- By Sola Ajibade
There is no doubt that the negative impact of the dwindling economy in the recent times has become very difficult for many families to navigate, heightened by the recent wave of mass layoffs which has sent shockwaves on various workers of diverse sectors in the various manufacturing industry.
As the economy continues to battle with a huge rise in layoff across sectors, its devastating is felt across a range of areas especially the psychological and financial hurdles for the affected families in coping with the emotional toll of being laid off by these notable people-centric brands as a result of some militating policies by the government.
To prevent its members from being victims of this horrifying and demeaning experience of job loss in an already intense economic environment, the leadership of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, is taking a holistic approach to tackle the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) over the recent ban imposed on the production of spirit drinks in sachets and PET bottles of less than 200ml across the country.
The association also said that aside the impact on its members, the NAFDAC’s move will definitely discourage both existing investors and intending ones from investing, as no conscious business individual would be willing to invest in turbulent and hostile environment fused with militating policies and so urged NAFDAC to halt such move that move will deepen economic woes in the country, especially on its gross domestic product.
It called on the agency to make a re-think as this would stand at variance with the right of private entrepreneurs to invest and engage in legitimate business, adding that, the proposed policy would amount to a deliberate destruction of the business of local and indigenous investors who through thick and thin have kept faith with the Nigerian Economy.
MAN acknowledged the fact that these threatened brands are people-centric in nature, employing and equipping Nigerian youths with noble and valuable jobs as well as contributing enormously to the growth of gross domestic growth of the economy.
Before now, the association has continued to lament and groan over the hostility of Nigerian business environment for manufacturers, and its negative impact, insinuating that lots of brands while striving for survival to adapt to the rapidly evolving market, have frizzled out due to harsh economic factors or unfriendly policies, which led to an increasing number of unemployment, thereby worsening the economic status of many families as well as the sudden exit of notable global brands.
Although NAFDAC said this is aimed at protecting underage persons’ consumption of alcohol which MAN has clearly declared its support towards it but called for caution raising the economic consequences of the recent ban, maintaining that its far-reaching consequences for both employees and the wider economy could hinder economic growth, productivity and also poses a threat whose effect goes beyond the nation’s workforce but also extends to both their nuclear and extended families.
As a patriotic association whose cardinal pillars and ethos center on holistic well-being of consumers, the association, while expressing concern over this worrisome challenge, further stated that the move would endanger over 500,000 jobs and hurt hundreds of billions of Naira investments in that sub-sector by foreign and local investors.
Expressing concern in support of its member, the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria, DIBAN, a sub-sector under MAN, the Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir , reiterated that the new policy would further deepen the economic constraints of many, with a worse impact on the Nigerian economy adding that this could result to an abrupt shutdown of the industries producing these products.
“Besides, the proposed policy would amount to a deliberate destruction of the business of local and indigenous investors who through thick and thin have kept faith with the Nigerian Economy. They have continued to invest and reinvest at enormous cost in the Economy and in the Nigerian people who are the bulk of its nearly Five Hundred thousand people workforce. This is in spite of the daunting challenges that businesses have faced in the difficult times, which if we must emphasize, has led to several companies closing down and foreign investors leaving the Country”.
He called for a more resolute dialogue, acknowledging the present government to remain committed to encouraging and strengthening local investors, then this ban should give way to access control while creating room for relevant stakeholders to further deliberate on the matter, harping that the industries have invested hundreds of billions of naira not only in the business, but overtime in packaging and distribution.
Instead of banning, the association called for a more stringent regulations, urging Government to intensify its activities and support in the form of access control and tighter regulations, but definitely not ban, which he noted, will be counterproductive.
Recall that the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, has continued to decry the incessant rise in the cost of manufacturing owing to scarce and unavailable manufacturing inputs that shrinks profitability and threaten the existence of critical sector of the economy.
The current state of DIBAN members is an indication of the constant lamentation by the manufacturers’ association members over time. Over the years, the members have not genuinely gotten a listening ear to their plight as they continually complained that the operating environment has consistently impacted negatively on their businesses.
Sola Ajibade, an Ibadan-based business journalist is also a Public Commentator