The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has stated that the ban on alcoholic sachet drinks by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) will be detrimental to the economy, News About Nigeria reports.
The Vice President of TUC, Mr. Emmanuel Idogen, stated this on Tuesday, when the group, alongside the Food, Beverages, and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), embarked on a peaceful protest against NAFDAC’s directive to shut down companies manufacturing alcoholic sachet drinks.
He noted that some individuals earn their living and provide for their families from the factories producing sachet alcoholic beverages, and shutting down the factories was going to cut their source of income, exposing more families to hunger.
According to him, doing so was inhumane considering the economic hardship being faced in the country, including the skyrocketing price of fuel and food.
“We all know the economic hardship we are facing in the country presently. Price of fuel has increased, prices of food are increasing on a daily basis and there is inflation.
“Some of the people earn their living to feed their families and dependents from the factory that you have shut down,” he said.
He further stated that many companies in the country, as a result of the harsh economic indices of doing business, had been under strain due to limited available jobs, adding that laying off thousands of workers into the labour market that is already overstretched will hurt society.
He therefore appealed to NAFDAC to suspend the directive to shut down the production of alcoholic sachet drinks for the posterity of the masses.
Recall that NAFDAC suspended the registration of alcoholic beverages in sachet as well as small volume PET and glass bottles below 200 ml in January 2022.
