Why Are More Nigerians Falling Sick, What Does Sugary Drinks Tax Have To Do With It?
A quiet alarm is rising in Nigeria’s health sector, one that came sharply into focus at the Senate on Thursday.
As lawmakers gathered for a public hearing in Abuja, the mood carried a sense of urgency: Nigeria is witnessing an explosion of diseases once considered rare. Diabetes. Stroke. Heart disease. Obesity.
The numbers are climbing, and experts say sugary drinks are fuelling the crisis.
At the centre of the debate was a simple but powerful question: Can Nigeria’s current ₦10-per-litre Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax actually protect anyone?
For the Minister of Health, Prof Ali Pate, the answer was a firm no.
Standing before the Senate Joint Committee, he painted a grim picture showcasing that the tax, introduced when a typical bottle of soda cost ₦150, has been swallowed up by inflation.
With sugary drinks now far more expensive, the fixed charge has lost its bite, and so has Nigeria’s ability to curb consumption.
Prof Pate urged lawmakers to adopt a stronger, percentage-based levy of no less than 20 percent and to earmark at least 40 percent of the revenue to fund lifesaving health programmes.
“This is in the interest of 230 million Nigerians,” he said, calling the policy a “valuable funding stream” for universal health coverage.
Adding to the tension, the Ministry of Finance argued that only the President can vary excise rates.
But senators pushed back, insisting the Constitution empowers them to amend laws, especially those tied directly to national health.
Civil society groups rallied behind the reform, warning that Nigeria cannot continue with a tax that has “lost its value and purpose.”
Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of CAPPA, made the strongest case yet, urging the Senate to raise the levy to 50 percent of the retail price, with a non-negotiable minimum of 20 percent.
Anything less, he said, will fail to change behaviour or reduce disease.
His words were weighty, backed by global examples and the grim reality at home.
Nigeria’s diabetes prevalence has climbed to nearly seven percent, according to the Diabetes Society of Nigeria.
Their Vice President, Dr Mansur Ramalan, dismissed concerns about revenue loss, insisting government earnings would instead rise “by 200 percent.”
The evidence, the emotion, and the urgency were clear: The cost of sugary drinks is no longer just financial, it’s deeply human.
And the Senate now faces a decisive test: whether to strengthen a tax that could save lives, or leave Nigerians to bear the escalating burden of preventable disease.
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