Stakeholders, CSOs at loggerheads From Desmond Mgboh, Kano Abdullahi Ahmed, 45, is a small-time provisions trader in Kano. Right from his youthful days in Dambatta, his love for sugarcane is well known. And whenever the season for sugarcane is over, he transfers the urge to sugar-sweetened drinks, gulping bottles upon bottles each day. He told Daily Sun that he consumes at least four bottles a day, and has not been able to quit the old habit. The same goes for Aloy Ugwu, a tyre merchant in Kano. He once scaled down his sugar-drinking habit. But with temperature at over 42 degrees, he slips back to more in-take of sugar drinks. Kano residents who spoke to Daily Sun admitted that they do consume more of these sugar-sweetened breakages (SSBs). Some drink it because the weather is just too hot and they have to quench their thirst. Some drink it to wash down meals, while some do at night bars because they do not take alcoholic drinks. But what many do not know is how much these sugar-sweetened beverages speed up their health challenges. According to experts, SSBs are a contributory factor to the spike in the number of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) in Nigeria. One of the bodies driving this narrative, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), recently organised a workshop in Kano on the dangers of these beverages to the society and the need for additional taxes on the manufacturers of the beverages. Its executive director, Oluwafemi Akinbode, warned of an impending public health crisis in Nigeria as a result of SSBs: “Nigerians, especially children and youth, are being targeted by food corporations using aggressive marketing to push ultra-processed and sugar-laden products. “Diseases once considered rare are now household names. This wave of lifestyle-related ailments is draining family income, overwhelming healthcare facilities and threatening future generations. The Federal Government in 2021 introduced a N10 per litre SSB tax to curb consumption. But the low tax rate is ineffective to address its intended concerns.” He criticised the beverage industry’s misinformation campaigns and lack of transparency in tax fund usage. He appealed to the media to help reverse the trend: “Journalists should expose industry foul tactics and hold both corporations and policymakers accountable through accurate, engagement and investigative reporting.” Similarly, Dr. Oluwatosin Edafe urged the Federal Government to significantly increase the excise on SSBs from the current N10 to N130 per litre: “Nigeria currently consumes 38.6 million litres of SSBs annually, underscoring the significant revenue potential from a well-structured tax regime in this sector. “Additional tax on the industry will serve as a healthy disincentive to the excessive consumption of SSBs. Taxation is a proven and cost-effective tool to reduce this burden and protect households from disease and financial ruins. “Nigeria can generate up to N729 billion annually from a higher SSB tax rate. Tax revenues will doubly benefit the society if they are reinvested into health and nutrition programmes that benefit local communities directly. Over 70 per cent of healthcare expenses in Nigeria are paid out-of-pocket, with many households spending up to 24 per cent of their food budget on the treatment of NCDs such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases. “Countries like Mexico, South Africa, and the United Kingdom have recorded positive outcomes from implementing higher taxes on SSBs, including lower consumption rates, product reformulation and increased public health funding. By increasing the tax rate and investing the proceeds into public health initiatives, Nigeria can promote healthier lifestyles and reduce the economic burden of sugar-related diseases.” However, the manufacturers swiftly debunked the claims. Segun Ajayi Kadir, director-general, Manufactures’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), rejected any attempt to increase taxes on SSBs. He expressed concern over “misleading narratives” being peddled by some internationally sponsored NGOs regarding SSB consumption in Nigeria. He accused the NGOs of adducing baseless assumptions in their quest for more punitive tax regimes against SSBs while ignoring Nigeria’s harsh economic realities and the long-term impact of their demands on jobs, investment and food security: “Rather than promoting a balanced, evidence-based dialogue, they continued to push alarmist narrative, often grounded in misleading data designed to instil fear by unfairly demonising SSBs. “There is no conclusive empirical that SSB taxes reduce obesity or NCDs, especially in low and middle income countries, as claimed by the NGOs. International experiences in Mexico, Ireland, UK, Chile and South America show that SSBs taxes have not led to sustained reduction in obesity or NCDs as claimed by the NGOs.” MAN rejected the claim that Nigeria is one of the highest SSBs consuming countries in the world: “The correct statistics show that Nigeria sugar consumption is just 7.1 kg, well below the World Health Organisation’s recommended maximum of 9.1 kg and the global average of 21.4 kg. “SSBs contribute only 5.1 per cent of total household sugar consumption and 2.4 per cent of calories, with only 1.4 per cent of household expenditure spent on non-alcoholic drinks, while arguing that most Nigerian households prioritise basic calorie sufficiency, spending over 56.7 per cent of their total expenditure on stable food, rather than on discretionary items such as SSBs. “The sector is currently overburdened with taxes amidst a sundry of other industry challenges. Government should disregard the promoters of punitive taxes against the sector.”