OGUN State government has expressed worries over the prevalence of smoking among secondary school students in the state.

The government said it had intensified campaigns against drug abuse and cigarette smoking by students of public and private schools in the state.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, who disclosed these on Monday, said 3,200 young children and teenagers under 18 years, smoked their first cigarette while more than 2,100 young adults became daily smokers.

Coker said this while addressing newsmen to kick-start an awareness campaign against smoking to mark the 2021 World No Tobacco Day in Abeokuta, the state capital.

She said the Ministry of Health through the state Drug Control Committee had been engaging secondary school students across the state to discourage them from smoking and the use of illicit drugs.

Coker said part of the efforts of the state to curb smoking and drug abuse among students was the establishment of Drug free clubs in both public and private secondary schools.

The commissioner said, 16,800 Nigerians die of tobacco-related illness annually.

She said cigarette smoke contained more than 7,000 harmful chemicals, “70 of which are known to cause cancer.”

Coker said, “Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the world. It kills more people than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. On the average, the life expectancy of a smoker is 10 years less than a non-smoker.”

https://punchng.com/smoking-among-ogun-secondary-school-students-worries-govt-mounts-campaign/

You can't take away smoke from an average Omoluabi. Smoking is just like a tradition to them.



I'll advice the Governor to channel the energy and resources for this campaign on something meaningful that will benefit the people of Ogun State.


Yoruba AMAKA.

Please I really want to know some benefits of smoking,,, why is cigarette legal,, why some of us sees smoking as an accomplishment... Cos I really don't understand.

Value system as gone to the drains, this kids are not monitored so it's easy for them to pick up any habit.

Wow! Nice one most especially around all this government secondary schools here in Agbado and Oke-Aro. All this awawa boys need to be driven far from the school environ.