“NAFDAC, let us breathe”- Labour Union protests at NAFDAC office over ban on sachet alcoholic beverages, says 500,000 jobs at risk

The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, or NAFDAC, had its Lagos office overrun by Organised Labour yesterday, February 6, in protest of the production lines of businesses that produce alcoholic beverages in sachets and tiny bottles under 200ml being forced to shut down.

Labour, led by leaders of Nigeria’s Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the National Union of Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), has rejected the Federal Government’s ban on the production of alcoholic beverages in sachets and small bottles, claiming that no fewer than 45,000 jobs and billions of Naira investments are at risk.

The protesting workers attacked NAFDAC’s headquarters at Plot 1, Industrial Estate, Apapa-Oshodi motorway, Isolo, Lagos State, and brandished banners with different  inscriptions, to convey their grievances. 

“NAFDAC, let us breathe,” one placard reads.

“Most of our jobs are at stake,” Olamide Somefun, Vice Chairman, Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association, Ota, Ogun State, said. “Many companies will fold up, especially those local industries that serve as raw materials to the producers.”

The protest comes after NAFDAC, led by its director-general Mojisola Adeyeye, announced the enforcement of the ban on February 1st, 2024.