The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors and the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, on Wednesday, backed the ban on the importation, manufacture, distribution, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages in sachets, and small bottles of 200ml and below.
But the Trade Union Congress and the Nigeria Labour Congress, on Wednesday, continued their protest against the ban, demanding the suspension of the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Mojisola
The unions have been protesting since last week when the NAFDAC DG announced that the agency would begin the enforcement of the ban on alcoholic beverages in sachets.
The unions and distillers in the country, in rejecting the move, said it would cost 500,000 workers their jobs and ruin N800bn investments.
However, the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Dele Abdullahi, and the President of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Michael Nnachi, backed NAFDAC on the ban.
The NARD president told The PUNCH: “I can understand the fear of the labour unions on the amount of job loss, but we have to consider the effects of the sachet and small bottle of alcohol on the health of society and family finances.
“A lot of people today are impoverished because of sachet alcohol. It’s easy for people to buy these things because they fall within the range of their income. So, the beverages create a large room for addiction.
“Inasmuch as a large number of the labour unions have invested in the production of alcohol, I still think it’s a bold step to take to regulate the whole process.”
On his part, Nnachi said NAFDAC’s decision was for the benefit of Nigerians.
“Already, there is adulteration of drinks and with that, anybody can be exposed to the implications of such. Since NAFDAC said one of the reasons for the ban is to curb the menace of abuse of alcohol, it is a good one.
“Any item that does meet expected standards or recommendation of the World Health Organisation needs to be addressed because our lives are exposed to danger. Nobody should allow anything that will constitute a danger to the society,” Nnachi noted.
Meanwhile, continuing their protest on Wednesday in Ogun State, the TUC and the NLC maintained their stance against the ban, insisting that it would kill indigenous manufacturing companies in the country.
Leading another protest in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Wednesday, the Chairman of Ogun State chapter of the TUC, Akeem Lasisi, and his counterpart at NLC, Hammed Ademola Benco, called for the suspension of NAFDAC DG.
Members of the Food Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association and the National Union of Food Beverages and Tobacco Employees also participated in the protest.
The protesters, who chanted anti-government songs, stormed the Ogun State House of Assembly in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, armed with placards with various inscriptions such as: “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.
Lasisi , while addressing the Speaker of the Assembly, Oludaisi Elemide, lamented that the ban would force over 500,000 workers out of jobs, while over N800bn investment would be lost.
The TUC chairman said, “We believe this policy is anti-people; it is not welcomed by Nigerians. Drinking of alcohol is a choice, you either take it or leave it and a large quantity of sales in this industry comes from the sales of sachet alcohol.
“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 she has colluded with multinational companies to destroy the indigenous and local industries. We will not accept this.
“This ban will affect Nigerians seriously, especially the Nigerian workers. We have over 500,000 direct employees in these companies, we have over two million indirect employees in these companies, the direct employees will fall back into the labour market, the indirect employees will become unemployed.
“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 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 and what pleases us,” the Speaker said.
The protesters later matched to the palace of the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, where representatives of the labour unions met with the monarch behind closed doors.
