{"id":20873,"date":"2015-10-28T06:42:41","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T06:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/nigerian-local-gin-makers-stand-firm-despite-ban\/"},"modified":"2015-10-28T06:43:43","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T06:43:43","slug":"nigerian-local-gin-makers-stand-firm-despite-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/nigerian-local-gin-makers-stand-firm-despite-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian ‘local gin’ makers stand firm despite ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n

{ {{Lagos – In many parts of southern Nigeria, no traditional ceremony or ritual is complete without a tot or two of locally brewed alcohol or “ogogoro”.}} }<\/p>\n

“It’s the drink of the elders,” said Godwin Masi, a 72-year-old bricklayer in the southern state of Rivers. “The gods also accept it for libation in cultural ceremonies.”<\/p>\n

Nigerian states have been trying to crack down on the production and consumption of “ogogoro” for months, after dozens of people died earlier this year. Some states imposed a ban on the liquor but enforcement is problematic.<\/p>\n

Mechanic Wasiu Adegbite believes any attempt to outlaw the drink is doomed to failure.<\/p>\n

“It’s the drink for the poor. With just 20 naira (less than 1c), you get the feel you can never get from other drinks,” the 32-year-old told AFP.<\/p>\n

“It energises us and improves our productivity at work and enhances our libido. It [a ban] is a sheer waste of time. Let the government focus on other serious national issues.<\/p>\n

“Fighting to eliminate ‘ogogoro’ is the least of its problems.”
\n{{
\nHealth effects}}<\/p>\n

“Ogogoro” or locally made gin was banned during British colonial times but legalised after independence in 1960.<\/p>\n

Since then, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to outlaw the drink.<\/p>\n

The latest comes after 23 people died in April from “ogogoro” believed to have been laced with methanol in Ode-Irele town in southwestern Ondo state.<\/p>\n

About 40 others then died in June in Rivers state.<\/p>\n

“Many of them [the victims] became blind after consuming the highly concentrated liquor,” the Ondo state health commissioner Dayo Adeyanju told AFP.<\/p>\n

“Other effects of the liquor consumption are damage to the liver, brain, nervous system and heart. It causes dementia, hypertension and cardio-vascular disease.”<\/p>\n

But Independence John, sweating profusely from the scorching heat of a wood fire cooking the liquid in a big iron container, isn’t concerned.<\/p>\n

“It is safe to drink,” said the 22-year-old, taking a sip from a 200-litre drum of “ogogoro”.<\/p>\n

“It is not dangerous. After distilling, we sell it in its raw form to companies that repackage and sell them to the public.”<\/p>\n

{{Molasses and sugar}}<\/p>\n

John abandoned schooling in the Ikorodu area of Lagos and took up a new career by joining a team distilling the drink, which typically has more than 20 percent alcohol by volume.<\/p>\n

Police often turn a blind eye. “Policemen come here to collect drinks. We give them to drink. They drink then go back,” he added.<\/p>\n

Despite this tacit backing – and protection – by law enforcement, distillers are still guarded about their operations.<\/p>\n

In Ikorodu the distillery, ripe with an overpowering, sweet smell of fermentation, is strewn with dozens of plastic drums, a generator, pumping machine and hoses criss-crossing the land outside.<\/p>\n

Benson Esiekpe said molasses – refined sugar cane – is the main ingredient and is chosen because of its easy availability.<\/p>\n

More sugar is then added and the mixture is left to ferment for at least a week.<\/p>\n

Then it is poured into a large iron container that can hold up to 8 000 litres. Logs of firewood are burnt to heat up the liquid.<\/p>\n

“We allow the vapour to cool through a cooling process. The vapour comes out in trickles and it takes about 30 minutes to fill a drum of 200 litres,” said John.<\/p>\n

“Thereafter the ‘ogogoro’ is ready for sale to companies, not individual buyers.”
\n{{
\n‘Propaganda and blackmail’}}<\/p>\n

According to the World Health Organisation, about a quarter of worldwide consumption of alcohol in 2010 was from illegally produced alcohol or alcohol sold outside normal government controls.<\/p>\n

Deaths caused by contaminated booze are frequent: 100 people were killed by so-called country liquor laced with methanol in the Indian city of Mumbai earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Similar cases have been reported in Kenya while in the past, consumers have died in Cuba, Libya, Ecuador and Pakistan. Poverty and lack of regulation have been blamed.<\/p>\n

For the boss of John and Esiekpe’s distillery, who asked not to be identified, lack of oversight is not the cause.<\/p>\n

He blamed unfair competition from major drinks companies whose inroads into the Nigerian market have changed Nigerians’ relationship with liquor and made it a multi-billion dollar industry.<\/p>\n

“I think what is at play here is the propaganda of those who trade in foreign-made drinks and who try to blackmail, run down and undervalue locally-made ones,” he said.<\/p>\n

Several multinational drinks majors – SABMiller, Guinness and Heineken to name a few – have set up shop in Nigeria and pursue aggressive marketing. Where once liquor was only taken during ceremonial occasions, there’s been a push for more regular consumption through sponsorship and promotions.<\/p>\n

Spirits exporters have also seen a big African boom and analysts frequently cite populous Nigeria – where just over half the people are Muslim – as one of the markets with the highest potential for growth.<\/p>\n

Data at Vinexpo, the world’s largest wine and spirts fair in Bordeaux, France, in June said Nigerians spent $700 million on spirits in 2012 and are expected to double that by 2017.<\/p>\n

“Government is encouraging locally-made products but discourages the production of ‘ogogoro’. This is pure contradiction,” said the distillery boss.<\/p>\n

“The ‘ogogoro’ that kills is the one adulterated or laced with ethanol.”<\/p>\n

NEWS 24<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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