Nigerian Workers Stage Protest at NAFDAC Office Over Sachet Alcohol Ban Enforcement
Workers from Nigeria's food and beverage sector have staged repeated protests at the Lagos office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, raising urgent concerns about massive job losses and economic strain resulting from the enforcement of the sachet alcohol ban.
Fifth Protest in 2026 Highlights Growing Tensions
For the fifth time this year, distillers and workers operating under the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association gathered at the NAFDAC office along the Oshodi Apapa Expressway. Both junior and senior workers assembled at the agency's entrance, singing solidarity songs and displaying placards with messages including "Tinubu does not want jobs to be lost" and "5.5 million jobs at risk."
Union leaders warned that factory closures linked to the policy banning sachet alcohol and PET bottles below 200 millilitres have threatened millions of jobs across the value chain and worsened economic pressure on workers and manufacturers.
Union Leaders Call for Government Intervention
National President of FOBTOB, Jimoh Oyibo, cautioned that sustained closures could encourage unsafe practices within the sector. "Once you stop licensed manufacturers from producing approved products, you create space for unregulated and dangerous alternatives," he stated.
Oyibo emphasized that the issue extends beyond employment, citing significant risks to public safety, government revenue, and investor confidence if the current enforcement continues without modification.
Timing of Enforcement Questioned
Secretary of the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees, Comrade Jeffery Igein, questioned the timing of the enforcement, noting that the national alcohol policy had already been approved. "The alcohol policy has been signed. Therefore, NAFDAC should have lifted restrictions on these factories," he stated.
Igein explained that the action places extra pressure on manufacturers during already difficult economic conditions, with factory sealing slowing production and leaving many households facing financial strain.
Conflicting Positions Create Uncertainty
Labour representatives clarified that the protests were not an attempt to reject regulation but rather a call for clearer guidelines and engagement that would protect public health without shutting down lawful businesses.
Some workers claimed the Federal Government had directed a pause in enforcement, but NAFDAC Director General Mojisola Adeyeye has stated that no official directive to suspend enforcement had been received by the agency.
Nationwide Demonstrations and Economic Warnings
Union leaders reported that similar demonstrations were taking place in Abuja and Aba, describing the protests as part of a growing nationwide push for dialogue. They warned that prolonged shutdowns could deepen unemployment and worsen economic pressure across the country.
With no resolution in sight, unions said they would continue appealing to authorities while emphasizing that the sealing of factories accused of violating the policy has created widespread uncertainty in the sector.
