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ALIYU ILIAS,

  • Hardly does a day go bye without millions of Nigerians consuming rice. This high demand has taken a bad turn due to unfair business practices of certain individuals who have decided to flood the market with plastic rice. 

    We must commend the Nigerian authorities who have been on top of the game by preventing this kind of rice into our markets. It is still important for consumers to be aware of what is trending in the plastic rice saga as this will aid in educating consumers about the dangers of this plastic rice.

    It has become paramount that consumers will have to take measures to ascertain fake rice from the wholesome rice. The challenge is that these fake rice is mixed up with the wholesome rice making it difficult to separate.
    Never the less, it is still important for consumers to verify the quality of rice they purchase. The moment you spot the likelihood of fake rice, you are best protected to avoid consuming it.

    HOW THEN IS THE PLASTIC RICE PRODUCED?
    Potato starch gets mixed with toxic plastic, synthetic resin, and then formed into rice-shaped kernels. Finally the grains are steamed with a typical rice aroma. Doctors have emphatically warned against consuming the artificial product: three full portions apparently contain as much plastic as there is in a little plastic bag. That's alarming!

    WHAT CAN CONSUMERS DO TO STAY SAFE?
    Many concerned consumers in Nigeria have been asking if there are any solution for consumers to tell the difference between authentic rice and manipulated one? Well, yes there are tricks that can be applied. With these outlined simple tricks you can test whether your rice is wholesome and plastic-free:

    The Water Test: Pour a tablespoon of uncooked rice into a glass with cold water and stir it vigorously. If the rice all sinks to the bottom of the glass, it's fine. If the grains float up to the surface, be careful! There could be danger there.

    Fire Test: Try setting a little bit of your rice on fire with a match or lighter. If it starts burning right away and smells like burning plastic, then you know what to do! (Do not eat it!)

    The Mortar and Pestle Test: When you crush a few grains of rice with a mortar and pestle they should be reduced to a fine, white, starchy powder. But with artificial rice, you will see a light yellow discoloration instead.

    The Mold Test: If you want to know for sure whether your cooked rice is quite safe, put a small quantity into an airtight container and leave it in a warm place. Within a couple of days it will have gotten moldy. Only fake rice stays mold-free.

    If you know anyone trading plastic rice, be civic by reporting those individuals to the authorities. You could be saving the life of a loved one. Let’s work together for a wonderful consumer society.www.savetheconsumers.org

  • A philosopher once said " that the birth of a child signifies GODS desire for the world to continue without end." Children are the strength of the future. The mistakes of the past are to be made perfect in the minds of the children. Children are the torch bearers for a future unknown. To neglect a child or poorly develop a child, is to neglect the future of an economy. To embezzle funds meant for the empowerment of Children is to create a bleak future for the economy.

    According to a recent united nations statistics, over 15 million children in Nigeria are victims of child labour, a further population of the children are poorly developed by parents and guardians. This statistics produces an unpalatable situation for our economy.

    The quality of care children receive in a society ultimately defines how successful that society will be in years to come. Society cannot abandon its children, the abandoned children will in future harm the society that abandoned them. When children are not properly formed through sound moral etiquettes, and empowering societal values, the negative side of society will influence their minds to act otherwise.

    Today, so many children have been converted by terrorists, armed gangs, political thugs, prostitutes, thieves, fraudsters and assassins.

    There are many Nigerian kids who are exposed to harmful products. There are children who do not feed properly. There are many children who go to bed hungry, without hope of where food will come from the following day.

    If poor services offered to children are allowed to continue, our society will be setting its self up for disaster. This is not a time to keep mute. If society is determined to move forward, developing the minds of children is Paramount. Developing a program for the development of children is inexcusable.

    Society and leaders should be upset when a child who should be studying is hawking or engaged into force labour.

    There are many Nigerian children who are ill prepared to handle the demands of the future. This is a call to all Nigerians. Our leaders, we need to think, we need to brainstorm. When we get our developmental structures for child care in the country, the rewards will be for society.

    This is the time for a reform on children's welfare in Nigeria. State and local government authorities should be focused on improving the standard of empowerment and knowledge children are exposed to. The better exposed children are, the more civilised society becomes.

    Let's celebrate the children's day to come by demanding better wellbeing for the Children of Nigeria. GOD bless the Nigerian Child.

  •  

    The Country Director of Save the Consumers Initiative: Aliyu Ilias, congratulates Tunde Irukera on his Appointment as the new Director General of Consumer Protection Council on Tuesday 25th of July, 2017 during the courtesy Visit of Save The Consumers initiative  to Consumer protection Council.

    The meeting had in attendance the Director General, the directors and members of staffs of Consumer Protection Council, the Country Director and staffs of Save the Consumers Among others. The meeting was held to layout the successes and achievement of Save the Consumers and further solicit for their support and collaboration in needed areas.

    During the Visit, the Country Director Dr Aliyu Ilias said, Save the Consumers NGO was at the public hearing of the House of Representatives to support the bill that seeks to establish a federal competition and consumer protection commission and tribunal for the development and promotion of fair, efficient and competitive market in Nigeria. Save the Consumers believe that the bill will establish a national administrative framework for consumer protection, remove regulatory overlap, create measures to forestall common unfair trade practices and deter indulgence by provider of goods and services.

    He stated some of the different platforms which Save the Consumers Campaign is being carried out. Which are Nigeria Television Authority, African Independent Television, WE FM, HOT FM, social media and content publication on Blogs.

    He went further by stating Save the Consumers projects: Radio program every Wednesday by 3:00PM on HOT on FM Abuja, Handbook: He said the handbook is to create awareness on consumers education for students and also to educate secondary school and tertiary institution on consumer related issues, basic consumer rights, functions of Consumer Protection Council, information and communication technology, safety, expiry date, best before date and the roles of Nigeria consumers. And also a dummy copy was forwarded to the Consumer Protection Council for endorsement. He said the handbook is meant to be shared free to students across Nigeria which their focus is Federal Capital Territory, Pleateau, Kano, Oyo, Anambra, Sokoto and Edo states. And he further talked about the upcoming   Consumer Education and Protection Conference where they intend to bring together different stakeholders from both local and international organization with interest on consumer issues. The conference is scheduled for February 2018 in Abuja.  

    The Director General Consumer Protection Council, Barr. Tunde Irukera expressed satisfaction on the NGO’s Name “Save the Consumers” as an interesting name that captured the situation in Nigeria. And commended the effort of Save the Consumers Initiative and also made suggestions on the way forward of the NGO.

  • WHY TEACH CONSUMER EDUCATION?

    Save the consumers cares for the Nigerian Consumer. We all need consumer education on a variety of subject matters. The more we know about product safety, the better society becomes.

    We live in a consumer society. Consumption is an important part of our everyday life and uses up a significant proportion of our money and of our time.

    Yet, for some, the term Consumer Education has a negative overtone - encouraging people to consume more. To the contrary, Consumer Education is about promoting an understanding of the structures and systems within the market. Evidence suggests that many adults are not only unaware of how their individual consumer habits can affect the economy, the environment and society, but that many are also inadequately equipped to participate effectively in the market place. Consumer Education provides the insight necessary to develop citizens into responsible and intelligent acting consumers.

    Educated consumers make better choices and because of their higher expectations, there is a positive effect on competitiveness as companies improve their products and services
    Investing in our Future
    Teaching consumer education is investing in our future: it means protecting, giving confidence and enhancing the accountability of tomorrow’s consumers. The numerous consumer education themes can be tackled in almost all traditional teaching subjects and curricula. Consequently, teachers are definitely the most suitable to provide consumer education and to help educate the consumers of tomorrow.

    In an increasingly globalised world, awareness regarding your rights as a consumer is crucial to ensure protection, confidence and social responsibility while consuming. Given the fast development of the Internet, social media and online networks, teenagers are the most likely to suffer this lack of awareness.

    Consumer Classroom provides a means for teachers to learn about consumer education themselves and to pass this invaluable information onto their students through cross curricular projects. This website will help teachers to give their students everyday examples of how to be a better consumer through interactive and engaging lessons.www.savetheconsumers.org

  • The horrible experience of Clinton James Twitter/@ClintJeezz in a restaurant in Benin city is a far cry from what Nigerians are suffering daily from most restaurant and food vendors. Quite a large number of ready to eat food are everywhere in Nigeria and all of them operate unchecked by the appropriate authority, perhaps the authority staff also patronize the one that is closer to them.

     

    I am much more concerned about the hygienic aspects of the food that vendors and restaurant sell to Nigerians. Let us deal with human factor first, how many of us ask the restaurants or food vendors if the person that prepare the food we eat outside our house is certified to prepare such food, is the person free from hepatitis, is the person free from covid-19 among other diseases and virus that can be transferred to the consumers.

    The challenge of the average Nigerian is satisfying hunger coupled with the challenge of the food crisis that is getting worsened in our country today.

     Environmental factor challenge is also begging for an immediate solution from the government, which are unsafe environment, unsafe water, unsafe waste disposal and exposure of food to insects and dust where food vendor does not care about covering the food. These are more prevalent in most cities in Nigeria.

    I recall my fight with a man who carries a slaughtered skinned goat meat on his motorcycle and tied it with rubber, transporting it to another location in a dusty road. While I was telling him, this is not healthy he was busy speaking in his dialect and people around the scene were looking at me as if I am asking for too much, more so this very city has Environmental officers, even though they are not up to 300 to take care of four million population. Our country employs more medical doctors compare to an environmental officer who will prevent a health-related outbreak, but employs doctor that will take care of the health issue when it happens.

    World health organization position is that food safety must be recognized as a public health function and access to safe food as a basic human right.

     

    Aliyu ilias

    Consumer Advocate