A legal practitioner, Liborous Oshoma, says banning sachet alcohol in the country is not enough, stressing the need to identify people before buying alcohol.
Oshoma made this statement on Tuesday during an interview on Arise Television.
His comment is coming as the deadline for sachet alcohol ban approaches.Recall that the National Agency of Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, said it is set to commence the enforcement of the ban on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and small bottles below 200ml.
Reacting, Oshoma said, “Those who can sell need to be licensed also; if anybody can just sell, licensed or not, then anyone can buy and consume without due process.
“Government is a collaborative effort. I believe, like not too long ago, we saw how NAFDAC had consistently broken down the neck of pharmaceutical dealers in Lagos to say, look, this environment is not conducive for selling pharmaceutical product.
“I like the fact that NAFDAC is adamant and they have decided to go headlong I like that fact.
“And then also it is not just enough to say we have banned, because the problem with us as a people is not policies. It is implementation of the policy.
“There’s need to know people who can afford drinks and those who can sell. Because the problem actually started from the sale of this alcohol. If anybody can just sell whether you are licensed to sell or not, and then anybody can consume, anybody can buy from you.
“So even if we ban and there is no proper regulation, people can still buy, even in bottles and consume. And you see, NAFDAC consistently had done a whole lot trying to also regulate fake drinks in the market. We’ve seen them go into market to destroy production of fake drinks.”
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