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JUST IN: CAPPA Warns Nigerians Against Burna Boy’s Vape Deal

Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has condemned a five-year deal between Grammy Award-winning artiste Burna Boy’s company, BrkFst, and Aspire North America, LLC, a subsidiary of Inspire Technology Inc. for the manufacture and distribution of vaping products in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Europe.
According to CAPPA, Burna Boy’s BrkFst brand, as detailed on its website and in news reports, sets out to promote cannabis and fashion culture.

However, Nigeria presently classifies cannabis as an illicit substance due to its potential to worsen the country’s challenges with drug proliferation, abuse, and narco-terrorism.
It warned that the business collaboration between Aspire North America, LLC, and BrkFst is likely to engender aggressive marketing of cannabis vaping and e-cigarettes, including vape pens, e-hookahs, JUULs, and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), which will further worsen the nation’s Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs) burden.
CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said:
“We are really disappointed that Burna Boy rather than promote healthy lifestyles and noble causes among the youth, has chosen to throw his influence behind habits that cause dangerous health consequences.
“The vape deal is one of the strategies by the tobacco and related industries to use social and cultural influencers like Burna Boy to create the impression that vaping is safe, especially among young, upwardly mobile Nigerians.”
However, contrary to what its promoters would have the public believe, CAPPA pointed out that vapes are banned in no fewer than 34 countries. Some others including the United States and China, which permit vapes, impose heavy regulations on their use.
In January, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to ban disposable vapes in The United Kingdom to protect children’s health and discourage its rising use among teenagers.
Oluwafemi, criticized the tobacco industry’s relentless efforts to make its products appealing to vulnerable groups by producing e-cigarettes in a variety of attractive colours and flavours and using socialites to promote them.
He noted that despite claims that e-cigarettes contain fewer of the over 7,000 toxic chemicals found in smoke from regular cigarettes, aerosols from e-cigarettes still contain harmful and potentially dangerous substances, including nicotine, volatile organic compounds, heavy metals like lead, and carcinogens.
Akinbode added: “E-cigarette promoters claim their products can help people quit smoking. However, evidence shows that these so-called alternatives to tobacco smoke, including vapes, are not healthy at all.
“They are all part of the tobacco industry’s tricks to trap victims, especially young persons, in their web of death and disease. Nicotine used in vapour products is highly addictive and can damage your heart, arteries, and lungs, increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung disease.
“Just early this month, a study by the American College of Cardiology investigating possible links between vaping and heart failure found that people who use e-cigarettes are significantly more likely to develop heart failure compared with those who have never used them.”
CAPPA noted that the tobacco industry is desperately notorious for its unlawful tactics to recruit new users of its products, so that its shareholders can enjoy immoral profits. At the same time, the public is left to bear the huge financial and health burden of diseases and economic losses caused by their products.
Last December, the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) found that its logo was unlawfully used in the advertisement of the Brkfst vape cigarettes, in Lekki, contrary to tobacco control laws. LASAA swiftly condemned the advert.
CAPPA’s Policy and Research Analyst, Zikora Ibeh urged Nigerians and the government to watch out for more of such industry tricks and plots to undermine the hard-won victories of tobacco control efforts.
“There is a l
atest spin to the tobacco industry. They are flooding black markets with new nicotine products touted as safer alternatives and fashionable. Sadly, these products are just as lethal as any other conventional offerings by them.”
They also reinforce a behavioural pattern that can dissuade smokers from quitting while initiating a new generation of non-smokers, particularly children and adolescents to take up smoking and vaping.
We urge the government and public health advocates to step up vigilance against these deadly products and deceitful claims of the industry.” Ibeh added.
News
JUST IN: President Tinubu set to return to Nigeria after Saint Lucia, Brazil trip

President Bola Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria on Saturday (today) two weeks after his two-nation visit to Saint Lucia and Brazil.
The President’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga announced this in a post on his official X handle.
Recall that Tinubu departed Abuja for Saint Lucia and Brazil on Saturday, June 28, 2025.
The President paid a state visit to Saint Lucia as part of efforts to deepen Nigeria’s engagement with Caribbean nations and strengthen South-South cooperation.
Tinubu on July 4th departed Saint Lucia for Brazil where he attend the 2025 BRICS Summit, held July 6-7, 2025.
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CBN And Bank of Industry Partner With CEAN To Stabilise Nigeria’s Creative Sector Post-COVID
For more than a decade, CEAN has played a vital role in connecting Nigeria’s informal creative workforce to structured policy, funding, and formal economic opportunities.

September 12, 2022, Lagos, Nigeria –
In a bold and strategic move to rescue Nigeria’s creative industries from the lingering economic shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bank of Industry (BOI) partnered with the Creative Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (CEAN) to design and implement a nationwide intervention targeting vulnerable creative businesses.
The collaboration, launched in mid-2022, marks a milestone in the recognition of Nigeria’s creative economy as a critical pillar of national development—and affirms CEAN’s position as a trusted stakeholder in industry policy and infrastructure development.
Responding to a Sector in Crisis
The partnership was galvanized by CEAN’s early post-pandemic white paper, “Creating Through Crisis: The Future of Nigerian Creativity Post-COVID.
It presented compelling data and policy recommendations that influenced federal strategy.
While other sectors received initial support under the government’s economic recovery plans, it was CEAN’s persistent advocacy and detailed sector mapping that brought national attention to the creative industries’ urgent needs.
CEAN’s nationwide rollout had seen the training of over 2,000 creative entrepreneurs, advisory support to more than 500 micro-businesses, and the establishment of regional Creative Recovery Hubs in Lagos, Abuja, and Enugu.
“From day one of the pandemic, we understood that Nigeria’s cultural workforce—millions strong—was at risk of collapse,” said Adebowale Ewedemi, CEAN founding executive and veteran media entrepreneur.
“We didn’t just lobby for change; we brought the tools, the structure, and the roadmap,” said Ewedemi.
From Blueprint to Implementation
The result was a landmark intervention program backed by BOI and regulated by CBN, with CEAN serving as the official implementation partner.
The program delivers targeted support to struggling sub-sectors including independent film, performance art, fashion, radio, music, design, and digital content production.
Highlights of the program include:
• Access to low-interest working capital for creative entrepreneurs
• Training grants and accelerator programs for skill development
• Support for studio and performance infrastructure
• Technical assistance for digital transformation and business retooling.
CEAN’s nationwide rollout had seen the training of over 2,000 creative entrepreneurs, advisory support to more than 500 micro-businesses, and the establishment of regional Creative Recovery Hubs in Lagos, Abuja, and Enugu.
Sustained Leadership in Nigeria’s Creative Economy
This intervention is only the latest in CEAN’s long record of national impact. During the peak of the COVID-19 lockdowns, the association served as a frontline support system—offering emergency relief, transitioning training programs online, and shaping portions of the Federal Government’s Survival Fund.
For more than a decade, CEAN has played a vital role in connecting Nigeria’s informal creative workforce to structured policy, funding, and formal economic opportunities.
Through this work, the association—under Ewedemi’s leadership—has consistently introduced original models, innovative frameworks, and institutional partnerships that define sustainable creative sector governance in Africa.
Architects of a New Creative Economy
This partnership with CBN and BOI reflects a broader understanding that Nigeria’s future is tied to the creative ingenuity of its people—and that long-term development requires strategic institutions with deep insight, trust, and capacity.
“We’re proud to move beyond advocacy into implementation. This is not a moment—it’s a movement. We are helping to reshape the creative industry into a nationally recognized economic force, ”said Ewedemi.
As the creative sector continues to recover and rebuild, CEAN remains committed to ensuring that no artist, content creator, or cultural innovator is left behind.
News
President Tinubu congratulates Governor Okpebholo on Supreme Court Victory

Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has congratulated Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State on the affirmation of his election by the Supreme Court.
The Edo State governorship election took place in September 2024, and Governor Okpebholo was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Supreme Court, as the final arbiter, upheld the election of the governor today.
According to the press statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), President Tinubu encourages Governor Okpebholo to be magnanimous in victory and rally the citizens of Edo across divides towards a singular vision of advancing the state’s development.
The President advises that now that the governor has cleared the legal hurdles, it is time for him to accelerate the delivery of exceptional services and good governance to the people of Edo State, which he has already begun to do.
President Tinubu also congratulates the leadership and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State and calls for cohesion and dedication in effectively discharging the mandate given by the people.
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