TUC, FOBTOB hold protest against shutting down alcoholic sachet drink factories by NAFDAC

 TUC, FOBTOB hold protest against shutting down alcoholic sachet drink factories by NAFDAC

Lagos, Feb.6, 2024  The Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Food, Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) held a peaceful protest against the National Agency Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) directive to shutdown companies manufacturing alcoholic sachet drinks.

The protest held on Tuesday in front of NAFDAC office at Plot 1, Industrial Estate, Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Isolo, Lagos State.

It can be recalled that NAFDAC in 2018 gave a directive to stop the production of alcohol in sachets and bottles below 200ml with effect from Jan. 31, 2024.

Also, NAFDAC in January 2022 suspended the registration of alcoholic beverages in sachet and small volume PET and Glass bottles below 200ml.

This led to a two days enforcement exercise which was recently carried out in Ota, Ogun State which led to the shutting down of some factories.

The Vice President, TUC, Mr Emmanuel Idogen said that a lot of people had already been rendered jobless from the factories shut down by the regulatory agency .

Idogen said that he was not against NAFDAC carrying out their duty but to shut down the livelihood of thousands of people at a time of economic hardship was inhumane.

" We all know the economic hardship we are facing in the country presently. Price of fuel has increased, prices of food is increasing on a daily basis and there is inflation.

"Some of the people earn their living to feed their family and dependents from the factory that you have shutdown.

"Invariably, there will be more families exposed to hunger and I believe this will have a negative impact on the society," he said.

The vice president said that many companies in the country had shutdown as a result of the harsh economic indices of doing business putting a strain on the limited available jobs.

"And now, you want to lay off thousands of workers into the labour market that is already overstretched.

"What do you expect them to do in order to feed and cater for the needs of their family.

"We are appealing to NAFDAC to suspend the directive to shutdown the production of alcoholic sachets drinks for the posterity of the masses," he said.

Idogen said that the Lagos State government raised the motion that alcoholic sachets were the cause of blocked drainage systems in the state.

"What about others like nylon bags, plastic bottles and other things blocking the drainages. To label alcoholic sachets as the sole contributor to the blockages of drainage would be unfair," he said.

The vice president also said that alcoholic sachet drinks was affordable and economical in quantity for those that don't have enough money but still wanted to enjoy alcohol consumption.

"When you talk about the purchasing power of the masses, sachet alcoholic beverages is still more available for easy purchase.

"It is not everyone that has money to buy the expensive bottle so why are you trying to make life difficulty for the common man on the street," Idogen said.

In the same vein, the Secretary, FOBTOB, Mr Anthony Oyagua, said that over five hundred thousand members had been put out of jobs and sent into the labour market. 

"The labour market is already saturated and you have piled more problems on our nation's economy by sending more people into that same market.

"This does not represent President Bola Tinubu's agenda for the renewed hope," he said.

Oyagua said that the action would affect workers, suppliers, customers and most especially the local, state and federal government whose revenue drive will also drop in tune of billions of naira. 

"We appeal to NAFDAC to help take a second look at this policy of government and help save our industry from imminent collapse and protect the jobs of millions of Nigerians nationwide," he said.

The Director, Drug and Evaluation Research, NAFDAC, Mr Kayode Amuda said that the agency's focus was to shutdown the alcoholic line production because of it's negative effects on the society.

"Our critical focus is to protect the health of the nation because a lot of our children and youths have been made redundant as a result of easy access to these sachet drinks.

"We have been on the front burner of this message for long and have been telling the manufacturers about this impeding change but we keep on shifting goal post.

"However, we have to take a step towards enforcement and address this because it is ruining the life of our children and youths in the country.

"Our focus in NAFDAC is to put a stop to the production of alcoholic sachet beverages," the NAFDAC representative said.