Di National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (Nafdac) don announce a ban on alcoholic drinks wey dem dey sell for sachet and small-small bottles wey no reach 200ml.
For statement on Monday, di agency tok say dis ban na in di general interest of di well being of Nigeria pipo especially di under age dem.
According to Nafdac: “Alcoholic drinks for sachets, PET and Glass bottles dey pocket-friendly and dey easy to carry around by di underage (including primary and secondary school children) without notice.
“E also dey easily affordable and dey very easy for commercial bus drivers, keke riders, okada riders, etc, and afta dem don drink am, dem go dey constitute nuisance to di society.”
Di Nafdac statement also quote one report wey World Health Organisation bin do wey find out say “children wey dey drink alcohol dey more likely to use drugs, get bad grades, suffer injury or death, engage in risky sexual activity, make bad decisions and get plenty health problems”.
Di agency tok say dem bin don dey get meeting with di pipo wey dey manufacture alcoholic drinks for Nigeria, make dem stop packaging dia products for small-small containers by January 31 2024.
However, local tori pipo Punch report say di Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria don tok say dem go march go Nafdac office for Lagos on Tuesday to do peaceful protest sake of di ban.
Alcoholic drinks for sachets and small containers dey very common for Nigeria.
Sake of low purchasing power of di populace, even international alcoholic brands bin don dey package dia products for small-small sachets and plastic bottles, specifically for di Nigerian market, make pipo for fit afford am.
Several brands of vodkas, whiskeys, rums, cream liqueurs, gins, and bitters full Nigeria market for small-small containers wey some of dem dey sell for as low as N100.
Many Nigerian entrepreneurs don also jump into di alcoholic industry, producing dia own local brands and dia packaging na mostly for sachet and small-small bottles.
For November 2015, Nafdac open investigation on top one alcoholic brand wey im name na ‘Gallant Bitters’, after some pipo complain say dia relative die wen e take di drink.
Nafdac say investigation show say di drink get “high levels of methanol”.
“Di ban dey very good if di goment go enforce am,” Chioma Ezeobi, a clinical microbiologist, tok. “Bicos for some rural areas, even some pregnant women dey take dis sachet alcoholic drinks, sake of how easy and affordable e dey to get.
“Dem dey believe say alcohol dey help dem control di size of dia baby make delivery no hard for dem, and na small quantity so e dey safe for dem. But dem dey expose dia pikin to Fetal Alcoholic Syndrome. No amount of alcohol dey safe for pregnant woman at all at all,” Ezeobi tok.
On how dis ban fit impact di economy, sake of di companies wey dey produce di drinks, Nelson Uchechukwu Chris, an economist tok say di new directive go increase di cost of production for di alcohol companies and dia sales fit reduce.
“But di effect no go too dey drastic like dat, bicos after some time, di consumers go adjust to di new reality and di manufacturers go dey alright las las,” Mr Chris tok.
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