By By Gabriel Oshokha
THE menace of expired items in Nigeria is an endemic issue cloaked in deception, and unscrupulous fellow humans thrive on the sharp practice for their livelihood.
Expired items in this context comprise common items in frequent demand by consumers, and which are also prone to easy manipulation, particularly by vendors. These items are bottled water, cosmetics, food and drugs.
And investigations have shown that the items are usually on display on the discount shelves of most superstores, and are being sold to undiscerning and unaware customers.
I remember with a deep sense of grief how an expired drug led to the death of my elder sister. It was a devastating tragedy, indeed. A bad news that will, forever, linger in my memory.
My sister died because of crass ignorance. And I fervently believe that If she were lettered and curious about the dangers associated with expired medication, she would not have passed on ignorantly untimely.
Also very painful, too, was the tragic exit of my boyhood friend’s younger brother. He also died of expired food. That was a couple of years ago. The victim was in his thirties, and he was a first-time visitor to the city. He was not wary of the fact that some city dwellers could mischievously gamble with human life for their selfish interest. It never crossed the mind of the deceased that expired food could easily kill. And because he was insensitive to the havoc of expired food, he paid the supreme price on the altar of profiteering. And the fate that befell the young man is one out of the many cases of deaths arising from expired food.
Recently, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) reportedly sealed off a firm in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The action stemmed from expired items which were found in their retail and storage location in FCT.
FCCPC disclosed that food products purchased were expired, even as of the time they they were being sold to customers.
The regulatory body also discovered large and inexplicable inventories of Laziz salad cream, Laziz mayonnaise, Laziz vegetable oil in sachets, and Laziz Thousand Island salad cream.”
The report claimed, “the commission uncovered what appears to be unapproved and unsafe production, decanting, or repackaging of vegetable oil.”
A similar scenario also played out in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. It was a stunning revelation of a popular superstore in the state, allegedly selling goods several days after their expiry date, and also reportedly manipulating the prices of some of its products.
The report affirmed that ‘Spice Supreme Poultry Seasoning’ was found on the discount shelf and even sold at a higher price weeks after its expiration.
The unfolding instances, therefore, are clear deep-seated cases of profiteering in the country even in the face of the current COVID-19 challenges facing Nigerians.
Again, how best then would one describe the underhand practices of some evil-minded Nigerians who import expired drugs into the country after striking deals with the manufacturers?
And in what apt language would anyone describe malicious vendors of bottled water, who alter the expiry date of such indispensable product to suit their whims?
It is therefore apparently obvious that the current situation we find ourselves calls for a rethink. Why? Because some Nigerian wolves in sheep’s clothing among us have embraced a game of the smartest takes it all in order to satisfy the yearnings of their avaricious nature.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Act stipulates that producers of essential items like the ones listed in this piece, should operate within the confines of Nigerian laws, though some recalcitrants have often resorted to cutting corners. And so the only option left for NAFDAC is to frequently apply the long arm of the law on defaulters of its laid down regulations. Stern action by the agency would serve as a deterrent to others with such criminal disposition.
Again, the agency should tighten its noose on suspected importers of expired products into Nigeria, who collude with the manufacturers.
NAFDAC should also carry out random raid on select supermarkets and other retail outlets in major cities with a penchant for ripping off unsuspecting customers through sale of expired items.
Many producers of sachet water, particularly, in Nigeria, operate under unwholesome environments, but hide under the guise of being registered entities under NAFDAC.
But the truth is, many of them are not officially captured in NAFDAC’s data. And those in this fold are behind the production of unsafe water in circulation, and the regulatory body should therefore beam its searchlight on them.
It should quickly come to the rescue of the vulnerable illiterate patrons, particularly,, who accept any product at any superstore or a retail outlet with a manufacturer’s label hook, line, and sinker.
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) should also sustain the tempo by ensuring that importers as well as local producers of essential items comply with safety standards.
SON task force should not relent on its clamp down on vendors and producers dealing in expired items, and then bring the culprits to book.
The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) should also be alive in its responsibility geared towards protecting consumers from exploitative practices as well as coming to their aid to seek redress for proven cases of exploitation.
And to achieve this aim, no effort will be too great to- wards ridding Nigeria and Nigerians of expired items.
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