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•Inside the N2tn war between NAFDAC and local distillers
By Zika Bobby
On a humid Friday in Lagos, the usual administrative quiet of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) office was shattered. It wasn’t the sound of machinery, but the rhythmic chanting of thousands of workers.
Members of the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN), flanked by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), descended on the agency’s headquarters. Their message, plastered across hundreds of placards, was clear: “Stop destroying local manufacturers.”
At the heart of this storm is a tiny, portable product—the alcohol sachet—and a N2 trillion industry that claims it is being pushed to the brink of extinction.
The conflict stems from NAFDAC’s move to enforce a total ban on the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in sachets and small PET bottles. While NAFDAC views these “pocket-sized” spirits as a public health menace, the industry sees them as the lifeblood of indigenous manufacturing.
Comrade Solomon Adebosin, Executive Secretary of the Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (under the TUC), did not mince words. He accused NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, of pursuing a “sinister agenda” targeted at indigenous producers.
“The office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation asked for this ban to be put on hold for proper review due to its economic implications,” Adebosin claimed during the protest. “Yet, the DG has moved to enforce it anyway.”
The statistics cited by the unions are staggering. According to labour leaders, the ban puts 5.5 million jobs at risk and threatens N2 trillion in total investments.
For the protesters, the timing couldn’t be worse. With Nigeria navigating a complex economic recovery, Comrade Azeez Rasaki, representing the National Union of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employees, argued that NAFDAC’s actions directly contradict President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda.”
“This policy runs counter to the promise of job creation and industrial growth,” Rasaki stated. “Instead of support for local enterprises, we are seeing their destruction.”
Across the picket line, NAFDAC stands firm. Prof. Adeyeye maintained that the enforcement is not a personal vendetta but a necessary intervention.
According to the agency, the proliferation of high-alcohol-content beverages—some containing between 50% and 90% alcohol—in easily concealable sachets has led to an uptick in alcohol abuse among children and vulnerable groups.
Key points of NAFDAC’s position:
Accessibility: Small sachets are cheap and easy for minors to hide.
Long grace period: NAFDAC asserts that manufacturers were given a five-year transition period (from 2018 to 2024) to phase out the packaging.
Failed compromise: The agency previously asked manufacturers to cap alcohol content at 30%, a move they claim was largely resisted.
The regulatory landscape remains murky. While the Senate had previously suggested a deadline of December 2025 for a total phase-out, NAFDAC recently announced it had received fresh authorisation to begin enforcement immediately to safeguard public health.
The distillers’ union is now calling for the Senate to rescind any enforcement directives until a National Alcohol Policy is fully rolled out. They advocate for “Access control”—stricter regulations on where and to whom the products are sold—rather than an outright ban.
As the Lagos protesters dispersed, the tension remained. On one side is an agency tasked with preventing a public health crisis. On the other, an industry fighting for its financial survival.
Until a middle ground is found—through dialogue, transparency, or legislative intervention—the “Renewed Hope” for millions of factory workers remains as fragile as the plastic sachets at the center of the fight.
