Group campaigns against underage drinking

A group, Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN), said it had begun a campaign against underage drinking, adding that sale of alcoholic beverages to persons below the age of 18 should be discouraged.

DIBAN, in a statement on Sunday, said the body would use outdoor messaging on billboards, mass transit buses and radio jingles for the campaign.

Chairman of the group, Chief Patrick Anegbe, who signed the statement, said the association hoped that consumers would also be sensitised to the dangers of excessive consumption of alcohol.

He said, “As part of DIBAN’s corporate social responsibility, we will embark on various advocacy campaigns, which will include massive training of our distributors and retailers on the need to avoid sale of alcoholic beverages to underage. To restrict access of the underage to alcoholic beverages, the industry will strengthen the supervision of distributors and retailers.”

He added, “In addition, we will employ advocacy campaign programmes in order to strengthen the efforts towards reducing alcoholic consumption, underage drinking and improving responsible drinking in collaboration with civil society groups under the supervision of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control, Consumer Protection Agency and Federal Ministry of Health.”

Anegbe said the NIMC would assist in working out the modality for the enforcement of compulsory possession of the national identity card before sale of alcoholic beverages.