By Victor Ahiuma-Young
The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, has warned that a blanket ban on sachet alcoholic beverages would amount to “economic suicide,” cautioning that such a policy would fuel smuggling, worsen unemployment, and overstretch already burdened security agencies.
Speaking with journalists on the ongoing debate over alcohol regulation, NECA’s Director-General, Mr. Smatt-Adewale Oyerinde, said banning sachet alcohol consumption or sales would fail to address the real problem of abuse, particularly among young people, while creating far-reaching economic and security consequences.
Oyerinde questioned the effectiveness of prohibition, especially in a country with numerous unmanned borders and weak enforcement capacity.
He asked, “If children under 18 are consuming alcohol, whose fault is it? Is it the parents, the schools, or the producers? Alcohol itself is not evil. Abuse is the issue, and banning one product while others remain legal will not solve it.”
He reiterated that over ₦800 billion has been invested in the alcohol and allied industries, employing thousands of Nigerians directly and indirectly.
According to him, a sudden ban would lead to massive job losses, business closures, and loan defaults, further aggravating Nigeria’s unemployment crisis.
Oyerinde said: “We seem unconcerned about rising unemployment and the signal such policies send to investors. If an investor puts a billion dollars into this country today, what assurance do they have that a policy will not suddenly shut down their investment in a few years?”
The NECA Director General warned that scarcity created by a ban would only drive up prices and encourage illegal trade.
“When you ban a product you cannot effectively police, you simply create a thriving market for smugglers,” he noted, noting that unregulated foreign products were already flooding the market during the recent festive season.
He also argued that banning alcohol in public places would merely shift consumption elsewhere.
“If people cannot drink on the streets, they will drink at home. If not at home, then in their cars. So what exactly have we solved?” he asked.
Oyerinde stressed that enforcement agencies such as the police, customs, and regulatory bodies would be overwhelmed by the additional burden of policing a banned product, insisting that no single agency could claim success without considering the broader economic impact.
Instead of a blanket ban, NECA called for creative, targeted, and coordinated solutions, including stronger institutions, improved regulation, and innovative enforcement methods similar to practices in other countries, such as random checks and sobriety testing.
Oyerinde said. “A blanket ban is a lazy approach. What Nigeria needs is thoughtful, dynamic policymaking that tackles abuse, protects young people, and preserves jobs without damaging the wider economy.”
He added that NECA was ready to collaborate with government agencies, including NAFDAC, to develop practical and sustainable solutions to alcohol abuse in the country.
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