On Tuesday, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) held a peaceful protest in Lagos against the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC)’s directive to shut down companies manufacturing alcoholic sachet drinks.
It would be recalled that NAFDAC in 2018, had given a directive to stop the production of alcoholic beverages and drinks in sachets and bottles below 200ml with effect from Jan. 31, 2024, while also suspending its registration in January 2022.
Vice-President, Emmanuel Idogen said that a lot of people had already been rendered jobless from the factories shut down by the regulatory agency .
As reported by Vanguard, Idogen said that though he was not against NAFDAC carrying out their duty, to shut down the livelihood of thousands of people at a time of economic hardship was inhumane.
“We all know the economic hardship we are facing in the country presently. Price of fuel has increased, prices of food is increasing on a daily basis and there is inflation.”
“Some of the people earn their living to feed their family and dependents from the factory that you have shut down.”
“Invariably, there will be more families exposed to hunger and I believe this will have a negative impact on the society,” he said.
The vice-president said 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, before appealing to NAFDAC to suspend the directive for the posterity of the masses.
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