Trade Union Council (TUC), Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), and National Union of Food Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), yesterday, protested at the Lagos office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) against the ban on manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in sachets.

Vice chairman of TUC, Lagos chapter, Idogen Emmanuel, who led the protest, challenged the government’s decision, denouncing it as a blow to already struggling families.

He flayed the economic policies, saying recent actions, such as subsidy removal and forex regulations, had already created burdens for the populace.

He said: “What we are saying is this, if you say you want to stop sachet alcohol, you will be shutting down many families because millions of Nigerians are working in that factory.

“Tinubu came and removed subsidy, we barely can survive. He regulated the FOREX and for us to source raw material is difficult for our companies already.”

Their anger is also expressed in a document jointly issued by FOBTOB and NUFBTE, addressed to the Director General of NAFDAC. It read: “That singular action alone has sent over 500,000 of our members out of job and into the labour market.

“The labour market, you would agree with us, is already over-saturated as many companies have fled the country due to the harsh and difficult business terrain in Nigeria. Today you have piled more problems on our nation’s economy by sending more people into that same market. This we know does not represent President Tinubu’s agenda for the Renewed Hope.”