From bustling university campuses and upscale lounges to neighbourhood kiosks and online marketplaces, a new generation of nicotine products is finding eager users among young Nigerians.

Vapes, flavoured nicotine pouches, shisha, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are rapidly replacing conventional cigarettes, raising concerns among health experts who fear the country is witnessing the emergence of a new wave of nicotine addiction.

Unlike traditional cigarettes, these products are often packaged in colourful designs, marketed as fashionable lifestyle accessories and promoted through social media influencers, making them particularly attractive to adolescents and young adults.

Public health experts and government officials told The Guardian that weak enforcement of existing tobacco laws, regulatory loopholes and the absence of clear provisions covering new-generation nicotine products have created room for their rapid spread across the country, despite growing evidence linking them to severe health risks, including cancer, lung damage and cardiovascular diseases.

The findings come as the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) in Nigeria revealed that tobacco use among adults increased from 4.5 million users in 2012 to eight million in 2025. The prevalence of shisha smoking also rose from 0.3 per cent to 0.7 per cent within the same period, while the use of smokeless tobacco increased from 1.9 per cent to 2.8 per cent.

Data from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare further revealed that 15.4 per cent of schoolchildren aged 13 to 15 currently use tobacco in the country.

Also, the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), in its report titled New Smoke Trap: New and Emerging Nicotine and Tobacco Products, Youth Exposure and Policy Gaps in Nigeria, stated that surveillance conducted between October and December 2025 across Lagos, Enugu and the Federal Capital Territory documented 781 nicotine- and tobacco-related products nationwide.

Of this figure, 573 were identified as new and emerging nicotine and tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco devices, while e-cigarettes alone accounted for 522 variants.

According to CAPPA, Nigeria loses about N526 billion of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually to tobacco-related healthcare costs and productivity losses, with nearly 30,000 deaths recorded each year.

Statistics further showed that more than 20 billion sticks of cigarettes are consumed annually in the country. A visit to some kiosks in Abuja showed that a stick of cigarette sells for between N100 and N150, while a pack costs between N2,000 and N2,500, depending on the brand.

A kiosk operator, Kamal, told The Guardian that patronage remains high, adding that he sells more than 20 packets of cigarettes monthly.

Stakeholders blamed the surge in tobacco use on the emergence of new nicotine products, peer pressure, cultural influences, celebrity and influencer endorsements, and the false belief that vaping and shisha are safer alternatives.

They therefore called for a review of the National Tobacco Control Act to include new and emerging products, the introduction of higher taxes on tobacco products, and stricter enforcement of the law.

The National Tobacco Control Act was enacted in 2015 to reduce tobacco consumption and protect the public from the health hazards of smoking. Some of its provisions include the prohibition of smoking in public places such as restaurants, bars, bus stops, motor parks and schools, as well as a ban on the sale of cigarettes in single sticks and to minors. Despite the legislation, however, smoking in public places remains common.

Grim statistics continue to show why complacency and delay remain dangerous. The World Health Organisation (WHO) noted that tobacco use accounts for 25 per cent of all cancer deaths globally and remains the leading cause of lung cancer.

The global health watchdog stated that the tobacco epidemic remains one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, responsible for more than seven million deaths annually, including an estimated 1.6 million non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke.

The organisation recommends that total excise taxes should account for at least 70 per cent of the retail price of cigarettes. However, in Nigeria, total excise taxes account for only about 30 per cent of the retail price.

The Country Coordinator of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) in Nigeria, Mike Olaniyan, told The Guardian that tobacco smoking remains a serious public health concern in the country, adding that the challenge extends beyond current smokers to include second-hand smoke exposure, youth initiation, weak enforcement and the rise of new nicotine products.

He lamented that tobacco use is changing form, with increasing interest in shisha, vaping, e-cigarettes, flavoured nicotine products, online sales, lifestyle marketing and youth-focused packaging.

Olaniyan argued that the industry is no longer selling only cigarettes but is now marketing identity, fun, flavour, social status and a false perception of safety.

He said, “The industry understands that if young people are not recruited early, long-term customers are lost. So, it is investing heavily in vaping, flavoured products, heated tobacco products and digital marketing to recruit younger users.

“Young Nigerians are being attracted by the appeal. Shisha is often presented as relaxation, while vaping is branded as fashionable technology. Nicotine addiction in better packaging is still addiction, and these products are not safe. They still deliver harmful chemicals to consumers.”

Olaniyan urged Nigerians to stop treating tobacco as a lifestyle choice and start seeing it as a public health issue.

He called on the government to enact stronger laws, adequately fund enforcement and increase taxes, stressing that higher tobacco taxes would deliver the triple benefits of reducing consumption, increasing revenue and lowering healthcare costs.

Olaniyan stated that the current framework can regulate tobacco products, but was not drafted with the full modern nicotine market in mind. He stressed the need to review and strengthen the law to close loopholes before the industry builds a new generation of nicotine-dependent consumers.

He also decried the weak enforcement of the National Tobacco Control Act and insisted that higher tobacco taxes should be accompanied by strict anti-smuggling measures and dedicated budgetary support for enforcement, cessation programmes and public health education.

Also speaking with The Guardian, the Coordinator of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), Mr Olawale Makanjuola, said the organisation has observed increasing efforts by the tobacco industry to redefine itself through subtle marketing under the guise of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

He said, “The companies have been visiting policymakers and governors, seeking partnerships with state governments in revitalising the agricultural sector. They are using agriculture as the context for their renewed interest in CSR. In Lagos, for example, where there are no tobacco farms or significant agricultural activities, they want to empower women farmers.”

Makanjuola lamented that new forms of tobacco products are being introduced into the Nigerian market, targeting young people, and expressed concern over the proliferation of flavoured tobacco- and nicotine-based products such as vapes, smokeless tobacco and other novel products.

The coordinator noted that Nigeria remains a major target market for tobacco products because of its large youthful population and advocated strict implementation of the Tobacco Control Act, as well as amendments to the law to cover emerging products.

The Head of Cardiovascular Disease and Tobacco Control at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Malau Toma, told The Guardian that tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke remain leading risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), posing a serious threat to public health.

He lamented that the tobacco industry has adopted aggressive tactics and innovations in recent years to sustain its business, adding that the ministry has observed the proliferation of water-pipe tobacco, popularly known as shisha.

Toma pointed out that there has been a rapid introduction of new and emerging tobacco and nicotine products and warned that products the industry promotes as “harm-reduction” products, “safer alternatives” or “cessation aids” are still harmful and toxic.

He said, “There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco or nicotine. E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products have been shown to contain heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and cadmium. Exposure to these metals is associated with lung inflammation, tissue scarring and potential long-term respiratory damage.

“Scientific studies have also linked such exposures to increased risks of cancer, neurological impairment and central nervous system toxicity.”

Toma emphasised that tobacco and nicotine are killer products and advised smokers to seek cessation support from health facilities.

He noted that new and emerging tobacco and nicotine products are not covered by the current National Tobacco Control Act, 2015, and the National Tobacco Control Regulations, 2019. Shisha, however, is covered under both instruments.

Toma stated that the ministry, through the National Tobacco Control Unit (TCU) and the multisectoral National Tobacco Control Committee (NATOCC), is documenting lessons learnt and gaps identified during the implementation of the current Act.

He added that the process would inform the review of the law to ensure full alignment with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Toma noted that although Section 9 of the National Tobacco Control Act, 2015, bans smoking in public places to protect non-smokers, especially children, from the adverse effects of second-hand smoke, the Act also permits the creation of designated smoking areas (DSAs) by owners of public places, making enforcement, particularly in indoor public spaces, more challenging.

On whether the government is considering higher taxes on tobacco products to reduce demand, Toma said, “Nigeria’s 2026 three-year fiscal policy measures and tariff amendments retained the 30 per cent ad valorem rate while raising the specific excise to N6.00 per stick. The specific excise is set to increase to N7.00 per stick in 2027 and N8.00 per stick in 2028.

“The 2026 measures also set a specific excise rate of N4,500/kg or N6,000/litre for new and emerging tobacco and nicotine products, including snus, other smoking tobacco products, heated tobacco products, vapes, e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.”

On his part, the Director of the Tobacco Division at the Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF) and a public health expert at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Prof. Olukemi Odukoya, told The Guardian that shisha smoking has become an emerging public health concern in Nigeria despite gains made under the National Tobacco Control Act, particularly because of its high prevalence among secondary school and university students.

Odukoya warned that Nigeria is not doing enough to monitor youth nicotine use in schools and entertainment spaces, noting that vaping products remain largely unregulated.

She called for stricter enforcement of the Tobacco Control Act, stronger school-based health promotion programmes, tighter regulation of shisha products and lounges, and collaboration with the film industry to discourage tobacco use on screen.

A clinical psychologist, Dr Miracle Ihuoma, told The Guardian that the growing acceptance of vaping, shisha and other nicotine products among youths is largely driven by poor awareness and misconceptions about their dangers.

He said many young people no longer regard them as smoking, viewing them instead as safer alternatives to cigarettes, while remaining unaware that they contain nicotine and pose serious health risks.

Ihuoma identified depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, as being linked to substance use, noting that social pressure and harsh economic realities further fuel the trend among young Nigerians. He warned that the belief that vaping is safer than cigarettes is both misleading and dangerous.

He also highlighted Nigeria’s weak treatment and support systems for nicotine addiction, calling for more rehabilitation centres, trained professionals and sustained public awareness campaigns across families, schools, religious institutions and communities to curb rising substance dependence.