The recent ban on sachet alcoholic drinks by the National Agency for Food and Drug Control (NAFDAC) has been described by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress as an anti-people policy.
This was stated by the Chairmen of NLC and TUC in Ogun State, Comrades Ademola Benco and Akeem Lasisi, respectively, while leading a protest organised by members of the Food Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) and the National Union of Food Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBE).
The protesters were of the opinion that the pronouncement would further worsen the economic woes the country and its people are experiencing.
They submitted that the policy was targeted at killing local manufacturing companies in the country.
The regulatory body had banned the production, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages in sachets, PET bottles, and glass bottles of 200 ml and below.
They (the protesters) took their protest to the State House of Assembly Complex, armed with placards with the inscriptions “Sachet alcohol is not Nigeria’s problem,” “Our industries must not die of wicked policies; man, save our industries,” “NAFDAC, don’t take away our work,” and “Don’t create another problem; don’t make us jobless in this biting economy,” among others.
The TUC chairman, Lasisi, informed the Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Oludaisi Elemide, that the ban would force over 500,000 workers out of work, while over N800 billion in investment in the industry would be lost.
“We believe this policy is anti-people; it is not welcomed by Nigerians. Drinking alcohol is a choice; you either take it or leave it, and a large quantity of sales in this industry comes from the sale of sachets of alcohol.
“This ban will affect Nigerians seriously, especially the Nigerian workers. We have over 500,000 direct employees in these companies, and we have over 2 million indirect employees in these companies. The direct employees will fall back into the labour market, and the indirect employees will become unemployed.
“Even the Ogun State government will be affected by the ban because these companies pay billions of naira into the government account as taxes, and the internally generated revenue of Ogun State will drop.
“With this ban, over N800 billion in investment in these companies will go down the drain. The packaging material industries that are supplying materials to these alcoholic-producing companies will also fold up.
“What we are saying is that this policy is anti-people; the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, should be suspended because we believe he has colluded with multinational companies to destroy the indigenous and local industries. We will not accept this.
“Adeyeye must go. She has colluded with multinational companies to destroy the local economy. The arguments of NAFDAC to ban the production of sachet alcoholic drinks are baseless.”
On his part, the NLC chairman called on the State Houses of Assembly to prevail on NAFDAC to lift the ban so as to save the manufacturing sector.
The Speaker, while responding to the protesters, promised that the Assembly would intervene and plead with the federal government to reconsider the ban.
“We are in a very critical moment in this country, though the ban is a federal government decision, but we will let them know what pleases us,” the Speaker said.
The protesters later went to the palace of the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, where representatives of the labour unions met with the monarch behind closed doors.
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