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Ban on sachet alcoholic drinks: NLC, TUC call for suspension of NAFDAC DG
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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have called for the suspension of the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, over the recent ban on sachet alcoholic drinks, accusing her of colluding with multi-national companies to kill local companies involved in alcohol production in Nigeria.
The two labour unions, who made the call while protesting the ban on sachet alcoholic drinks by NAFDAC, described the move as an anti-people policy, which it is targeted at killing local manufacturing companies in the Nigeria.
Leading another protest in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, the Chairman of Ogun State chapter of TUC, Akeem Lasisi and his counterpart at NLC, Hammed Ademola Benco noted that the policy would further worsen the economic hardship currently being experienced by Nigerians.
Members of the Food Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) and the National Union of Food Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBE) also participated in the protest.
The protesters who chanted anti-government songs stormed the Ogun State House of Assembly in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, armed with placards with various inscriptions such as: “Sachet alcohol is not Nigeria’s problem”, “Our industries must not die of wicked policies MAN save our industries”, “NAFDAC don’t take away our work” and “Don’t create another problem, don’t make us jobless in this biting economy”, among others.
It would be recalled that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) recently banned the production, distribution and sales of alcoholic beverage in sachets, PET and glass bottles of 200ml and below.
Enforcing the ban, NAFDAC shutdown some production factories for not complying its directive.
This has generated repeated protests by distillers and labour unions across the country.
Lasisi, while addressing the Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Oludaisi Elemide lamented that the ban would force over 500,000 workers out of job, while over N800 billion investment in the industry would be lost.
He said, “we believe this policy is anti-people, it is not welcomed by Nigerians. Drinking of alcohol is a choice, you either take it or leave it and large quantity of sales in this industry comes from the sales of sachet alcohol.
“This ban will affect Nigerians seriously, especially the Nigerian workers. We have over 500,000 direct employees in these companies, we have over 2 million indirect employees in these companies, the direct employees will fall back into the labour market, the indirect employees will become unemployed.
“Even the Ogun State government will be affected by the ban because these companies pay billions of naira into the government account as taxes, the internally generated revenue of Ogun State will drop.
“With this ban, over N800 billion investment in these companies will go down the drain. The packaging material industries who are supplying materials to these alcoholic producing companies will also fold up.
“What we are saying is that this policy is anti-people, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye should be suspended because we believe that has colluded with multinational companies to destroy the indigenous and local industries. We will not accept this.
“Adeyeye must go. She has colluded with multinational companies to destroy the local economy. The arguments of NAFDAC to ban the production of sachet alcoholic drinks are baseless.”
On his part, the NLC Chairman called on State Houses of Assembly to prevail on NAFDAC to lift the ban so as to save the manufacturing sector.
The Speaker while responding to the protesters promised that the Assembly would intervene and plead with the Federal government to reconsider the ban.
“We are in a very critical moment in this country, though the ban is a federal government decision, but we will let them know what and what pleases us”, the Speaker said.
The protesters later matched to the palace of the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, where representatives of the labour unions met with the monarch behind closed-doors.
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Tinubu Fires Top Appointee Over Alleged N1.4 Billion Embezzlement
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President Bola Tinubu has sacked Sani Auwalu Balarabe from his position as HoD, Chief of the Intercountry Centre for Oral Health for Africa, ICOH, over an alleged embezzlement of N1.4 billion during his tenure.
As far as one could gather from the People’s Gazette, the appointment of Balarabe was terminated on the 18th of July, following a spate of petitions that related to financial misconduct and investigations. The president appointed one Taiwo Olaniyi to replace him.
In January, several petitions were sent to the House of Assembly, EFCC, Ministry of Health, and other government agencies to investigate activities of Balarabe at ICOH. The petitions leveled accusations against Balarabe, saying that he had not conducted any research despite the institute receiving huge budgetary allocations, which is its core mandate.
One of the petitions dated January 16 had this: “Despite all these budgetary allocations, the centre has not produced a single oral health research project, which is its core mandate and the reason for its establishment.
It further brought to the fore that projects initiated under Balarabe’s administration, such as the construction of a remodeled dental clinic and administration block and the procurement of project vehicles, costing over N700 million, were never completed.
The petitions also accused him of backdating the appointment letters for new staff and paying them arrears of their salary, with such money to be returned to a particular account. These funds are said to have been applied toward some expenses at ICOH.
The sacking of Balarabe clearly typified President Tinubu’s commitment to corruption fighting and making those in charge of public institutions accountable.
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Finally, IGP approves hunger protests across Nigeria
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The Nigerian police has finally approved the planned nationwide protests and outlined conditions for participants.
The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, revealed this on Friday while addressing journalists in Abuja.
He urged all groups planning to participate in the proposed nationwide protest to submit their details to the Commissioners of Police in their respective states.
The police boss said this was to ensure the protest was peaceful.
Egbetokun said, “We acknowledge the constitutional right of Nigerian citizens to peaceful assembly and protest.
“However, in the interest of public safety and order, we urge all groups planning to protest to provide necessary details to the Commissioner of Police in the state where the protest is intended to take place.
“To facilitate a successful and incident-free protest, they should please provide the following information: state the proposed protest routes and assembly points; expected duration of the protest; and names and contact details of protest leaders and organisers.”
The police boss said the information expected from the organisers also include measures to prevent hijacking by criminal elements, as well as key identifiers for possible isolation of potential troublemakers.
By providing the information, he said, the police will be able to deploy adequate personnel and resources to ensure public safety.
He said the police needed to know the specific routes and areas for the protest to avoid conflicts with other events or activities.
Mr Egbetokun said the police will “establish clear communication channels with protest leaders to address any concerns or issues that may arise; minimise the risk of violence, property damage, or other criminal activity.
“We encourage all protesters to cooperate with the police, obey the law, and adhere to global best practices for peaceful assembly to guarantee a safe and successful exercise of their rights.
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