The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has strongly defended the agency’s ban on the sale of alcohol in sachets and small PET bottles, warning that unchecked consumption is destroying the nation’s youth and encouraging banditry.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Adeyeye disclosed that the agency had shut down three major manufacturing companies for three weeks and arrested several individuals as part of its strict enforcement of the ban.
The NAFDAC boss expressed surprise at the pushback from certain quarters, emphasizing that the restriction on alcoholic drinks in containers below 200ml is a necessary intervention to protect public health.
“You know, when you are doing something that is right, something that is going to safeguard the health of our people, something that is going to foster trade, you will step on toes and get pushback. We are surprised by the pushback,” Adeyeye stated.
Reflecting on the history of the packaging, she noted that the initial approval of sachet alcohol decades ago had led to unintended and devastating societal consequences.
“This sachet alcohol was approved maybe 30 years ago, and when it was approved, I don’t think my predecessor who did the approval knew what was going to happen,” she explained.
“But this monster became uncontrollable. This monster stood out to destroy the future of our workforce, of our children”.
Detailing the agency’s decisive actions over the past several months, Adeyeye confirmed that NAFDAC ensured sachet alcohol below 200ml was banned outright.
“We shut down the three major companies for three weeks and put some people behind bars. That, I believe, is not sitting well, but Nigeria is pleading for our own children. That is why the ban is now in place,” she declared.
Addressing recent protests against the regulatory action in Ibadan, the Director General criticized the demonstrators for prioritizing immediate situations over long-term health and national security.
She pointed out that the National Alcohol Policy, launched by the Ministry of Health, explicitly includes the ban on sachet alcohol and small PET bottles.
“They were demonstrating because they are seeing the situation now; they are not seeing into the future that alcohol destroys the brain, it destroys the lungs, it destroys the kidneys, the liver; it encourages banditry,” Adeyeye added.