Raheem Akingbolu
The Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Oludare Aramide has proffered a cut in the percentage of alcohol in sachets to 5 per cent as panacea to the outright ban of sachets and pet bottles below 200ml by the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)
This he made known at the House of Assembly ground at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta when the leadership and members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Food and Beverages Union, took their protest against the ban of alcoholic beverages in sachet and pet bottles to the legislative seat.
In the same vein, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Aremu Gbadebo and the Olota of Ota in Ogun State, Oba Adeyemi Obalanlege have urged NAFDAC to reconsider the recent ban of alcoholic drinks in sachet and small pet bottles below 200ml.
The two first-class traditional rulers spoke different times while addressing stakeholders of the affected companies.
Addressing representatives and workers of the 25 beverage companies affected by the recent clampdown on factories, who paid a save-our-soul visit to the Olota palace, the traditional ruler said there was no justifiable reason to lay-off workers at this period of Nigeria’s harsh economic climate.
He called on the Director General of the regulatory agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye to take another look at the what he described as ‘an unfriendly decision’.
Olota said: “I feel for you workers in the sense that this is not the right time for any worker to be laid-off. This is a crucial time in our economy and whatever would make people lose their jobs is not acceptable.”
The protesters also had a stopover at the NAFDAC office in Abeokuta and Alake of Egbaland Palace to seek the audience of the state coordinator, Daniel Danjuma and Gbadebo respectively.
Danjuma applauded the peaceful conduct of the movement and assured them that the director general of NAFDAC was aware of their presence and the message would be passed to the head office.
The monarch in his response to the letter of demand by protesters promised to work on the items in accordance with the evidence before him.
The ban which came to effect on February 1,2024 has spiralled into protests by the trade unions under the aegis of Food and Beverages Union and the protesters have visited NAFDAC Lagos office, Lagos House of Assembly, Olota of Ota Palace, all to rescind the agency’s decision and avert the looming sack of workers by the affected companies.
