BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
The National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees, has described steps being taken by the Federal Government to impose excise duties on non-alcoholic drinks as retrogressive.
Speaking to The Point, General Secretary of the Union, Mike Olanrewaju, expressed the body’s displeasure at the attempt.
Advising against going ahead to impose the excise duty, which is a levy placed on goods produced locally, NUFBTE warned that the move will bring about the closure of businesses that will translate to job losses and further worsen unemployment in the country.
Recall that Hameed Ali, the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service had in August, during an interactive session on the 2022-2024 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, called for the re-introduction of excise duty on all drinks produced in the country.
In total disagreement with the government’s move, Olanrewaju said, “This is the greatest disservice that government or any right thinking person, or even a member who is representing his constituency, should even think of. It is very appalling because we are in an economic situation in this country where virtually, most companies that still exist are completely on life support.”
“Most of these companies producing these non-alcoholic products are doing it at a very high cost and most of them have been retrenching workers because they can’t bear the cost. They’ve been closing down plants of some locations and now, just to ensure they keep the business going and to sustain the job of some Nigerians, they are running at a loss and that is why it’s very unthinkable that a patriotic Nigerian would think of introducing such at this particular time.
“Some people have taken a bottle of Coke or Pepsi or whichever one they can afford to lay their hand on, with maybe N100 bread, which may be their meal for the day, some can’t even afford it. So, when you then bring back the excise tariff, you are equally going to add to the cost of production because the manufacturers cannot bear the cost on their own, they have to pass it back to the consumers and at the end of the day, the consumers may not be able to afford it, and if they can’t afford it, the business crashes,” he added.
He further warned that job losses which may occur if the excise duty is re-introduced may worsen insecurity that the country has been grappling with without success.
He said, “With jobs of Nigerians gone, when these people are now thrown back to the unemployment market, they will indulge in all kinds of nefarious activities to make a living. So, we condemn it in every sense.”
Olanrewaju said it is “quite laughable for enlightened Nigerians to be thinking that way.”
“There is no justification at all, that does not count at all. What of other beverages? Don’t you take tea? Don’t you take coffee? You take other things and still use sugar. There is no sense in giving that reason.
“Very minute proportions of those causes are from sugar but from other things. The kind of food we consume, the carbohydrates and all those things, it’s from there you generate it. That’s why when you are having diabetes, they advise you to stay away from some foods, not only sugar. What we should be encouraging is carbonated drinks with zero sugar content so that people can still enjoy carbonated products with little or minimal impact,” Olanrewaju advised.
