Nigerian workers under the auspices of Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association and National Union of Food Beverages yesterday took to the streets in Lagos to protest the ban on sachet alcoholic drinks by the NAFDAC, say jobs of 500,000 Nigerians on the line.
The workers, who trooped out in their hundreds, displayed placards with various inscriptions and insisted that the ban would again throw out a lot of Nigerians into the labour market.
Some of the inscriptions included: ‘NAFDAC, Our Jobs Are on the Line’; ‘NAFDAC, don’t Worsen Nigerians’ Hardship’; ‘All We Need is Good Regulation, Not Total Ban’, and other similar messages.
The protest, which began under the Iyana-Isolo Bridge, saw the workers through adjoining streets, singing different solidarity songs. On getting to NAFDAC office, where their leadership addressed the public, including staff of NAFDAC and journalists, the workers appealed to the agency to reconsider its stand in the interest of the economy, arguing that the current move would cripple the sector and lead to huge economic loss for their employers.
According to the demonstrators, rather than an outright ban on sachet alcoholic beverages, NAFDAC could come up with better regulatory and quality control policies that will put things under check. The agitators also argued that the move by NAFDAC will give more room to counterfeiters to run riot, thereby putting the health of Nigerians at risk.
In a statement issued after the protest, Vice Chairman, Lagos Council of NUFBTE, Emmanuel Idogien, said the impact of the policy on families and economy in general will be severe if not properly checked.
