Concerned Citizens of Nigeria (CONCON), has criticised the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC’s)decision to ban the packaging of high strength alcohol in sachets and small volume pets.
The President of CONCON, Mr Peter Chichi-Harry, while addressing newsmen during a rally on the ban said the measure would lead hurt the economy as well as lead to loss of jobs.
Chichi-Harry said the new move would result in a serious setback on the productive sector and the small and medium scale enterprises.
- Advertisement -
He recalled that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Federal Ministry of Health; National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and other stakeholders.
This, he said was to ban the packaging of high strength alcohol in sachets and small volume pets, with effect from Jan. 31st.
“It has however, come to our notice that, despite the National Assembly’s House Committee on Food and Drugs Administration and Control’s call for restraint on this matter, considering several petitions and lack of legal backing associated with it, NAFDAC has gone ahead to implement the MOU.
“One could only imagine millions of jobs, being lost to this ban, if it were to be, except that alcohol is after all not a contraband product.
” However, the ban which defiles all legal considerations is therefore, deemed null and void, unconstitutional, uncontemplatable and of no consequence.”
Chichi-Harry said that with the above legal relief, the producers of this product cannot be dictated upon on which pack-size to be put in the market.
He said that the primary rationale given for the ban was that it would discourage and reduce the abuse of alcohol by the youths, under-aged and some motorists among others.
He however, said that these could better be addressed in other ways such as tackling its abuse by creating awareness on its effect.
He said this could also be through awareness creation on its effects, developing programmes and policies to get the adolescents into school, thereby reducing their exposure to alcohol and substance use.
He said that there was need to strengthen SMEs and not cripple them .
” We use this opportunity to advocate for SMEs to be urgently and adequately factored into policy making and programme implementation in the country.
“It is pertinent to note that, virtually all the sachets and pets packaged alcohol are locally made by the SMEs and have controlled a reasonable percentage of alcohol marketing in the country.
“This provides a source of living for the participants in the business as well as enhancing economic growth as they forestall capital flight.
“For NAFDAC to have contemplated and even gone ahead to unconstitutionally ban the sachets and pets packaging of this product, suggests insensitivity to the policy thrust of the Renewed Hope Agenda.”
Chichi-Harry commended President Bola Tinubu and passed a vote of confidence on his capacity to improve the economy and for his pragmatic and courageous leadership, despite some momentary challenges.
He said that going by his leadership aantecedence CONCON believed his Tinubu’s ability to surmount all the challenges and eventually deliver the best dividends of democracy to the good people of Nigeria.(NAN)
