Nigerians bemoan FG’s poor enforcement of consumer rights

 

Consumer Protection Council (CPC) was established in 1992 to provide speedy redress to consumers’ complaints through negotiation and conciliation.

The council was also set up to seek ways of eliminating from the market hazardous products and causing offenders to replace with safer and more appropriate alternatives.

Despite the mission of the agency, reports show that Nigerian consumers over the years have been subjected to severe exploitation. They have been continuously served with substandard, fake and at times, expired products.

Producers and dealers even create artificial scarcity of products just to make excess profits. While consumers on their part accept and pay for goods without adequate assurance of quality or quantity.

However, investigation showed challenges faced by consumers in enforcing their rights, which include; low level of literacy, absence of customer education about market trends and high poverty rate.

Some customers are not aware of the role of CPC not to talk of taking their complaints to the agency.

Against this background, our correspondent spoke to some consumers to ascertain if they were aware of their rights and how often they enforced it.

Chukwudinma Simeon, an educationist, told BDSUNDAY that even if he was aware of his rights as a consumer that he was not interested in it.

“An average Consumer Protection Right agent is not likely to provide you any service, unless he is sure of deriving benefit from it. So, the agent can only protect you if he stands to gain something from you,” Simeon said.

According to him, “Assuming l have the resources to obtain justice, l might seek for their services. Look at this example, the governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode banned hawking in the state and made it a punishable offence.

“However, this has not deterred hawkers from constituting a nuisance ranging from sale of fake products to causing gridlock on the road.”

He further observed that the law against hawkers was not being enforced because of the unwillingness of the agency to do so, alleging that the agency is rather, more interested in collecting gratification from offenders.

“Such issues make existing laws of consumer protection unenforceable, with justice going to the highest bidder. It is not possible for a poor man who is also a poor consumer to get justice in Nigeria over a well to do manufacturer or merchant because he does not have the resources to pursue the case,” he said.

Simeon therefore, stressed the need for the management of the agency to improve the psyche of its workers.

“They should be trained to do their job better without fear or favour. If they do their jobs without compromise, consumers will have confidence in them and be willing to report any matter because they are sure to obtain justice,” he added.

Okechukwu Eze, a subscriber to one of the biggest telecom service providers in the country said he did not know about CPC, while responding to questions about alleged spurious charges of one of the providers and their poor services.

Eze said he was not aware of the existence of such body, adding that it would be a waste of his time and resources going to CPC or any other body saddled with the duties of consumer protection to register any complaint.

According to him, the telecommunications service providers do not have regard for their customers, adding, “The service subscribers have systematically received from one of the providers in Nigeria with a major share of the market, a mix of rudeness, lies, disrespectful treatment and frustration.

“They are aware that their Nigerian consumers do not have the financial backing to challenge them,” Eze said.

Justina Okoro, a soft drink brand retailer at Okota, Isolo Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State, said she was aware of her rights and had on some occasioned used such rights.

The middle-aged woman said she had last year gone to the soft drink manufacturer’s office in Ikeja with his lawyer to complain about adulterated drink containing cockroach.

“After my lawyer wrote to the firm, they responded positively and rewarded me with branded cooler of the firm and some creates of minerals; l was glad because l was compensated,” Okoro said.

Consumers like Chidi Madu, Fumi Alawade, Olutayo Jackson, Tony Goodluck and Mohammed Oluwatayo said they would not like to make it an issue, because they did not have money to go to court.

The existence of the imbalance of knowledge and power relationship between the producers of goods and services and customers, they said had resulted in the repulsive marketing environment and situations that consumers are being exposed to.

“Another example is the ugly activities of the electricity distribution companies (Discos), where these companies keep their customers in perpetual darkness even after paying the cut-throat bills they charge in the name of estimated billing.

These days, it is provoking for a consumer living in a 2- room apartment in say within Surulere, to be charged the sum of N20,000 (Twenty-thousand) for a month,” a retired female teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said

Kenneth Aburo, an electricity consumer, also deplored the activities of PHCN, saying that it has reached the level where people should be prepared to raise alarm to the appropriate quarters.

“I doubt if government agencies which have the duty of protecting consumers can confidently caution PHCN, not to talk of individuals. Consumers are deliberately deceived by some desperate producers and dealers; this is a common thing in the service industry. For instance, consumers of electricity are made to pay exorbitant estimated bills without commensurate services being rendered,” Aburo said.

According to him, “In transportation, consumers are made to pay high transportation fares only to board rickety vehicles that break down on the road leaving them stranded with no refund of fare paid.

“In all of these, Nigerian consumers’ apathy, ignorance, low level of education and poverty deny them the power to assert their rights,” he noted.

Consumer rights activists are of the view that government has not lived up to its promises in protecting its consumers from the claws of manufacturers, businessmen and service providers whose main aim is to make profit at the expense of the populace.

According to them, it will be wrong to suggest that there are no adequate laws that govern consumer protection in Nigeria.

“The problem is not the non-availability of laws, but ignorance of the laws by consumers and the unwillingness of those in authority to implement them,” they said.

In all, the activists stressed the need for CPC and other agencies saddled with the duties of protecting consumers’ rights in Nigeria to intensify their efforts in educating consumers on their rights.

Such attempt they say will go a long way in enlightening Nigerians on steps to take when their rights as consumers are violated.

 

 

NGOZI OKPALAKUNNE