opinion and set political agenda strong enough to pressure the Nigerian government to review existing tobacco laws and to implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Objectives The objectives of the campaign include to: • Create awareness about the tobacco pandemic, • Counter tobacco transnational overwhelming advertising and promotional activities, • Advocate for the ban of tobacco adverts and a comprehensive review of the tobacco legislation, and • Set political agenda for the implementation of the FCTC In Nigeria

METHODS The methods employed to implement the media advocacy include; workshops for journalists, conferences, press releases, news generating events like rallies, live interviews on radio and television and petitions to government.

OUTPUT There were regular reports on tobacco control in over 75 per cent of the Nigerian media. Policy successes that were recorded during the period of the campaign include tighter restriction on tobacco advertising and the ratification of the FCTC by the Nigerian government.