Ibadan — Chairman Senate Committee on Industry, Kamorudeen Adedibu, has assured that the anti-tobacco bill will be amended before it is passed to law.

Adedibu, who spoke with journalists in Ibadan at the weekend, maintained that the bill will be amended in such a way that it will not be to the disadvantage of tobacco companies in the country.

According to him, the bill is currently before the Senate Committee on Health headed by Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello.

Adedibu revealed further that the Senate Committee on Health was given a mandate to review the bill, and report back to the upper legislative chambers.

He added that the National Assembly will not like to see tobacco companies in the country closed down because of the bill.

"We know that cigarette smoking is not good, but we want to find job opportunities for our people. The bill will be amended in such a way that it will not force tobacco companies in the country to close down," he said.

The rank of those calling for caution by the Senate in the treatment of the anti-tobacco bill swelled recently when the apex manufacturing body, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), expressed its opposition to the bill.

In making his call, the Chairman of MAN, South West Zone (comprising Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi States), Isaac Adeagbo Akinpide, stated that tobacco bill is geared towards killing tobacco production in the country.

"MAN recognises the need to regulate the tobacco industry, but in doing this, government should be careful that it does not kill the legal industry. If the legal industry disappears, people will still smoke in this country so there will be a demand for tobacco products and the vacuum will be filled by smugglers" the MAN Chief stated.

The MAN Chairman also highlighted the economic import of the move, if it materialises in the Senate. He asserted, "Over the past few years, approximately 50 percent of the workforce in the nation's manufacturing sector have been thrown out of jobs and in 2008, the manufacturing sub sector's contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was a paltry 4.13 percent down from 10 percent which it stood at in the preceding years."

He stated that governments should be more careful with policies so as to protect the local industry.

"The tyre industry suffered the same fate with Michelin in Port Harcourt and Dunlop in Ikeja closing their factories. These developments can be attributable to dysfunctional government policies which do not take into consideration, the impact they will have on the economy," he explained.

While condemning the bill then, Senator Adedibu stated that it is a 'misplaced priority'.

Many other Nigerians have at different fora, advised that the Senate applies caution, even as it is a general consensus that the tobacco industry needs to be regulated.