By Jude Melle
a Moses
While the dream of
a better life stands on health and wealth, smokers have continued to cripple
theirs through smoking. With every cigarette box in Nigeria bearing in bold,
‘the Federal Ministry of Health warns that smokers are liable to die young’, addicts
see this warning as one big film trick by the government to deter them from
enjoying their pleasurable lifestyle of puff and making smoke rings.
The Nigerian government
has paper banned smoking in public places with little or no action to help the
banned hence, smokers have continued to enjoy their sticks on public places
with their legs crossed, but how long can life spare them this so-called
enjoyment?
Smoking is the
leading cause of preventable death, according to Centre for Disease Control,
tobacco use nearly 6 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco
use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030. Smokers are said to
have about 10 years less life expectancy than nonsmokers.
The American Lung
Association, posed that smoking will kill ‘you’, but before you die, ‘you’
might experience some very terrible diseases and health disorders, and lethal
among others are; lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, health
diseases, stroke, asthma, reproductive effects in women, diabetes, blindness
and the list continued. Not on the health risks from smoking, but here is how smoking
can also burn a hole in your pocket and someday make it unable to hold any
money.
According to a simple
research, 8 out of 10 smokers in Nigeria smoke at least 5 sticks of cigarette on
a daily basis – 7 days in a week, 4 weeks in a month, and 12 months in a year hence,
how much damage can a year of smoking do to addicts’ monetary wealth?
While the prices
of cigarette may defer according to brands, most cigarettes taking by these
addicts range from N5, N10 to N15, with preference to that of N15 due to what
they consider as brand quality. Here is how much they spend smoke-feeding themselves
for at least one year.
Going with the N15
price for a stick, for 7 days, the smoker would have smoked 35 sticks which
will amount to N525. In a month, the smoker would have consumed at least 150
sticks which amount toN2250 and in a year, the smoker would have consumed 1825
stick of cigarettes which amount to N27375. Add this amount to the number of
years the smoker has been in the business of smoking, the packets smoked, and
the figures will spin your head.
According to Mr
Abdullani Zaka that he has been smoking for 8 years, meaning, within these 8
years, he smoked 14600 sticks of cigarette, amounting to N219000. He added, “the
question is not, when did one start smoking? But when will one stop smoking? A
big problem I must say!”
Psychologist Ayuba
Aribi said, it is always difficult to stop smoking at once but, if the smoker
can help himself by reducing the sticks he or she takes on a daily basis – from
5 sticks to 4 sticks to 3 sticks, and gradually to a stick, and then the final
break out from smoking rolls in.
While an addict
sees the unending enjoyment in smoking, during vices, it is the smoke that is
doing the talking and actions most of the times as believed my nonsmokers. These
effects of smoking according to researchers will always send the smoker’s
health either running downhill, or burning a hole in their pockets or both;
target your health, target your money and then kill you at the end.
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