Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called on the Federal and State Governments to strengthen diabetes prevention measures by reforming Nigeria’s food environment and addressing the commercial factors driving the rising burden of the disease.
The organisation made the call in a statement issued and signed by Robert Egbe, CAPPA’s Media and Communications Officer ahead of the 2026 World Diabetes Day, marked on November 14, under the theme, “Early Action on Diabetes”.
CAPPA stressed that while early screening and timely medical treatment are essential, effective action against diabetes must begin with primary prevention, particularly by ensuring that healthy, nutritious and culturally appropriate foods are affordable and accessible to Nigerians.
According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), Nigeria has the highest number of adults aged 20 to 79 living with diabetes in Africa, while nearly three in four adults with diabetes on the continent remain undiagnosed, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The organisation warned that millions of people remain vulnerable to life-threatening complications, including kidney failure, blindness, stroke and amputations.
It added that Nigerian households spend an estimated N1.92 trillion annually out-of-pocket treating diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), further worsening poverty among vulnerable families.
CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said diabetes prevention should not be viewed solely as a matter of individual discipline or willpower, arguing that aggressive marketing, misleading product claims and the affordability of unhealthy foods were influencing Nigerians’ dietary choices.
He noted that commercial interests were increasingly taking precedence over public health in the country’s food environment.
Citing its 2025 report, Junk On Our Plates, CAPPA said food and beverage companies deployed aggressive and deceptive marketing strategies to promote ultra-processed foods and drinks high in sugar and sodium across seven Nigerian states.
The report identified targeted advertising to children, young people and low-income communities, misleading nutrition labels, cultural co-optation and celebrity endorsements as some of the strategies used by the companies.
“We cannot keep telling Nigerians to eat healthily while allowing unhealthy food and beverages to dominate our markets, schools, advertisements and public spaces.
“Early action on diabetes must begin with enacting and implementing strong regulatory policies that make healthy choices possible, affordable and accessible, not simply with advising people to change their dietary behaviour,” Oluwafemi said.
To address the growing burden of diet-related diseases, CAPPA urged policymakers and regulatory agencies to implement five priority measures.
First, it called for the finalisation and enforcement of a proposed increase in the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax.
The organisation urged the House of Representatives and the Executive to conclude legislative action following the Senate’s passage of the SSB tax review bill earlier this year.
It advocated an inflation-adjusted excise tax of at least 20 per cent of the final retail price, in line with WHO recommendations.
CAPPA also called for revenue generated from the tax to be transparently dedicated to funding the prevention, control and management of diet-related diseases, primary healthcare, diabetes screening, subsidies for healthy local foods and nutrition programmes.
Second, it advocated mandatory Front-of-Pack Warning Labels (FOPWL) on pre-packaged products containing excessive levels of sugar, sodium and unhealthy fats.
It urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to expedite action on introducing clear and easy-to-read warning labels.
“Consumers have a fundamental right to know what is in their food without having to decode tiny, obscured print on the back of packages, as is currently the case,” the statement said.
Third, CAPPA called for restrictions on predatory food marketing, particularly advertisements targeting children and adolescents, including the use of child actors in commercials.
It urged the government to enact laws prohibiting the marketing and sponsorship of sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods targeting young people across television, digital platforms and public spaces.
The organisation also called on state governments to enforce the Federal Government’s public food procurement guidelines to ensure that schools, hospitals and other public institutions provide nutritious meals rather than ultra-processed products.
Fourth, CAPPA urged the government to protect public health policymaking from interference by ultra-processed food industry lobbyists and reject what it described as “healthwashing” — the use of misleading health claims, promotional language and lifestyle imagery to make unhealthy products appear nutritious.
It warned against industry efforts to promote voluntary self-regulation and the use of fortification claims to disguise the nutritional risks associated with products high in sugar and sodium.
“Adding selected micronutrients to a sugary drink or a high-sodium bouillon cube does not erase excessive sugar, salt or other nutritional concerns. Fortification must never become a marketing licence to disguise unhealthy products or undermine policies that seek to reduce their consumption,” CAPPA said.
The organisation made the clarification against the backdrop of ongoing efforts to introduce mandatory fortification of bouillon cubes in Nigeria, a proposal it said had been criticised by several public health experts.
Fifth, CAPPA called for stronger primary healthcare services and increased support for local food production systems.
It urged federal and state governments to increase budgetary allocations to equip Primary Healthcare Centres with free or subsidised blood glucose testing, essential medicines and support for local insulin production.
It also advocated redirecting agricultural incentives towards smallholder farmers producing indigenous fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
“Diabetes is not inevitable, and early action against the condition must include action against the commercial practices that make unhealthy diets increasingly difficult to avoid.
“On this World Diabetes Day, we call on Nigerian lawmakers and regulators to choose the health and productivity of our people over the profit margins of ultra-processed food corporations,” Oluwafemi added.
