In one of the raids, the council confiscated a wide range of unwholesome prod­ucts ranging from cosmetics, drugs, alcoholic and non- al­coholic beverages. The prod­ucts were either expired, adulterated or banned. They include Fumbact A, Laside, Alcopar, and Pyramtrin. Others are alcoholic bever­ages such as Black label, Red label, Hennessey, Macdow­ell, among others.

Investigations reveal that the dealers of these unwhole­some products engage in high profile manipulations to introduce these products to the market. One of such means is the importation of the bottles, labels, corks, and packets of the original prod­ucts. Thereafter, the bottles are filled with fake liquid content to the detriment of the unsuspecting consum­ers.

The dealers of these un­wholesome products go a step further by erasing the expiry dates inscribed on the packets of these prod­ucts and replacing with a new one. That is why the Abia CPC Chairman, Mr. Ukadike Ogbuagu is warn­ing seriously that the Abia consumers should be wary of the products to consume, especially sausage rolls ( popularly known as gala).
There is no doubt that the most products flooding the market do not possess the certifications of the National Agency for Food, Drug Ad­ministration and Control (NAFDAC), exposing the Aba market to a dumping ground for unwholesome products.
To advance their nefari­ous activities, warnings an­nouncing the adverse effects of products are now written in alien languages, thereby denying the consumers knowledge of such effects. The pertinent question that agitates the mind is:” Who knows how many Abians these sharp practices have sent to their untimely grave or rendered incapacitated (health-wise)?”
Like is always said that “ there is a silver lining at the end of every tunnel”, the Abia CPC is not resting on its oars to ensure that the consumers are adequately protected. The raids of mar­ket to mop up unwholesome products is a continuous exercise and cannot be com­promised.
 The council has designed measures to ensure that the consumer’s “war­ranty”, which is an assur­ance from the manufacturer confirming the quality of the product with the promise that there will be a Refund, Replacement or Repair (3Rs) if a problem occurs within a stated period, is strictly enforced. The coun­cil is appealing to consumers to contact whenever they are snubbed in the course of de­manding the enforcement of their warranty.
The council is also mount­ing an intensive enlighten­ment programme on con­sumers rights. Such rights include Right to Redress, which guarantees a consum­er who is dissatisfied with a product or service the right to redress. This can be either a refund of money paid, re­pair or replacement of the product; Right to safety: This right guarantees every right to safe products and services fit for their intend­ed use and purpose; Right to information: This right guarantees every consumer the right to all necessary in­formation about a product, service to be consumed. This information should include the content of the product, labelling standards, ingredi­ents, prescribed usage, and best before date.
Others are Right to Con­sumer Education: This is the right of consumers to be educated about their rights; Right to Choose: This is the right of consumers to be able to select freely from a range of products and services.
The enlightenment cam­paign will extend to other areas such as “Consumers’ Rights to Healthy Foods”.This area will afford con­sumers right to nutritional information, safe and healthy foods. These campaigns would be anchored on “ Stay off junk food; Too much fat can lead to obesity and heart diseases; Too much sugar can make diabetic; and Too much salt can lead to high pressure and other disease, among others.
Abia CPC is making sure that the era when customers are short-changed at filling stations is over. The council is mobilising at large scale to ensure that “Consumer Clubs” are inaugurated at both primary and post- pri­mary schools in the state. The essence of this is to en­sure that the Abia children are inculcated with the right consumer value orientation at tender ages. It is mounting efforts on top gear to ensure that rice and cement are no longer re- bagged, while en­suring that meat is processed in topmost healthy manners for human consumption, es­pecially the process of con­vening the meat from the slaughter to the market.
All the same, these tasks are not free of challenges. First and foremost challenge is the attitude of the consum­ers. Most of the consumers are ignorant of these facts and may not garner the re­quired courage and patience the prosecution of these pro­grammes deserve. Another daunting task is the disman­tling of the cartel responsible for these unwholesome prac­tices. Dismantling of this cartel can only be possible if the appropriate authorities, security agents enlist their unalloyed support.
Besides, funding is a criti­cal component of this cam­paign. The relevant agencies, especially the state govern­ment should not hesitate to render the necessary finan­cial assistance to the council when required so that its case will not aptly interpret that of the proverbial dancer whose piper dictates the tune. On this note, one is optimistic that Governor Okezie Ikpea­zu whose disposition is to do things differently will not fail in this direction.
The Chairman of Abia CPC, Mr. Ukadike Ogbuagu is optimistic that no mattter how daunting the task to rid Abia of unwholesome prod­ucts is, it is achievable. Let us join Ogbuagu in his op­timism by contributing our quota in this crucial cam­paign. Unwholesome prod­ucts are nobody’s friend. Anybody can fall a victim.

Ukegbu, a public affairs analyst and communica­tion strategist, writes from Umuahia, Abia State.

~Authority Newspaper