The recent protest staged by the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN), supported by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other unions at the Lagos office of NAFDAC, over the ban on alcoholic sachet drinks, is not only unfortunate but deeply disturbing. It represents a calculated attempt to place profit above public health, morality, and national wellbeing.
The ban on sachet and small-sized alcoholic beverages is a just, timely, and morally sound policy that aligns with both public health realities and divine guidance. Any resistance to it no matter how loudly wrapped in the language of “job losses” or “economic concerns”—fails to address the monumental damage alcohol has caused to Nigerian society.
Islam provides clear and unambiguous guidance on intoxicants. Allah Almighty says:
“O you who believe! Intoxicants, gambling, sacrificing to stones, and divination by arrows are an abomination of Satan’s handiwork. So avoid it that you may be successful.”
(Qur’an, Surah Al-Ma’idah 5:90)
Allah further explains the social harm of alcohol:
“Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling, and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?”
(Qur’an, Surah Al-Ma’idah 5:91).
These verses leave no ambiguity. Alcohol is not merely discouraged; it is explicitly condemned because of its destructive effects on individuals and society.
The divine command is not “regulate it better,” but “avoid it completely” a principle that perfectly supports the government’s decision to ban sachet and small-sized alcoholic drinks that make intoxication cheap, portable, and dangerously accessible.
Written by:
Amb. Mallam Ibrahim Agunbiade
Taalib Jami’ei, Islamic Propagation, Rabwa – Saudi Arabia
agunbiadeib@gmail.com
