The National Orientation Agency (NOA), in partnership with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), have formally launched a Joint Nationwide Campaign on enforcement of the Federal Government’s ban on sachet alcoholic drinks and alcohol packaged in bottles below 200 millilitres.
The enforcement flagged off on Tuesday in Abuja, reaffirmed the government’s renewed commitment to safeguarding public health, especially, minors, and the need to uphold responsible consumer practices across the country, in response to recent happenings across the country.
Speaking during the press briefing, the Director General of NOA Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, who said the campaign is a united national intervention aimed at protecting Nigeria’s youth and vulnerable populations, recalled that tbe Federal Government, through NAFDAC, has banned the production and sale of alcohol in sachets and in PET or glass bottles below 200 millilitres, effective from the 1st of January 2026.
"This decision is a deliberate public health intervention aimed at reducing underage access to cheap, high-concentration alcohol and curbing the alarming pattern of harmful consumption across our communities.
He said the collaboration is strategic as each agency brings a distinct mandate to the initiative, assuring that sensitisation efforts will target markets, motor parks, schools, youth groups, transport unions and faith-based institutions.
While NAFDAC regulates and safeguards public health standards, FCCPC ensures consume rights and responsible market practices, NOA, is tasked with mobilising citizens and driving behavioural change.
"Together, we are aligning regulation, consumer protection and public enlightenment to ensure that this policy achieves its intended impact.
"For too long, sachet alcohol has been dangerously accessible. It is inexpensive. It is portable. It is easy to conceal. In many rural and semi-urban communities, it became easier for a young person to obtain high-strength alcohol than to access proper guidance and protection.
“This is not restriction for its own sake. It is about protection- protecting children, strengthening families, and preserving the future of our nation.
“With 818 offices nationwide and operational structures in all 774 local government areas, NOA will take this message directly to the grassroots.
“We cannot allow harmful practices to become normalised. No society prospers when its youth are trapped in cycles of preventable addiction.”
According to tbe NOA boss, when affordability meets vulnerability, the consequences are profound.
"We have seen those consequences. Early exposure to alcohol significantly increases the risk of addiction and long-term dependency.
"It undermines educational attainment. It contributes to domestic instability and violence. It is linked to road traffic incidents, risky behaviour and declining productivity. Over time, it weakens families and destabilises communities.
*As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. It is far less costly to prevent harm than to repair damage. Government has both a constitutional duty and a moral obligation to act before harm becomes entrenched.
"This joint nationwide campaign is therefore not about restriction for its own sake. It is about protection. It is about safeguarding children and vulnerable populations. It is about reinforcing responsible consumption standards. It is about strengthening the fabric of our society," he stressed.
He also revealed plans for sustained radio and television engagement, strategic digital outreach, and deployment of the NOA CLHEEAN App to enable citizens report violations and support enforcement efforts.
On her part, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration control NAFDAC Professor Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, explained that the ban was informed by alarming data on underage drinking and years of failed compliance by segments of the alcohol sector.
She recalled that the policy’s history dated to 2018, when trade associations approached NAFDAC to seek reduction in alcohol concentration levels in sachets, which at the time contained as much as 50 per cent alcohol by volume—compared to beer’s typical 6–8 per cent concentration.
She said following consultations, the Ministry of Health had granted the industry a five-year moratorium to restructure operations.
She lamented that enforcement efforts initiated in February 2024 were met with resistance and legislative interventions, leading to further delays in which a final one-year extension was granted in December 2024 by the Minister of Health, Prof. Ali Pate, after which enforcement resumed, backed by a Senate resolution in November 2025 directing NAFDAC to implement the ban without further extension.
As parts of the efforts, the NAFDAC chief disclosed of a nationwide survey conducted in 2021 across the six geopolitical zones involving approximately 2,000 respondents.
She said the findings, indicated that 54.3 per cent of minors and underage respondents could independently obtain alcohol, while nearly 50 per cent patronised sachet and small-bottle retailers. "Alarmingly, children as young as nine years old were reported to consume alcohol."
The survey also revealed that 63.2 per cent of minors and 54 per cent of underage respondents consumed alcohol occasionally, with significant percentages engaging in binge drinking in states including Gombe, Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to her, the affordability and concealability of sachet alcohol—sometimes sold for as little as ₦50—were identified as key drivers of youth access.
She warned that underage drinking poses grave risks to brain development, including damage to the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, potentially impairing memory, learning and impulse control.
She said consumption of the banned product leads to increased risks of addiction, liver and kidney disease, hypertension, depression, anxiety, unprotected sexual activity, and exposure to hard drugs.
"Youths who begin drinking before age 15, are 41 per cent more likely to develop alcohol dependency later in life.
Ban on small pack sizes can significantly reduce the menace of underage drinking,” she emphasized.
Also speaking, the Director, Corporate Affairs of FCCPC, Ondaje Ijagwu declared that enforcement would be total.
“In FCCPC, we do not reinvent the wheel. When there are extant regulations, we enforce them. Our sanctions are quite severe. By the time we begin implementation, Nigerians will know,” he said.
The agencies urged parents, guardians, community leaders, retailers and distributors to comply fully with the directive, just as citizens were encouraged to desist from patronising banned products and report violations.