In 1955, Alhassan fell ill and because of the seriousness of the illness, he summoned his chief financial controller, Garba Maisikeli and his children. He told them that his days were approaching their end and advised them to live together. He was particularly concerned about the company he had established (Alhassan Dantata & Son’s). He asked them not to allow the company to collapse. He implored them to continue to marry within the family as much as possible. He urged them to avoid clashes with other wealthy Kano merchants. They should take care of their relatives, especially the poor among them. Three days later he passed away in his sleep on Wednesday 17th august, 1955. He was buried the same day in his house in Sarari ward, Kano. When he died in August 1955, he was the wealthiest man of any race in West Africa.
Heirs
It was and is rare for business organizations to survive the death of their founders in Hausa society. Hausa tradition is full of stories of former successful business families who later lost everything. In Kano city alone names like: Kundila of Makwarari, the wealthiest man at the end of nineteenth century, Maikano Agogo of Koki Ward, Umaru Sharubutu also of Koki Ward, Baban Jaji, Abdu Sarki of Zaitawa Ward, Madugu Indo of Adakawa, and others too numerous to mention here, were some of them. The question is, why this sorry state of affairs?
M.G Smith suggested that three reasons were responsible as follows: the amount of money spent by the wealthy Hausa man on religious and social obligations was so great that only large fortunes could survive. Secondly, he was, after the introduction of the colonial economy, dependent for credit facilities on good relations with expatriate firms and stable groups of reliable agents and thirdly, under Islamic law, his estate was subdivided on inheritance.
He further suggested that only Alhassan of Kano was likely to leave able heirs to continue his business in a grand way. This observation was made in 1949 before Alhassan’s death. The reas]ns for this, Smith argued, was that his heirs were interested in keeping the family name going and the employment of modern methods of book keeping, the only local merchant to do so at that time. Another observer, Tahir (1919-75) has the opinion that business ventures in Hausa society often collapsed upon the death or retirement of the founder because the heirs were not trained before the death or retirement of the founder. Alhassan Dantata’s entire estate was subdivided according to Islamic law among the eighteen children who survived him. Alhassan’s descendants include Dr Aminu Dantata (son), Sanusi Dantata (son), Abdulkadir Sanusi Dantata (grandson), Dr Mariya Sanusi Dangote (granddaughter), Alhaji Aliko Dangote (great-grandson), Alhaji Tajudeen Aminu Dantata (great-grandson) and Alhaji Sayyu Dantata (great-great grandson).
Alhaji Alhassan Dantata was a Nigerian businessman who was the wealthiest man in West Africa at the time of his death.
Ancestors and Heritage
Dantata's father was Abdullahi, a man from the village of Danshayi, near Kano. Dantata was born in Bebeji in 1877, one of several children of Abdullahi and his wife, both of whom were traders and caravan leaders.
Bebeji was on the Kano to Gonja (now in northern Ghana) and Kano to Lagos routes. The people of Bebeji, at least those from the Zango (campsite) were great traders. Bebeji was considered a miniature Kano. There was a saying which went “If Kano has 10 kolas, Bebeji has 20 halves" or in Hausa: "Birni tana da goro goma, ke Bebeji kina da bari 20". The town attracted many people of different backgrounds in the 19th century, such as the Yorubas, Nupes, Agalawas, etc. It was controlled by the Sarki (chief) of Bebeji who was responsible for the protection of Kano from attack from the southwest.
Alhassan was born into an Agalawa trading family. His father was a wealthy trader and caravan leader; Madugu Abdullahi while his mother was also a trader of importance in her own right enjoying the title of Maduga - Amarya. Abdullahi, in his turn, was a son of another prosperous merchant, Baba Talatin. It was he who brought the family from Katsina, probably at the beginning of the nineteenth century, following the death of his father, Ali.
Abdullahi already had a reputation of some wealth from his ventures with his father and therefore inherited his father’s position as a recognized and respected madugu. Like his father, he preferred the Nupe and Gonja routes. He specialized in the exchange of Kano dyed cloth, cattle, slaves and so on for the kola of the Akan forest. Surprisingly, he had added cowries brought to the coast by European traders to the items he carried back to Kano.
Abdullahi continued to operate from Madobi until 1877, one of our few fixed dates when having just set out for a journey to Gonja, his wife delivered in the Zango (campsite) of Bebeji. The child was a boy and after the usual seven days, he was named Alhassan. Abdullahi purchased a house in the town and left his nursing wife and child to await his return from Gonja. On his return, he decided to abandon Madobi and moved to Bebeji. Some say that the house that contains his tomb is still held by the family. The date of his death is unknown, but it was probably about 1885 when Alhassan was between seven and eight years of age. By then he had brothers and sisters – Shuaibu, Malam Jaji, Malam Bala, Malam Sidi and others.
Early life
The children were too young to succeed to their father’s position and to manage his considerable wealth. They all received their portion according to Islamic law. Maduga Amarya, like her mother in law, was a trader of wealth in her own right. Indeed she was known to be such a forceful character that nobody in the Zango would take her to wife. She therefore decided to leave the children in Bebeji, in the care of an old slave woman, while she moved to Accra where she became one of the wealthier Hausa traders.
The slave was known as "Tata" from which circumstance young Alhassan became known as Alhassan Dantata because of her role as his ‘mother’ (" Dantata" means "son of Tata”).
Alhassan was sent to a Qur'anic school (madrasah) in Bebeji and as his share of his father’s wealth (as so often happens), seemed to have vanished, he had to support himself. The life of the almajiri (Qur’anic student) is difficult, as he has to find food and clothing for himself and also for his malam (teacher) and at the same time read. Some simply beg while others seek paid work. Alhassan worked and even succeeded at the insistence of Tata in saving. His asusu, “money box” (a pottery vessel) purchased by Tata and set in the wall of the house can still be seen.
When he was about 15 years of age, Alhassan joined a Gonja bound caravan to see his mother. He purchased some items from Bebeji, sold half of them on the way and the rest in Accra. When he saw his mother, he was very delighted hoping she would allow him to live without doing any work since she was one of the wealthier local traders. After only a rest of one day, she took him to another malam and asked him to stay there until he was ready to return to Kano and he worked harder in Accra than he did in Bebeji. After the usual reading of the Qur’an, Alhassan Dantata had to go and beg for food for his malam, and himself. When he worked for money on Thursdays and Fridays, Alhassan Dantata would not be allowed to spend the money for himself alone, his malam always took the lion’s share (this is normal in Hausa society). After the visit, his mother sent him back to Bebeji where he continued his studies. Even though now a teenager, Tata continued to insist that he must save something everyday.
Upheavals and slavery
When he was still a teenager, great upheavals occurred in the Kano Emirate. This included the Kano Civil War (1893-1894) and the British invasion of the emirate. During the Kano Civil war, Alhassan and his brothers were captured and sold as slaves, but they were able to buy back their freedom and return to Bebeji shortly afterwards.
Business career
Alhassan remained in Bebeji until matters had settled down and the roads were secure, only then did he set out for Accra, by way of Ibadan and Lagos (Ikko) and then by sea to Accra and then to Kumasi, Sekondi and back to Lagos. Alhassan was one of the pioneers of this route. For several years, he carried his kola by sea, using steamers; to Lagos where he usually sold it to Kano bound merchants. By this time, he was relatively wealthy. In 1906, he began broadening his interests by trading in beads, necklaces, European cloth, etc. His mother, who had never remarried, died in Accra around 1908 and he thereafter generally restricted his operations to Lagos and Kano, although he continued to visit Accra.
Thus far in his career, with most of his fellow long distance traders, he continued to live in one of the towns some distance from Kano City, only visiting the Birni for business purposes. Before Alhassan settled in Kano permanently, he visited Kano City only occasionally to either purchase or sell his wares. He did not own a house there, but was satisfied with the accommodation given to him by his patoma (land lord.). It was during the time of the first British appointed Emir of Kano; Abbas (1903-1919) that Alhassan decided to establish a home in Kano. He purchased his first house in the Sarari area (an extension of Koki). At that time there were no houses from the house of Baban Jaki (at the end of Koki) up to Kofar Mazugal. In fact the area was called Sarari because it was empty and nobody wanted that land. Alhassan built his first house on that land and was able thereafter to extend it freely.
In 1912, when the Europeans started to show an interest in the export of groundnut, they contacted the already established Kano merchants through the Emir, Abbas and their chief agent, Adamu Jakada. Some established merchants of Kano like Umaru Sharubutu, Maikano Agogo and others were approached and accepted the offer.
Later in 1918, Alhassan was approached by the Niger Company to help purchase groundnuts for them. He was already familiar with the manner by which people made fortunes by buying cocoa for Europeans in the Gold Coast. He responded and participated in the enterprise with enthusiasm, he had several advantages over other Kano business men: he could speak some English because of his contact with the people on the coast, thus he could negotiate more directly with the European traders for better prices. He also had accumulated a large capital and unlike other established Kano merchants, had only a small family to maintain, as he was still a relatively young man. Alhassan had excellent financial management, was frugal and unostentatious. He knew some accounting and with the help of Alhaji Garba Maisikeli, his financial controller for 38 years, every kobo was accounted for every day. Not only that, Alhassan was hard working and always around to provide personal supervision of his workers. As soon as he entered the groundnut purchasing business, he came to dominate the field. In fact by 1922 he became the wealthiest businessman in Kano. Umaru Sharubutu and Maikano Agogo were relegated to the second and the third positions respectively. When the British Bank of West Africa was opened in Kano in 1929, he became the first Kano businessman to utilize a bank account when he deposited twenty camel loads of silver coins. Shortly before his death, he pointed to sixty “groundnut pyramids” in Kano and said, “These are all mine”.
Alhassan became the chief produce buyer especially of groundnuts for the Niger Company (later U.A.C). It is said that he used to purchase about half of all the nuts purchased by U.A.C in northern Nigeria. Because of this, he applied for a license to purchase and export groundnuts in 1940 just like the U.A.C. However, because of the great depression and the war situation, it was not granted. Even Saul Raccah lost his license to export and import about this time because he did not belong to the Association of West African Merchants. In 1953-4 he became a licensed buying agent (L.B.A) that is, a buyer who sells direct to the marketing board instead of to another firm. However, Alhassan had many business connections both in Nigeria and in other West African countries, particularly the Gold Coast. He dealt, not only in groundnuts, but also in other merchandise. He traded in cattle, kola, cloth, beads, precious stones, grains, rope and other things. His role in the purchase of kola nuts from forest areas of Nigeria for sale in the North was so great, that eventually whole “kola trains” from the Western Region were filled with his nuts alone.
When Alhassan finally settled in Kano, he maintained agents, mainly his relations, in other places. For instance Alhaji Bala, his brother, was sent to Lagos. Alhassan employed people, mainly Igbos and Yoruba's and the indigenous Hausas, as wage earners. They worked as clerks, drivers, and labourers. Some of his employees, especially the Hausas, stayed in his house. He was responsible for their marriage expenses. They did not pay rent and in fact, were regarded as members of his extended family. He sometimes provided official houses to some of his workers.
People’s opinion of Alhassan Dantata differed. To some people, he was a mutumin kirki (complete gentleman) who was highly disciplined and made money through hard work and honesty. He always served as an enemy to, or a breaker of hoarding. For instance, he would purchase items, especially grains, during the harvest time, when it was abundant at low prices. He would wait until the rainy season, (July or august) when there was limited supply in the markets or when grain merchants started to inflate prices. He then moved to fill the markets with his surplus grains and asked a price lower than the current price in the markets by between 50 – 70%. In this way, he forced down prices. His anti- hoarding activities did not stop at grains and other consumer goods, but even to such items as faifai, igiya, babarma (Mat), dyed cloth, shuni, potash, and so on. However on the other hand, according to information collected in Koki, Dala, Qul-qul, Madabo, Yan Maruci e.t.c Alhassan was viewed as a mugun mutum (wicked person). This was because some people expressed the view that Dantata undercut their prices simply to cripple his fellow merchants.
He founded, with other merchants (attajirai), the Kano Citizens’ Trading Company, for industrial undertakings. In 1949, he contributed property valued at ₤10,200 (ten thousand, two hundred pounds) to the proposed Kano citizens trading company for the establishment of the first indigenous textile mill in Northern Nigeria. Near the end of his life he was appointed a director of the Railway Corporation.
Real estate
He started to acquire urban land as early as 1917 in the non- European trading site (Syrian quarters) when he acquired two plots at an annual fee of ₤20. All his houses were occupied by his own people; relations, sons, servants, workers and so on. He never built a hotel for whatever purpose in his life and advised his children to do like wise. His numerous large warehouses in and around Kano metropolis were not for rent, rather he kept his own wares in them.
Business with women
Because of his Islamic beliefs, Alhassan never transacted business with a woman of whatever age. His wife, Hajiya Umma Zaria, (mother of Aminu) was his chief agent among the women folk. The women did not have to visit her house. She established agents all over Kano city and visited them in turn. When she visited her agents, it was the duty of the agents to ask what the women in the ward wanted. Amina Umma Zaria would then leave the items for them. All her agents were old married women and she warned her agents to desist from conducting business with newly wedded girls. Umma Zaria dealt in the smallest household items, which would cost 2.5 d to sophisticated jewels worth thousands of pounds.
The manners of Alhassan Dantata
Though Alhassan became the wealthiest man in the British West African colonies, he lived a simple life. He fed on the same foodstuffs as any other individual, such as tuwon dawa da furar gero. He dressed simply in a white gown, a pair of white trousers (da itori), and underwear (yar ciki), a pair of ordinary local sandals, and sewn white cap, white turban and occasionally a malfa (local hat). He was said never to own more than three sets of personal clothing at a time. He never stayed inside his house all day and was always out doing something. He moved about among his workers joking with them, encouraging and occasionally giving a helping hand. He ate his meal outside and always with his senior workers like Garba Maisikeli and Alhaji Mustapha Adakawa. Alhassan met fully established wealthy Kano merchants when he moved to Kano from the Kauye, like Maikano Agogo, Umaru Sharubutu, Salga and so on. He lived with them peacefully and always respected them. Occasionally he visited the senior of them all Umaru Sharubutu to greet him. The eldest son of Umaru Sharubutu became an important employee in his commercial enterprise. He avoided clashes with other influential people in Kano. He hated court litigation. He was in court only once, but before the final judgment the case was settled outside a Lagos court (it was a ₤10,000 civil suit instituted by one Haruna against him). He lived peacefully with the local authorities. Whenever he offended the authorities he would go quietly to solve the problems with the official concerned.
Health
Alhassan enjoyed good health and was never totally indisposed throughout his active life. However, occasionally he might develop malaria fever and whenever he was sick, he would go to the S.I.M clinic for treatment. Because of his simple eating habits, ordinary Hausa food two or three times a day and his always active mode of life, he never developed obesity. He remained slim and strong throughout his life. Alhassan had no physical defects and enjoyed good eye sight.
Religion
Alhassan was a devout Muslim. He was one of the first northerners to visit Mecca via England by mail boat in the early 1920’s. He loved reading the Qur’an and Hadith. He had a personal mosque in his house and established a qur’anic school for his children. He maintained a full time Islamic scholar called Alhaji Abubakar (father of Malam Lawan Kalarawi, a renowned Kano public preacher).
He paid zakkat annually according to Islamic injunction and gave alms to the poor every Friday. He belonged to the Qadiriyya brotherhood.
Pilgrimage and presentation to the King
Soon after the First World War he went on the pilgrimage to Mecca, via Britain, where he was presented to King George V.
Education
Alhassan Dantata respected people with qur’anic and other branches of Islamic learning, and helped them occasionally. He established a qur’anic school for his children and other people of the neighbourhood. He insisted that all his children must be well educated in the Islamic way. He appreciated also, functional western education, just enough to transact business (some arithmetic, simple accounting, Hausa reading and writing and spoken English).
Alhassan backed the establishment of a western style school in the Dala area for Hausas (i.e. non-Fulani) traders’ children in the 1930’s. The existence of a school in Bebeji (the only non-district headquarters in Kano to have one in the 1930’s) was probably due to his influence, although he could neither read nor write English. Alhassan could write beautiful Ajami, but could not speak or write Arabic, although he could read the Qur’an and other religious books with ease (this is very common in Hausa society). Most of the qur’anic reciter's could read very well, but could not understand Arabic. Alhassan Dantata knew some arithmetic-addition and subtraction and could use a ready reckoner. He also encouraged his children to learn enough western education to transact business, the need of his time. He established his own Arabic and English school in 1944, Dantata Arabic and English school.
Politics
He never became a politician in the true sense of the term. However, because of his enormous wealth, he was always very close to the government. He had to be in both the colonial government’s good books and maintain a position very close to the emirs of Kano. He was nominated to represent commoners in the reformed local administration of Kano and in 1950 was made a councillor in the emir’s council- the first non- royal individual to have a seat at the council. Other members of the council then were: Madakin Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa, Walin Kano, Malam Abubakar Tsangaya, Sarkin Shanu, Alhaji Muhammadu Sani, Wazirin Kano Alhaji Abubakar, Makaman Kano Alhaji Bello Alhaji Usman Gwarzo, and the leader Alhaji Abdulllahi Bayero. Alhassan therefore was a member of the highest governing body of Kano in his time. He was also appointed to mediate between NEPU and NPC in Kano in 1954 together with Mallam Nasiru Kabara and other members. He joined no political party, but it is clear that he sympathised with the NPC.
xcolanto: And who are you to know if they get to open a new twitter account or not?? Do you work for the army? Are you their PRO? If not, then you need be quite.
Aha! So let's flip the question. How do you know that this Defense Monitoring account was opened by DHQ? Do you work for them? What evidence do you have that they actually created it? (I don't mean a guess or assumption or something you just sit in your house and think about. I mean evidence)
oluwaahmed: Bros dat handle might not be fake neither is it a lie. I watched NTA 10 o clock news & it was in one of deir scroll bar dat NA are now goin to monitor activities on social media. I swear I saw it. It's true because nigerians hav kicked against it, dey hav come out openly 2 deny it. Everybody shd jst mind wat dey post on social media cos dey r actually monitorin it. It's not abot ipob or wateva is dat d govt considers monitorin social media is hypocritical esp as dey came in tru d same means. We hav 2 be watchful as a pple B4 dis govt takes us back 2 military rule. We need 2 speak d truth bruv. Many of us we still live in dis con3 even hav our own children here but dis pple hav children abroad enjoyin stuff like social media. If u wernt born durin d military era, I was, u Dnt Wana go bk der man We Now Monitor Social Media For Anti-Government And Anti ... https://www.channelstv.com/.../now- ..
I've been reading Nigerian newspapers for decades and I know that the media often sensationalize stories in order to sell, so I developed a technique to evade it. Remove all the journalist's word and read only what the person being interviewed is saying and you would get a better understanding of the issue.
Now, read the army officer's comments in this article. I've also included a video of the interview. Isn't it clear that he is talking about combating fake news and fake social media accounts (like the Defense Monitoring account) by monitoring social media in order to detect them and quickly react to the fake news? Did he at any point talk about arresting anybody or limiting freedom of speech?
We Now Monitor Social Media For Anti-Government And Anti-Military Information – Military
The activities of Nigerians on the social media are now being monitored for hate speech, anti-government and anti-security information by the military.
Director of Defence Information, Major-General John Enenche, told Channels Television that the move became necessary in the light of troubling activities and misinformation capable of jeopardizing the unity of the country.
His comments come less than 48 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari said in his national broadcast that some of the discussion on social media in his absence crossed the line and left him distressed.
For Major General Enenche, the social media has always been a challenge all over the world and for the military, it is no different.
“It is a double-edged sword and we are also having a bit of it,” he said when he appeared on Channels Television’s News At 10, hours after President Buhari met with service chiefs and ordered them to strengthen their operations.
“Imagine when the President came back and addressed the nation, not up to 30 minutes later, a fake speech of the Commander-In-Chief was being circulated in order to do what? To derail the people. If you are not very sharp and if you didn’t listen to the speech or you don’t have a copy of it like I had it almost immediately, you wouldn’t know. So, looking at it from that perspective, it is a challenge everywhere.”
Having observed the possibility that the social media can be misused the military has taken steps to address that. One of such steps is the establishment of strategic media centres.
“What are we doing? In the military, we are now taking on it more seriously than ever. We have our strategic media centres that monitor the social media to be able to sieve out and react to all the ones that will be anti-government, be anti-military, (and) be anti-security,” the military chief continued.
“We tackle them appropriately with appropriate responses. Ahead of that, we are also proactive. We have measures in place, scientific measures to be able to sieve this information and also to get the public and let them know that some of this information they are getting is not genuine are not true and their objective is an anti-corporate existence of this country.”
There has been a rise in attacks by Boko Haram terrorists and it is one of the things the President advised the service chiefs to check. While the military intends to do just that, Major General Enenche said what they terrorists are doing is not surprising.
He said, “Like I have said before, it is not unexpected being that they have been degraded, decimated and really busted at camp zero and other cities there through the air bombardment and raids by members of the military, particularly the army. So you will see them spreading out like ants that have been busted from an anthill.”
According to him, the terrorists have benefitted in their attacks from the unending collaboration by insiders and sympathisers among the residents in the North East.
“However, I want to assure the general public and Nigerians that measures are in place to begin to take on them and begin to take them out. However highly placed anyone is or any insider or collaborator is, we are on top of the situation and we are beginning to get our information to begin to handle them appropriately,” he said.
oluwaahmed: Bros dat handle might not be fake neither is it a lie. I watched NTA 10 o clock news & it was in one of deir scroll bar dat NA are now goin to monitor activities on social media. I swear I saw it. It's true because nigerians hav kicked against it, dey hav come out openly 2 deny it. Everybody shd jst mind wat dey post on social media cos dey r actually monitorin it. It's not abot ipob or wateva is dat d govt considers monitorin social media is hypocritical esp as dey came in tru d same means. We hav 2 be watchful as a pple B4 dis govt takes us back 2 military rule. We need 2 speak d truth bruv. Many of us we still live in dis con3 even hav our own children here but dis pple hav children abroad enjoyin stuff like social media. If u wernt born durin d military era, I was, u Dnt Wana go bk der man We Now Monitor Social Media For Anti-Government And Anti ... https://www.channelstv.com/.../now- ..
Did you actually read the story? Did you go beyond the sensational headline and read the story in order to know what they are talking about? (I have the story right here).
What a scary looking gentleman! Christopher Lee was the star of some of the scariest movies I ever watched (Count Dracula [1958], Uncle Was A Vampire, Corridors Of Blood, etc). His least scariest role then was as Mr Scaramanga (in James Bond's The Man With The Golden Gun) and even that was a little bit scary.
Some Nigerians speculated that he was actually evil in real life because he acted in so many horror movies.
He scared me even when he was out of character. In fact, the mere mention of his name scared the hell out of me.
Nigeria’s D’ Tigress defeated defending champions of the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Championship Senegal 58-54 on Wednesday night, making it five wins in five games in Group B of the tournament in Bamako, Mali, reports Completesportsnigeria.com.
Both sides had already booked their places in the quarter-finals by virtue of winning their previous group matches prior to the game.
Nigeria triumphed in the first quarter 14-13, at half time D’ Tigress’ were ahead 34-26 and by the third quarter had ended the Nigerian girls were still flying higher than their opponents, leading 48-41 after Senegal gave them a scare by cutting the deficit to four points at some point in the quarter.
Evelyn Akhator continued her impressive performances with 15 points and 10 rebounds to her credit
It was a very physical battle and the game had to be stopped at some point with medical attention required for a Senegalese player with a shoulder complaint.
D’Tigress have now beaten Mozambique, Congo, Egypt, Guinea and Senegal in the 2017 championship, marking the Nigerians as favourites to win the title.
That girl really looks like a cross between ESSE AGESE the singer and Twaci...! . Only those born in the early 80's and earlier go sabi the supremely talented singer of the hit tracks " Back to the Basics" and "Fine Peppersoup'pay" aka " Peppersoup Dance".
Oga Naptu2 ... abi na lie I talk?
Esse Agesse - Familiar Stranger (1991). Full album, including Back To The Basics and Fine Peppersoup. The album was produced by Kingsley Ogoro. They later got married and then got divorced.
And this is why the Federal Ministry of Health reacted to the video.
naptu2: The International Ban On Tobacco Advertisement
Adverts for alcohol and tobacco products were a regular feature on Nigerian prime time television in the 1970s, ‘80s and early 1990s. The most amazing and lavish adverts were usually tobacco and alcohol adverts. There was the Marlboro Man (Marlboro Country), the dancing Gold de Kanterbrau beer mugs, Fela yelling “Cigar Target o, na wa", etc. Most of the beer commercials had beautiful women and cars and you’d wonder if they were advertising the women and cars (because they were even more prominent in the adverts than the drinks and cigarettes that were being advertised).
Then in 1990 the government banned smoking in public, banned the sale of tobacco and alcohol products within 1,000 metres from schools and also banned advertisement of alcohol and tobacco products on radio and TV before 9 o’clock (see the Tobacco Control Act 1990). Then the ban on TV advertisements was extended to 10 o’clock later in the 1990s and cigarette companies were forced to include warnings on cigarette packs.
The tobacco companies responded with vigorous indirect advertising campaigns.
Rothmans sponsored the English Premier League show on the NTA Network. They didn’t show any cigarettes, but you could see the Rothmans logo all through the show and the Rothmans song was played at the beginning and the end. This allowed them to show their logo on national TV at 4pm (before 10pm) because they were not actually showing any cigarette adverts. They also sponsored the UK Top 20 countdown on radio (hosted by Dr Fox). This show was syndicated on radio stations across the country and it was aired on Saturday afternoons.
Benson & Hedges invested heavily in the music industry in the 1990s. They created a record label in the early 1990s and signed Onyeka Onwenu to the label. They also staged a series of concerts from 1993-1999 that were called Benson & Hedges Golden Tones (the 1996 edition was called “Loud In Lagos” ). These concerts and songs did not feature any cigarettes, but they were branded in Benson & Hedges’ gold colour and featured the B&H logo. This allowed Benson & Hedges to evade the advert ban.
Other brands also engaged in indirect advertisement. John Player Gold Leaf staged the most popular dancing competition in the early 1980s and they also sponsored a tennis competition.
Many non-governmental organisations campaigned against these practices. They believed that tobacco companies were spending huge sums of money on advertisement in developing countries because their ability to advertise in the developed world had been greatly limited. For example, cigarette adverts had been banned from TV in the UK since the 1960s, adverts that showed people smoking had been banned since 1986 and television adverts of other forms of tobacco products were banned in 1991. The UK’s “Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002” bans the advertising of tobacco products to the public except on the premises of specialist tobacconists (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/36/contents ).
In South Africa, the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act (which was passed in 1999) bans all advertising and promotion of tobacco products, including sponsorship and free distribution of tobacco products. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_Products_Control_Act,_1993
In France all forms of advertisement and promotion of tobacco products (including sponsorship of music concerts and sports events) are banned. The only exception is for motorsports events that are held in other countries in which tobacco advertisements are not banned (these events can be shown on TV). http://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/legislation/country/france/summary
More importantly, activists felt that these new forms of advertisement were deliberately targeting teenagers who were less able to make informed decisions about whether they should smoke or not, in order to get them addicted so that they would become lifetime customers of the cigarette companies. This is because teenagers are more susceptible to the influence of music stars and sports programmes. Teenagers want to be "cool" like music and sports stars, so if a musician or sports star is seen smoking or endorsing smoking, then the teenager would think that smoking is cool (without considering the very harmful effects of smoking and its addictive properties).
The BBC World Service did a documentary about these practices in the early 2000s. They attended a Rothmans concert in Tanzania and discovered that teenagers also attended the concert (in which cigarette packs were given to the audience). They also discovered that cigarettes were easily accessible to teens in Africa because they were being sold by the stick (which makes them cheaper) despite the pledge made by tobacco companies to prohibit such sales.
Nigerian medical doctor and poet, Dr Tony Marinho campaigned vigorously that the Federal Government should ban all forms of tobacco advertisements (including outdoor billboards and indirect advertisements). He appeared on several radio and TV stations (including the NTA, Rhythm FM and the BBC World Service) to talk about the addictive and harmful effects of smoking. He also wrote anti-tobacco poems and petitioned the National Assembly. He also talked about the harmful effects of second hand smoke and called for the government to enforce the 1990 ban on smoking in public places.
The World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into effect on 27 February 2005, requires that all of the 168 countries that agreed to the treaty ban tobacco advertising unless their constitution forbade it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO_Framework_Convention_on_Tobacco_Control ). Nigeria ratified the treaty on October 20th, 2005. The National Assembly has also passed several laws which restrict the advertisement and sale of tobacco products, e.g. the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 (https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/files/live/Nigeria/Nigeria%20-%20TCA%20-%20national.pdf ). Over 40 civil society groups attended the public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill 2009 and they urged the National Assembly to ban smoking in public places (to limit second hand smoke) and advertisement and promotions by tobacco companies.
Premium Times, which published the original story, has now published a retraction, so those three songs were not banned by the NBC in the first place.
EDITOR’S NOTE: PREMIUM TIMES has confirmed that the statement on the supposed ban of the songs credited to the National Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, did not emanate from the regulator. Therefore, there was no ban. We apologise for any inconvenience caused the NBC and the musicians mentioned in the initial report, as well as our readers. As a medium principally based on truth and accuracy, this medium pledges to do a lot more to forestall any such occurence in future.
Adverts for alcohol and tobacco products were a regular feature on Nigerian prime time television in the 1970s, ‘80s and early 1990s. The most amazing and lavish adverts were usually tobacco and alcohol adverts. There was the Marlboro Man (Marlboro Country), the dancing Gold de Kanterbrau beer mugs, Fela yelling “Cigar Target o, na wa", etc. Most of the beer commercials had beautiful women and cars and you’d wonder if they were advertising the women and cars (because they were even more prominent in the adverts than the drinks and cigarettes that were being advertised).
Then in 1990 the government banned smoking in public, banned the sale of tobacco and alcohol products within 1,000 metres from schools and also banned advertisement of alcohol and tobacco products on radio and TV before 9 o’clock (see the Tobacco Control Act 1990). Then the ban on TV advertisements was extended to 10 o’clock later in the 1990s and cigarette companies were forced to include warnings on cigarette packs.
The tobacco companies responded with vigorous indirect advertising campaigns.
Rothmans sponsored the English Premier League show on the NTA Network. They didn’t show any cigarettes, but you could see the Rothmans logo all through the show and the Rothmans song was played at the beginning and the end. This allowed them to show their logo on national TV at 4pm (before 10pm) because they were not actually showing any cigarette adverts. They also sponsored the UK Top 20 countdown on radio (hosted by Dr Fox). This show was syndicated on radio stations across the country and it was aired on Saturday afternoons.
Benson & Hedges invested heavily in the music industry in the 1990s. They created a record label in the early 1990s and signed Onyeka Onwenu to the label. They also staged a series of concerts from 1993-1999 that were called Benson & Hedges Golden Tones (the 1996 edition was called “Loud In Lagos” ). These concerts and songs did not feature any cigarettes, but they were branded in Benson & Hedges’ gold colour and featured the B&H logo. This allowed Benson & Hedges to evade the advert ban.
Other brands also engaged in indirect advertisement. John Player Gold Leaf staged the most popular dancing competition in the early 1980s and they also sponsored a tennis competition.
Many non-governmental organisations campaigned against these practices. They believed that tobacco companies were spending huge sums of money on advertisement in developing countries because their ability to advertise in the developed world had been greatly limited. For example, cigarette adverts had been banned from TV in the UK since the 1960s, adverts that showed people smoking had been banned since 1986 and television adverts of other forms of tobacco products were banned in 1991. The UK’s “Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002” bans the advertising of tobacco products to the public except on the premises of specialist tobacconists (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/36/contents ).
In South Africa, the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act (which was passed in 1999) bans all advertising and promotion of tobacco products, including sponsorship and free distribution of tobacco products. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_Products_Control_Act,_1993
In France all forms of advertisement and promotion of tobacco products (including sponsorship of music concerts and sports events) are banned. The only exception is for motorsports events that are held in other countries in which tobacco advertisements are not banned (these events can be shown on TV). http://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/legislation/country/france/summary
More importantly, activists felt that these new forms of advertisement were deliberately targeting teenagers who were less able to make informed decisions about whether they should smoke or not, in order to get them addicted so that they would become lifetime customers of the cigarette companies. This is because teenagers are more susceptible to the influence of music stars and sports programmes. Teenagers want to be "cool" like music and sports stars, so if a musician or sports star is seen smoking or endorsing smoking, then the teenager would think that smoking is cool (without considering the very harmful effects of smoking and its addictive properties).
The BBC World Service did a documentary about these practices in the early 2000s. They attended a Rothmans concert in Tanzania and discovered that teenagers also attended the concert (in which cigarette packs were given to the audience). They also discovered that cigarettes were easily accessible to teens in Africa because they were being sold by the stick (which makes them cheaper) despite the pledge made by tobacco companies to prohibit such sales.
Nigerian medical doctor and poet, Dr Tony Marinho campaigned vigorously that the Federal Government should ban all forms of tobacco advertisements (including outdoor billboards and indirect advertisements). He appeared on several radio and TV stations (including the NTA, Rhythm FM and the BBC World Service) to talk about the addictive and harmful effects of smoking. He also wrote anti-tobacco poems and petitioned the National Assembly. He also talked about the harmful effects of second hand smoke and called for the government to enforce the 1990 ban on smoking in public places.
The World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into effect on 27 February 2005, requires that all of the 168 countries that agreed to the treaty ban tobacco advertising unless their constitution forbade it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO_Framework_Convention_on_Tobacco_Control ). Nigeria ratified the treaty on October 20th, 2005. The National Assembly has also passed several laws which restrict the advertisement and sale of tobacco products, e.g. the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 (https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/files/live/Nigeria/Nigeria%20-%20TCA%20-%20national.pdf ). Over 40 civil society groups attended the public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill 2009 and they urged the National Assembly to ban smoking in public places (to limit second hand smoke) and advertisement and promotions by tobacco companies.
Adverts for alcohol and tobacco products were a regular feature on Nigerian prime time television in the 1970s, ‘80s and early 1990s. The most amazing and lavish adverts were usually tobacco and alcohol adverts. There was the Marlboro Man (Marlboro Country), the dancing Gold de Kanterbrau beer mugs, Fela yelling “Cigar Target o, na wa", etc. Most of the beer commercials had beautiful women and cars and you’d wonder if they were advertising the women and cars (because they were even more prominent in the adverts than the drinks and cigarettes that were being advertised).
Then in 1990 the government banned smoking in public, banned the sale of tobacco and alcohol products within 1,000 metres from schools and also banned advertisement of alcohol and tobacco products on radio and TV before 9 o’clock (see the Tobacco Control Act 1990). Then the ban on TV advertisements was extended to 10 o’clock later in the 1990s and cigarette companies were forced to include warnings on cigarette packs.
The tobacco companies responded with vigorous indirect advertising campaigns.
Rothmans sponsored the English Premier League show on the NTA Network. They didn’t show any cigarettes, but you could see the Rothmans logo all through the show and the Rothmans song was played at the beginning and the end. This allowed them to show their logo on national TV at 4pm (before 10pm) because they were not actually showing any cigarette adverts. They also sponsored the UK Top 20 countdown on radio (hosted by Dr Fox). This show was syndicated on radio stations across the country and it was aired on Saturday afternoons.
Benson & Hedges invested heavily in the music industry in the 1990s. They created a record label in the early 1990s and signed Onyeka Onwenu to the label. They also staged a series of concerts from 1993-1999 that were called Benson & Hedges Golden Tones (the 1996 edition was called “Loud In Lagos” ). These concerts and songs did not feature any cigarettes, but they were branded in Benson & Hedges’ gold colour and featured the B&H logo. This allowed Benson & Hedges to evade the advert ban.
Other brands also engaged in indirect advertisement. John Player Gold Leaf staged the most popular dancing competition in the early 1980s and they also sponsored a tennis competition.
Many non-governmental organisations campaigned against these practices. They believed that tobacco companies were spending huge sums of money on advertisement in developing countries because their ability to advertise in the developed world had been greatly limited. For example, cigarette adverts had been banned from TV in the UK since the 1960s, adverts that showed people smoking had been banned since 1986 and television adverts of other forms of tobacco products were banned in 1991. The UK’s “Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002” bans the advertising of tobacco products to the public except on the premises of specialist tobacconists (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/36/contents ).
In South Africa, the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act (which was passed in 1999) bans all advertising and promotion of tobacco products, including sponsorship and free distribution of tobacco products. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_Products_Control_Act,_1993
In France all forms of advertisement and promotion of tobacco products (including sponsorship of music concerts and sports events) are banned. The only exception is for motorsports events that are held in other countries in which tobacco advertisements are not banned (these events can be shown on TV). http://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/legislation/country/france/summary
More importantly, activists felt that these new forms of advertisement were deliberately targeting teenagers who were less able to make informed decisions about whether they should smoke or not, in order to get them addicted so that they would become lifetime customers of the cigarette companies. This is because teenagers are more susceptible to the influence of music stars and sports programmes. Teenagers want to be "cool" like music and sports stars, so if a musician or sports star is seen smoking or endorsing smoking, then the teenager would think that smoking is cool (without considering the very harmful effects of smoking and its addictive properties).
The BBC World Service did a documentary about these practices in the early 2000s. They attended a Rothmans concert in Tanzania and discovered that teenagers also attended the concert (in which cigarette packs were given to the audience). They also discovered that cigarettes were easily accessible to teens in Africa because they were being sold by the stick (which makes them cheaper) despite the pledge made by tobacco companies to prohibit such sales.
Nigerian medical doctor and poet, Dr Tony Marinho campaigned vigorously that the Federal Government should ban all forms of tobacco advertisements (including outdoor billboards and indirect advertisements). He appeared on several radio and TV stations (including the NTA, Rhythm FM and the BBC World Service) to talk about the addictive and harmful effects of smoking. He also wrote anti-tobacco poems and petitioned the National Assembly. He also talked about the harmful effects of second hand smoke and called for the government to enforce the 1990 ban on smoking in public places.
The World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which came into effect on 27 February 2005, requires that all of the 168 countries that agreed to the treaty ban tobacco advertising unless their constitution forbade it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO_Framework_Convention_on_Tobacco_Control ). Nigeria ratified the treaty on October 20th, 2005. The National Assembly has also passed several laws which restrict the advertisement and sale of tobacco products, e.g. the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 (https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/files/live/Nigeria/Nigeria%20-%20TCA%20-%20national.pdf ). Over 40 civil society groups attended the public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill 2009 and they urged the National Assembly to ban smoking in public places (to limit second hand smoke) and advertisement and promotions by tobacco companies.
Many people who have been commenting on this matter do not know the international agreements that Nigeria has signed which commit the country to prohibit indirect advertisement of tobacco products.
They don't know about the decades long campaign by Nigerian civil society organisations, foreign governments and international organisations to force the Nigerian government to ban promotions, product placement and advertisements by tobacco companies.
Business › Re: Who Was The Richest Man In Nigeria Before Dangote? by naptu2: 10:58am On Aug 25, 2017
