The Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), a subsidiary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC); and the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), a subsidiary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), are protesting in Lagos and Abuja against a ban on alcohol in sachets and PET bottles.

Both bodies took placards to the streets to demand that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) revisit its decision to ban the products.

They said the ban, if effected, would cause a loss of over 500,000 jobs for their members.

On Tuesday, NAFDAC announced the ban, saying the products had become too accessible to school-age children, commercial bus drivers, motorcycle riders and more.

The agency said the ban had been in the pipeline since 2018 and would have been effected sooner.

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Bearing placards, protesters took to the streets on Thursday morning to express their displeasure. It was the third protest in three days.

NAFDAC CAN HANDLE THIS BETTER — TUC CHAIRMAN

On Thursday morning, FIJ called Gbenga Ekundayo, TUC chairman. He told this newspaper that he supported NAFDAC’s intention but opposed its method.

He said it was not the right time to take such action considering the country’s economic realities and potential market impact.

Ekundayo said, “It is important that issues are reviewed holistically, considering present circumstances and the desired future, without ignoring the impact of the situation or proposed alternatives on all sides.

“NAFDAC should have further meetings with the companies to find enduring solutions to the genuine concerns.

“While we need to get alcoholic beverages out of children’s hands and particularly stop the cheap availability of the drinks to commercial transport operators, we must not lose sight of the economic impact of a total ban on the companies, the attendant job losses that will follow and the possible spiralling socioeconomic effects on families.

“What is needed is an approach to preserve employment and, at the same time, effectively regulate the availability and consumption of those cognacs.”