 The Nigeria Labor Congress, NLC, is rejecting plans by the federal government to increase taxes on non-alcoholic and carbonated drinks. NLC believes implementing increased taxes on non-alcoholic and carbonated drinks, which is one of the provisions in the 2021 Finance Act, will impose more hardship on the citizens. The government had announced the increased taxes as a way of discouraging over-conception of sugar, checking obesity, and also generating more money to fund the 2022 budget. The NLC therefore asked the National Assembly to urgently amend the sections of the Finance Act, which reintroduce excise duties on non-alcoholic and carbonated drinks. We are now joined by Comrade Ameji Osuguno, NLC Deputy President. Good evening, Mr. Osuguno. Good evening. Thank you. Nice label says the federal government's imposition of excise duties on locally-produced, non-alcoholic carbonated and sugary drinks is nothing but a declaration of war on Nigerians. How do you respond to that? I think NLC strongly frowned at the proposal to impose a duty on carbonated drinks. The question is looking at the timing we are, and the reasons being conversed around the excise is very, very premature because we're talking about a product that has created massive employment for Nigerians. We're talking about a sector that has accommodated and promoted manufacturers existing in Nigeria. So we shouldn't also impose a threat to the manufacturers that eventually live in Nigeria and will begin to import these goods so that we don't begin to suspect there are people that are bringing these awkward ideas, discouraging production that are already taking place in the country, and whereby this happens, you know, the same thing like we earlier mentioned in the press release by the NLC president, the same thing happened to Michelin and the download, the entire companies that folded up and they located together, and they are doing what we are seeing, putting those goods today. So any time we want to talk about increase or moderation, look at the reason conversed over sugar. The product is not coming today. These are average drinks that almost all families in Nigeria take. Look at the artisans. Some of them, they take a soft drink and there are possibly little things snatched to chew in the afternoon and becomes their lunch, and they go about doing the business that is keeping them off crime. So any time you attempt to raise increase on product like this, the same Nigerians will indulge in soft standard carbonated drinks that will be more hazardous than what you think to prevent, at least the use of orientation is better served than this idea. Comrade Ashwabunin, yes, some Nigerians may argue that, well, Nigerians have alternatives which some would say are even probably healthier, like Zobo, Kunu, et cetera. How do you react to that? Those alternatives that exist already, the question is what economic benefit are we going to get? Government is saying they need more money and the action they are taking will end at their revenue. So you begin to wonder what is behind it? Because by the time you raise exercise duty on this very item, production of those drinks will drop, consumption certainly will drop, and it will affect production. And when that happens, the unsizing of workforce will set in, they are going to remove workers and then the same people that are paying already, other value tasks, they are paying that already. So now they are going to drop that on whatever consumption they are already giving out, and that will affect revenue for government. So the idea that they want to use it to generate revenue is already counterproductive, and the idea that they want to solve the problem of health for Nigeria, it become laughable because the products that are hazardous to Nigeria youth, you see people smoking in their hem all over, they are families of this product around this country, and government have not raised some policy to erase all the, there is another one, they come from really or something, and you see people consuming these dangerous drinks or smokes. Look at the tobacco that we see every day, has the policy on tobacco changed the consumption? So the idea that if you add 10 lira on a liter of a carbonated drink, it will now reduce intake of sugar, that is false. Because carbon dioxide alone constitute more sugar to every living being. How many people are even drinking mineral? How many people are taking soft drinks? But people eat a bit, eat rice every day in this country. And we are going to get to a point where we are going to now impose tasks again on the item we consume, because we should not limit. Let's look at the analysis request to the National Assembly to urgently amend the sections of the Finance Act, which reintroduce the exercise duties on non- alcoholic and carbonated drinks. Tell us more about it. NSC is of the opinion that it should be amended, because it's already injurious to both the government fund and the workers of Nigeria. Anything that imposes high cost of living to worker salary that we're already saying is not enough. It's going to endanger agitation, because Nigerians are the people National Assembly represent. It's unfortunate that they signed it into law before this time. And I think a more proactive approach would engage by Congress in such a way that before any of these process, an officer assigned to National Assembly would have reported, because some of this is we don't need to allow them in, because we're talking about health. And do you know that it's more health challenging for a worker to suffer hungry, because some of these things we call, you just commonize them only to you that this is how people mitigate the hazardous challenge of low salary in the country. So we believe the National Assembly should do a reverse on that very article. I think it was an oversight for National Assembly to indulge in this idea of imposing tasks on something that we produce here. If we're talking about tariff now, we're talking about custom duties, importation, more or less, tasks that are imposed on imported goods. Then we know that Nigerian government is discouraging importation and encouraging manufacturers to locally produce. Wherever you discourage the few we have now, it's going to be dangerous. A country can never seem to go without you promoting your local culture. Comrade, you're very passionate about this. As most of comrades are about issues, do we expect any kind of protest in the future? Should the government go ahead with this? This is one among other impressive issues that we're very pushing. So if government continue to now launch policies at the beginning of the year that is going to, in return, fit a negative to Nigeria workers, certainly NSC will convey its organ meeting to review. But as I speak with you, there is already an approved mandate to NSC to resist the proposed increase on PMS. So if this is going to be added to it, there is going to be a multi-action because I know NSC will stop at nothing in resisting any policy that will be anti-people. And this is one of them we see. Well, thank you so much, Comrade Amici Asuguno, NLC Deputy President. Thank you for your time. And we hope there won't be protests. We hope the action will not affect us too. All right. Thank you. Thank you so much.