June 27, 2005
The International Smokers Rights Conference
A POSITION PAPER PRESENTED BY FORCES NIGERIA IN OCCASION OF THE LAS VEGAS CONFERENCE
Felicitations from Africa and Nigeria in particular on this auspicious conference holding in Las Vegas. There could not be a better choice of Venue than this city made popular by hosting boxing bouts. Let’s also throw punches back at those prophets of doom whose pleasant pastime are shameless incursion into the private lifestyle of the individual economic injustice of double taxation and the strangulation of the economics of countries for which tobacco production is mainstay, and are damaged by prohibition of tobacco using absolute falsehood that cannot be scientifically substantiated.
Today, we have gathered to take stock of our commissions as well as take care of our omissions.
Over the years, Forces International, as a body, has made its impact be felt in the tobacco war”. The million-dollar question is how would it have been if there were no organized opposition to the antics of anti-tobacco crusade? Your guess is as good as ours, and the answer is better imagined than expressed.
By assessment, we have not done badly in countering the smear campaigns, propaganda and junk science employed by the WHO, “public health” and their stooges to make the world “tobacco free”, thus infringing on the inherent rights of the individual to choose.
We are in the frontline. We must be alert, and not lower our guard. The enemy’s latent weapon is lies. They believe, like Goebbles, that a lie repeated a thousand times will become the truth, but if we refute that lie constantly, it will remain what it is – a lie.
Since antismokers are not relenting in their avowed determination and are resolute to pursue this tobacco war, we also must become more aggressive than ever. This may not be a call to violence, but it certainly states the imperative need to expand our frontiers and make our presence and purpose felt more than ever.
Although the emergence of the Internet has turned the world into a global village, we should not forget that access to the Internet in most African countries is determined by availability and level of education. To this end, we in Forces Nigeria, conscious of our peculiar environment have been reaching out to people and groups at the personal level, and sensitized them on the true agenda of WHO and its allies.
For us to advance in this war, we should address the enemy’s world stronghold.
In the absence of a representative from Nigeria to this conference, we would like to call your attention on the Forces International Network. Let me say that I praise Forces U.S.A. and its affiliates for their efforts in communication network. However, most international organizations keep relations with third world countries, as that also help their image. We invite Forces International and its affiliates to improve communications and relations, and to share more their mission, objectives and ideas by considering ever more solid relationships with third world countries – such as Forces Nigeria. Especially, we recommend improvement in the cooperation with chapters in other countries through the websites by keeping up links and improving information exchange functionality. Forces operates in USA and Canada in North America; Italy, Germany and Holland in Europe; but it has just a niche in Nigeria out of the whole African continent. I would like to particularly thank Gian and Samantha for their encouragement and interest, especially, of the Nigeria Chapter.
I regret that I have not been able, due to a tight work schedule, to participate to this conference. I will make amends by giving you a short report of our activities and progress. Forces Nigeria has now over 20,000 registered members who just contribute their best and play little roles as they are delegated to them. These members are scattered in most states of Nigeria, such as Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abuja, Aba, Edo, Kano, Gombe, and so on. For two years, we have used our personal resources to form and fund Forces Nigeria. Today, we are proud of the results and, at the risk of sounding immodest, we can state that we have done incredibly well. We have achieved without a dime in form of sponsorship from any foreign donor agency or domestic establishment; but how long can our lean resources carry us? CEO Gian Turci keeps on stating that “money is power”, and that the availability of it determines our results; and the lack of money is, in fact, one of the determining factors of our absence from this conference.
Short of getting funding from the tobacco industry which is not keen to do so anyway, alternatives for substantial fund raising are to be found. We are available for initiatives such as, for example, setting up firms in this country for oil and gas servicing companies – or whatever initiative you think can help Forces. Although we understand that money is short everywhere, we appeal for financial assistance from the parent body, Forces International, and/or some form of help through contacts and experience to aid us to get sponsorship.
Our approach is capital intensive since we do not rely heavily on internet but reach out to people in public places like night clubs sharing cigarettes free-of-charge to smokers, holding seminars and periodically printing and sharing handbills across major cities in the country.
I beg your indulgence for this very important digression. Friends, today we are called names, slandered, maligned, harassed and intimidated. Why? Because:
We have denounced the antitobacco crusade.
We have refused to bite on the bate of junk science.
We have and shall continuously reject the use of “junk science” as base for public health policy.
We are rebelling against super-taxation targeted at tobacco industries and its consumers.
We have refused to keep silent on gross violations of peoples’ absolute right of choice.
If these are our crimes, then we shall relentlessly continue to perpetrate them for as long as we have breath and until victory will vindicate us.
Thank you for your attention.
Written On behalf: FORCES NIGERIA
ENGR. TONY OSUAGWU
(PRESIDENT, FORCES INTERNATIONAL – NIGERIA CHAPTER)
ALUTA CONTINUA! (The fight goes on)