Workers reject sachet alcohol ban, plan nationwide protest

Employees of companies producing sachet alcohol, alongside some civil society organisations, have hinted at the possibility of a nationwide protest if the ban on sachet alcohol beverages and PET bottles below 200ml is not reversed.

The employees made this known on Monday when they stormed the Lagos office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway to protest the ban, three days after their last demonstration.

PUNCH Online reported on Friday that employees under the aegis of the Food, Beverages, and Tobacco Senior Staff Association and the National Union of Food, Beverages, and Tobacco Employees had besieged the NAFDAC office to express their grievances over disruptions to their companies’ operations.

They had warned that no fewer than five million Nigerians would be affected, directly and indirectly, by the ban.

Following the Friday protest, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, engaged with leaders of the protesters. However, Adeyeye insisted that the ban would remain until there was a change in legislation.

At the protest on Monday, employees under the aegis of FOBTOB and NUFBTE, joined by members of the Coalition for the Protection of Consumers’ Rights, were seen carrying placards and singing solidarity songs.

Speaking with journalists, the National President of FOBTOB, Oyibo Jimoh, said engagements with the House of Representatives were aimed at developing a national alcohol policy that would cater to the interests of all stakeholders without an outright ban.

He said that while deliberations on the policy were ongoing, NAFDAC went ahead to seal factories, describing the move as a disregard for the Federal Government’s position.

Jimoh also said some of the claims by the NAFDAC Director-General regarding the alcohol content of sachet beverages were untrue and an attempt to distort facts.

He added that the unions were excluded from the Senate deliberations that led to the closure of their factories, stressing that they would not relent until their demands were met.

Also speaking, the Head of Department in charge of Brewery and Tobacco at NUFBTE, Azeez Rasaq, said the union would not hesitate to mobilise a nationwide protest against NAFDAC.

Rasaq said, “A time will come when we will have to approach the central labour unions, both the TUC and NLC, because they can’t see the possibility of 5.5 million Nigerians losing their jobs and remain silent. Definitely, they will take it up. If the government continues to ignore our calls, it could lead to a nationwide protest. It is very possible.”

Speaking on behalf of the CSOs, Declan Ihekaira said the ban was an attempt to deprive low-income earners of access to alcoholic drinks, adding that such a move would infringe on consumers’ rights. He added that the CSOs would not hesitate to mobilise their members across the country for a nationwide protest to ensure that the policy is reversed.

A staff member of one of the companies, Biodun Adeyemi, said he was willing to participate in a nationwide protest because he could not afford to lose his job. Adeyemi added that losing his job would also have a multiplier effect on his children, whom NAFDAC claimed it was trying to protect.

“It will affect many staff, and I could be one of them. I also have a family that survives on my income, including extended family members. You can imagine the multiplier effect of this decision.

“If the only language the DG or the government understands is people taking to the streets in large numbers, then we are ready to do that to draw attention to our plight,” he said.

The Chairman of FOBTOB in Lagos State, Olamiye Somefun, said the union would have no option but to take the protest to the National Assembly if their demands were not met.

“Our next option is to march to Abuja and storm the National Assembly to tell our lawmakers to hear our grievances. What President Bola Tinubu promised Nigerians on May 29 was to improve our lives. We do not know if the NAFDAC DG is working against that agenda,” Somefun added.(Punch)