Consumer protection or abuse?

We know who a consumer is. He is that person for whom a product or service is manufactured, packaged, transported and distributed. He is acclaimed as the most important person to consider in the business world because without him or her, there is no business. He is also at the receiving end of every sharp practice, adulteration, short-changing and all forms of cheating which producers and middlemen engage in. It is the consumer that suffers whatever illness accompanies the consumption of bromates and other harmful substances which glamorise bread and make it more appealing.  The consumer is that person whose body organs will suffer or get damaged after his/her encounter with carelessly produced or outright poisonous substances packaged to look like real drugs.  It is the consumer that suffers from the diseases that occur when polyethene material is used to wrap okpa, moi moi, and so on before cooking them. The consumer is that fellow who foots the bills of every thriving company and who also bears the brunt of their malpractices.

Extreme capitalism makes a society a very dangerous place to live in. Everybody wants to survive the very harsh economic terrain. This makes most people dishonest in spite of all the talk about religion and faith. The situation is so bad that a faithful adherent will not hesitate before selling adulterated or sub standard products to the pastor whose job is to preach to him about uprightness. This is why it is very bad to leave people to their consciences in the matter of consumer protection.

From what we have seen so far in this society, successive governments have not shown much commitment to the welfare of consumers. Desperate business people have taken advantage of the government’s noncommittal stance to rip off and compromise the health of consumers of both goods and service.

In every city in this country, you will be accosted by megaphones that steal the serenity of the town, shouting and inviting people to buy herbal remedies for all imaginable diseases. Most of the information disseminated by these harbingers of death are totally false and misleading. Their methods are crude and dangerous, yet they have a field day advertising and luring unsuspecting people into a web of lies and deceit. One wonders why such a thing should be possible in a society that has leaders.

As a matter of fact, the sale of herbal remedies is now one finger of the leprous hand called 419 in local parlance. We have seen some very popular practitioners of this neuvous riche business who  suffered from the chronic diseases they advertised their cure on radio and television every day. It was only after one of them died of the same disease that his workers opened up on his nefarious activities and how he played chess with people’s lives.

In as much as I believe in traditional medicine, there should be a strong government regulation guiding the practice to reduce to the barest minimum the activities of charlatans. The consumer deserves to be protected from these people whose oratorical skills can be overwhelming to the uninitiated.

Another pertinent area where the consumer needs to be protected is service delivery. In Nigeria, the consumer is made to pay for services not rendered, especially in the power sector. A look at this sector and how the average consumer has fared tells us that the ordinary Nigerian is a good person that is very easy to lead. The successive gods of electricity in this nation starting from ECN, NEPA, PHCN  to whichever god has acquired the right to milk your own region of the country(mine is EEDC) at present have consistently frustrated the good citizens of this country. In spite of all the pain and heartbreak they have unleashed on us, majority of Nigerians still pay their bills for steady darkness or unpredictable power supply.

The consumer should have a say in a growing country. They should not be treated like commoners for God’s sake. It is common knowledge that consumers contribute money to buy transformers, cables, hooks and poles. They also contribute money to repair these things when they go bad. Yet they pay exorbitant power bills to the company whose duty it is to provide and install these things. Where in the world can this happen except in Nigeria?

This attitude of taking consumers for granted is something we must jettison for development to take place.

It is also important for consumers to realize that it is not a virtue to accept whatever comes their way without questions.

It is this complacent attitude that makes it possible for something you bought for fifty Naira yesterday to be sold for a hundred Naira today.

In some countries in West Africa, no one would buy that thing until the government explains to them why that item should go for so much money. It is our attitude that determines how we are treated.  Since the consumer is the most important person in the business world, they can decide what happens there by showing enough interest in the processes that will ultimately affect them.

Consumer protection council seems to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the work it has to do. The council is yet to get a grasp of the job it was created to do. I am not close enough to appreciate the challenges they face but I wish to join other Nigerians to appeal to this all-important agency of government to rise to the occasion and save the consumers of this great nation from the machinations of extreme capitalists who love money more than human life.

The government on its part, should sit up and properly regulate all manufacturing, distribution and marketing processes because even the president, governor, legislators and so on are all consumers.

NNENNA Ihebom