From Attah Ede Makurdi

The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), on Wednesday, cautioned President Bola Tinubu to rethink plans by Coca-Cola’s proposed $1 billion investment in Nigeria over a period of five years.The NGO urged President Tinubu to consider the health implications of Coca-Cola products on Nigerian consumers, saying that the global soft drink company has a history of breaking public health regulations in the country.

“In 2017, a Lagos High Court issued a damning judgement against the company, revealing that its products were unfit for consumption as they contain high levels of sunset yellow and benzoic acid which, according to European and American food and drug agencies, can form the carcinogen benzene when combined with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). “On this ground, the court mandated the company to place warning labels on its beverages, advising consumers against combining their intake with Vitamin C. But to this day, the corporation has refused to comply with this directive.“This contempt and disregard for public health and judicial authority should ordinarily disqualify the company from receiving any form of state endorsement, let alone at the highest level of government.“Moreover, barely two months ago, in July 2024, the FCCPC found Coca-Cola guilty of deceptive trade practices as usual. The Commission’s investigation which began in 2019 revealed that the company had on multiple occasions engaged in false and harmful marketing practices that could mislead customers. “Sadly, by endorsing Coca-Cola’s shady investment only months after the FCCPC indicted it, the Nigerian government is not only setting itself up as an image launderer for a dirty corporation but also unbelievably, undermining and embarrassing its own regulatory authority,’’ the CAPPA statement said.According to CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, “the question the Nigerian government must ask itself in light of all this is what truly it stands to gain by endorsing a multinational corporation with a dark history of non-compliance, and whose products are even actively contributing to a public health crisis in the country?“Sugar-sweetened beverages, like many of Coca-Cola products under such category, are well known and documented contributors to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease and other associated health conditions that are already straining Nigeria’s healthcare system and economy.“As such, while the company’s promises of an economic investment may sound appealing, the potential gains pale in comparison to the long-term public health costs and injury that the consumption of its products inflicts on the Nigerian population as with elsewhere across the world’’ Akinbode added.The CAPPA in a statement signed by Robert Egbe, the Media and Communication Officer made available to newsmen in Makurdi, also warned that the government’s cosy relationship with the beverage corporation could jeopardise the smooth implementation and enforcement of Nigeria’s active Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) tax.According to Egbe, the SSB tax was signed into law as part of Nigeria’s Finance Act in 2021, effectively imposing an excise duty of N10 per litre on all non-alcoholic and sweetened beverages in the country in order to lessen their demand and consumption and tackle the rising spate of NCDs in the country and their heavy burden on individuals and the economy. Poultry Farmers Move to Tackle Food Insecurity at Annual ConferenceThe Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State chapter, has championed the move for the attainment of food security in the country at its annual conference.The association at its 2024 annual Conference and Exhibition with the theme: ‘Poultry Association of Nigeria Lagos (PANLAG) on the Pathway to Food Security and Sustainability’ called for the attainment of food security via the poultry sector.The conference held on Wednesday in Lagos was organised to close the economic hardship gap in the sector by boosting productivity capacity of local poultry farmers.In his welcome address, the PAN Lagos State Chairman, Mojeed Iyiola reiterated the resolve of the association to address the challenges facing the sector.“Nigeria is a significant gateway to West Africa’s food market, most especially protein production, in which the poultry sector is one of the major sources.“However, the sector is experiencing retrogressive trends in production with farms shutting down on a daily basis.“This is a wakeup call for us all to creatively and relentlessly work together towards a common goal of ensuring adequate food security and its sustainability in Lagos State and our dear country Nigeria.“We at PANLAG resolve that the factors of erratic climate change, environmental degradation and insecurity impending on food security and its sustainability should be critically addressed,” he said.He stressed the need for lasting solutions to ensure adequate food production and sustainability in Nigeria.On his part, the guest speaker and Vice Chancellor Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Prof. Olushola Kehinde, represented by Prof. Olajide Sogunle, stressed the need for diversification to rearing other species.Kehinde said that poultry farmers should diversify aside growers and layers for increased productivity and profitability.The keynote speaker, Dr James Wageti, veterinarian and poultry expert, tasked the farmers on efficiency and stockmanship to address the losses in the sector.