By Destiny Obinna
The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has urged the Federal and state governments to urgently reform Nigeria’s food environment and strengthen regulations on unhealthy food products to stem the rising burden of diabetes.
The organisation warned that efforts to tackle diabetes would remain inadequate if government focused only on screening and treatment without addressing aggressive marketing, affordability and widespread consumption of ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks.
CAPPA made the call ahead of the 2026 World Diabetes Day, marked November 14, with the theme, “Early Action on Diabetes”.
According to the organisation, Nigeria has the highest number of adults aged 20 to 79 living with diabetes in Africa, according to the International Diabetes Federation, IDF, while nearly three in four adults with diabetes across the continent remain undiagnosed, according to the World Health Organisation, WHO.
It warned that delayed diagnosis leaves millions vulnerable to complications, including kidney failure, blindness, stroke and amputations.
CAPPA also cited an estimated N1.92 trillion annual out-of-pocket expenditure by Nigerian households on the treatment of diet-related non-communicable diseases, NCDs, saying the burden was worsening poverty among vulnerable families.
Executive Director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said diabetes prevention should not be treated solely as a matter of individual discipline when commercial interests and unhealthy food environments increasingly influence people’s dietary choices.
He said: “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.”
The organisation cited its 2025 report, Junk On Our Plates, which documented aggressive marketing of ultra-processed foods and beverages high in sugar and sodium across seven Nigerian states.
It said the report exposed targeted advertising to children, young people and low-income communities, misleading nutrition labels, celebrity endorsements and the use of cultural imagery to promote unhealthy products.
To address the situation, CAPPA outlined five priority interventions for government.
It called for the conclusion and enforcement of the proposed Sugar-Sweetened Beverage, SSB, tax, urging the House of Representatives and the Executive to complete legislative action following the Senate’s passage of the tax review bill earlier this year.
The organisation advocated an inflation-adjusted excise tax of at least 20 per cent of the final retail price, in line with WHO recommendations.
It further urged government to transparently channel revenue from the tax into diabetes prevention and control, primary healthcare, disease screening, subsidies for healthy local foods and nutrition programmes.
CAPPA also called on the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, to introduce mandatory Front-of-Pack Warning Labels on packaged products containing excessive sugar, sodium and unhealthy fats.
“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,” it said.
The organisation also demanded statutory restrictions on the marketing and sponsorship of sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods targeting children and adolescents across television, digital platforms and public spaces.
It urged state governments to enforce federal public food procurement guidelines to ensure schools, hospitals and other public institutions serve nutritious meals instead of ultra-processed products.
On industry interference in nutrition policies, CAPPA warned against what it described as healthwashing, whereby manufacturers use misleading health claims, selected fortification and lifestyle imagery to portray unhealthy products as nutritious.
“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,” the organisation said.
It also urged federal and state governments to increase funding for primary healthcare centres to provide free or subsidised blood glucose testing, essential medicines and improved access to insulin.
CAPPA called for agricultural incentives to be redirected towards smallholder farmers producing indigenous fruits, vegetables and whole grains to improve access to affordable, nutritious local foods.
Oluwafemi said: “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.”
