Stakeholders to Brainstorm on Consumer Rights

The Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), among other relevant agencies, will today in Lagos address the continual violation of Nigerian consumer’s right at a colloquium organised by Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN.)

Other relevant government agencies scheduled for the industry discourse include the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC) and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), through its Consumer Protection Unit, (CPU). The Directors General of these agencies have confirmed their participation at the event.

According to a statement issued by the organisers, the theme of the workshop, which is being organised to coincide with the World Consumer Day, is; ‘Consumer Right in Nigeria, the Most Violated? The Role of the Regulators’.

To mark the day with the global consumer day, which urges industry stakeholders worldwide to use the occasion to create awareness and expose the damage caused by poor or non-existence of consumer protection around the world, the association has lined up a number of regulators as discussants.

Among them are the Acting Director-General of CPC; Emmanuel Amlai, who will lead the discussion as the keynote speaker, while APCON Chairman, Lolu Akinwunmi; NAFDAC Director-General, Paul Orhii; and the Director-General, SON, Joseph Odumodu, and others would be discussants.

According to the chairman of BJAN, Goddie Ofose, in line with the World Consumer Day and advocacy of Consumer International (CI), the only independent global campaigning voice for consumers with over 220 member organisations in 115 countries, BJAN is initiating the move to build a powerful Nigeria consumer movement.

It is also doing so to wake up the stakeholders to help protect and empower Nigerian consumers with the role given to them to salvage the helpless Nigerian consumers whose rights had been violated over time.
He said: “Whether it is faulty products causing injury, utility service providers ignoring complaints, or irresponsible lending by banks, better consumer protection is always part of the solution.

“While many Nigeria consumers don’t get reparation for any damage done to them by companies or oftentimes taken for granted by service providers and goods producers because the regulators or consumerism is weak in this part of the world, BJAN is sending a wake-up call to address the need to protect the right of the Nigerian consumers whose rights seem to be the most violated across the globe.”
While many consumers fell for fraudulent promos last year, which called for ban by NCC, Ofose said: “the colloquium will ensure stakeholders come to term with the best ways to protect Nigerian consumers as well as propping the regulators up to deal with consumer related issues, as they concern goods and services providers.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Union of Journalists Lagos Chapter chairman at the event will inaugurate the new executive of the association, in accordance with the code of the body.