By Ayo Kehinde
Workers and labor unions on Thursday staged a protest at the Isolo office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, opposing the enforcement of the ban on sachet and 200ml PET bottled alcoholic beverages while demanding an immediate review of the policy.
The demonstrators, who arrived in more than 10 coastal buses, included employees from several companies directly affected by the directive.
They carried placards with inscriptions such as “Don’t Kill Nigeria’s Economy” and “NAFDAC Is After Our Livelihood,” effectively blocking access to the agency’s main entrance and temporarily disrupting activities around the premises.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Anthony Michael, an executive member of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, argued that NAFDAC has yet to provide empirical evidence proving that children and adolescents have easier access to sachet alcohol compared to other forms.
He advocated for stricter access control measures and public education campaigns as alternatives to an outright ban. “You cannot cut off the head because you have a headache. Tramadol has been banned for years, yet it still finds its way into the country through porous borders,” Michael said.
He further warned that continued enforcement could render over five million Nigerians jobless and threaten trillions of naira in sectoral investments.
The protest follows the January 21 announcement by the Director-General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, that enforcement of the ban on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml had commenced.
The agency maintained that the move is essential to protect public health, particularly for children and young adults.
However, the announcement has triggered a wave of backlash from manufacturers and labor unions in Lagos and Abuja, who maintain that the ban will have devastating effects on jobs and the broader economy.
Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare recently confirmed to the Federal High Court that NAFDAC is legally empowered to enforce the ban.
In a counter-affidavit filed on February 23, 2026, the ministry noted that it lacks the authority to restrain the agency from carrying out its statutory mandate under the NAFDAC Act.
The ministry further clarified that no additional extension of the moratorium on the sachet alcohol ban has been granted, signaling that enforcement will persist despite the intensifying opposition from labor and industry stakeholders.
The protest represents the latest chapter in a long-standing debate over the balance between public health regulations and economic livelihoods in Nigeria’s beverage sector.
