Against the controversy and protests raised by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)’s ban of alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets, a professor of Community Medicine and Consultant Public Health Physician, Bayo Onajole, has differed from the proscription, saying that was not the way to go.

Onajole, who is also an epidemiologist, however averred that what NAFDAC should be worried about should be the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption and not whether the alcohol is packaged in sachet, in cups, in bottles or in plastics.

Speaking in an interview with New Telegraph, Onajole said: “The truth about alcohol is that it’s not completely bad, but one must take it in regulated doses. Also, he noted that while consuming alcohol, there are individual differences. Hence, he advised persons who are interested in consuming alcoholic drinks to take it in what is called a small dose and so that it will not be toxic to them.

He said: “I do not take NAFDAC proscription of banning sachet alcohol as the way to go. The only thing is that the sachet alcoholic drinks are easily accessible and if they are banned, people will not be able to access them.

However, the consultant public health physician said alcohol is part of the culture in certain parts of the country, including the Niger Delta and there is no celebration in that region that they do without alcohol.

“What we need to talk about is the danger of excessive alcohol consumption, how it affects health and how it affects the liver.

“Those are the issues which we should put emphasis on rather than on the mode of accessory. If you say no sachet, how do you stop the people that measure alcohol in cups or tumblers; they are still taking alcohol and it is affecting their health,” he said.