NAFDAC, Orientation Agency Launch Nationwide Crackdown On Sachet Alcohol

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) have commenced a nationwide behavioural change campaign to enforce the federal government’s ban on sachet alcohol across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The agencies said the initiative was aimed at protecting children and other vulnerable groups from the harmful effects of alcohol packaged in small, easily concealable containers.

At a joint press conference in Abuja yesterday, the director-general of NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the campaign was not about restriction “for its own sake” but about safeguarding the future of young Nigerians.

“For too long, sachet alcohol has been dangerously accessible. It is inexpensive, portable and easy to conceal,” he said.

Issa-Onilu warned that in many rural and semi-urban communities, young people often find it easier to obtain high-strength alcohol than to access proper guidance and protection.

“When affordability meets vulnerability, the consequences are profound,” he added.

According to him, early exposure to alcohol increases the risk of addiction and long-term dependency, undermines education and contributes to domestic instability, road crashes and declining productivity.

He disclosed that NOA would engage its 818 offices across all 774 local government areas to drive the campaign through town hall meetings, market outreaches, engagements in motor parks, schools and faith-based institutions.

Messages, he said, would be delivered in local languages and amplified through television, radio, digital platforms and the NOA CLHEEAN App to encourage Nigerians to report violations.

Also, the director-general of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, described underage alcohol consumption as a serious public health and social concern.

She linked excessive alcohol intake among minors to road crashes, risky sexual behaviour, poor academic performance and other social challenges.

Citing a 2021 nationwide survey conducted in collaboration with the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria, Adeyeye revealed that 54.3 per cent of minors and underaged persons purchase alcohol themselves.

The study, which sampled 1,788 respondents across six states representing the six geopolitical zones, found that 49.9 per cent obtained alcohol directly from retailers selling sachets and small PET bottles.

Others accessed alcohol through friends and relatives (49.9 per cent), social gatherings (45.9 per cent) and even parents’ homes (21.7 per cent).

Among respondents who bought alcohol personally, 47.2 per cent of minors and 48.8 per cent of underaged individuals purchased sachet products, while over 40 per cent bought drinks in small PET bottles. Consumption rates were particularly high in Rivers, Lagos and Kaduna states.

The survey further showed that 63.2 per cent of minors and 54 per cent of underaged children consume alcohol occasionally, while 2.5 per cent of minors and 11.7 per cent of underaged children reported binge drinking, with notable prevalence in Gombe, the Federal Capital Territory and Anambra.

Peer pressure accounted for 50.5 per cent of underage drinking cases, while parental influence and family relations accounted for 34.8 per cent. Social media, easy access to liquor outlets and alcohol advertising were also identified as major drivers.

Adeyeye warned that alcohol damages the developing brain, particularly the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, increasing risks of memory impairment, poor impulse control, depression and long-term dependency. She noted that youths who begin drinking before age 15 are 41 per cent more likely to become alcohol dependent.

She said the enforcement follows Senate resolutions of November 6, 2025, urging NAFDAC not to grant further extension of the moratorium on sachet alcohol and to ensure strict compliance with the ban on alcohol in sachets and bottles below 200 millilitres.

Effective January 1, 2026, the federal government banned the production and sale of alcohol in sachets and in (polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or glass bottles smaller than 200ml.