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CPC @ World Consumer Rights Day, Discourages ‘Junk’ Food Consumption
The Consumer Protection Council (CPC), identified Safety, Choice, Information and Basic needs, as critical in addressing Consumer Right related issues.
This is part of message from CPC on 2015 World Consumer Rights Day with emphasis on ‘Healthy Foods’.
The Council said it has become expedient to draw the attention of consumers to the health risks involved in consuming unhealthy foods which are low in fibre, vitamins, high on fats, salt, sugar and tropical oils and are generally of little or no nutritional value.
In most cases, they lack the necessary vitamins obtainable from fruits and vegetables.
Speaking on the 2015 WCRD, Tam Tamunokonbia, head, Lagos office of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), observed that, unfortunately, these junks or unhealthy foods when taken regularly, cause diet related diseases such as obesity, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, all leading to premature deaths.
Tamunokonbia said that the Consumer Protection Council has therefore chosen to sensitize consumers on consumption of healthy foods in Schools, Churches, Mosques and other public places with a view to educating Nigerians on their salt and sugar intake.
He said, “As you all know, a consumer is anyone who buys or uses any product or service. Since there is none that does not buy or use products and services, we all are consumers. It is the consumers’ rights to buy and use healthy foods that we intend to focus on this year”.
The CPC, Lagos Boss added that the tradition of setting aside March 15 every year to celebrate the consumer can be traced to that date in 1962 when John F. Kennedy, then President of America addressed the Parliament on the Consumer Bill of Rights.
This is what he said: “If a consumer is offered inferior products, if prices are exorbitant, if drugs are unsafe or worthless, if the consumer is unable to choose on an informed basis, then his dollar is wasted, his health and safety may be threatened, and national interest suffers.”
“By that Speech”, Tamunokonbia added, “The President identified four Consumer Rights including Safety, Choice, Information and Basic needs.
The United Nations adopted these rights, added four others and issued a guideline on the eight consumer rights.
These 8 Rights are (1) The Right to Satisfaction of Basic needs (2) The Right to Safety (3) The Right to Choice (4) The Right to Information (5) The Right to Consumer Education (6) The Right to Representation (7) The Right to Redress and (8) The Right to Healthy Environment.
The United Nations Guidelines were further adopted by Nigeria, which led to the enactment of the CPC Act, No. 66 of 1992.
That law established the CPC with the mandate to among other things, seek speedy redress for consumers complaints, remove from the market, substandard products, undertake sensitization campaigns and consumer education etc.
The umbrella body of Consumer Federations and Organizations, Consumer International has now adopted 15th March every year as the World Consumer Rights Day.
The idea is to promote the 8 Consumer Rights, protest market abuses and social injustice meted out against the consumer, and placing a demand on business operators that Consumer Rights should be respected.
Tamunokonbia explained that the Council has therefore chosen to sensitize consumers on consumption of healthy foods in Schools, Churches, Mosques and other public places with a view to educating Nigerians on their salt and sugar intake.
“We intend to enlighten Nigerians on the dangers of consuming unhealthy foods.
“The Lagos Office of the CPC was at two Churches, St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Ikeja, and the Foursquare Gospel Church, OPIC Estate, Lagos, to sensitize the members on Sunday 15th March, 2015. Members of both Churches were astonished at the eye opening revelations by the Council. This is expected to continue throughout the year.
“As a follow-up to the “Walk for Health” already undertaken by the Council in Abuja, the Lagos Office and other Zonal Offices participated in the “Walk for Health programme” from Ilupeju to Oshodi to Ikeja through Maryland, Ikorodu and back to the Council’s Office at 18 Ilupeju Bye-Pass”.
Meanwhile sensitization talks have been carried out at the Lagos Progressive Senior and Junior Secondary Schools, Surulere while more Schools such as Community Senior and Junior High Schools, Surulere, Ilupeju Senior Secondary School, Oshodi, Ilupeju Junior Secondary School, Oshodi, Sunnyside Schools, Ilupeu, Penman College, Ilupeju and a few others are scheduled to take place shortly.
The Council also urged the media to join hands with it to spread the message through their various platforms, electronic and print, as a means of further propagating consumer education.
Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) has alerted its customers to a fraudulent message circulating on social media, falsely claiming that electricity consumers can receive an additional 20 per cent bonus units when recharging their prepaid meters through unofficial channels.
In a statement issued by the company’s management on Monday, YEDC described the claim as false and urged customers to disregard the misleading information, stressing that it did not originate from the company.
According to the statement, YEDC does not offer bonus electricity units through individuals, agents, personal bank accounts, phone numbers, or social media contacts.
The company advised customers to purchase electricity tokens only through approved cashless payment platforms, including the YEDC Pay App, OPay, Interswitch, and other authorised vending channels, or to visit the nearest YEDC office for assistance.
YEDC also cautioned customers against sharing their meter details or personal information, or making payments to unauthorised persons claiming to represent the company.
The company further urged customers to rely exclusively on information disseminated through its official communication channels to avoid falling victim to fraud.
The management thanked customers for their continued cooperation and reaffirmed its commitment to serving them.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that two foreign currency accounts opened in connection with the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) have remained inactive since their creation, with no funds deposited and no transactions recorded.
The revelation emerged on Monday during the ongoing investigation by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee probing the circumstances surrounding the establishment and operations of the council.
Lawmakers are investigating allegations that the PFIPC was created and operated without a valid legal framework and outside the established procedures required for government agencies and institutions.
Appearing before the committee, representatives of both the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) distanced their institutions from the establishment of the council.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation stated that it neither created the council nor possessed the constitutional authority to establish federal agencies.
Representing the office, officials explained that the OHCSF is only responsible for approving administrative structures of government agencies after all necessary requirements have been fulfilled.
According to the office, records showed that the council submitted a request on August 6, 2025, seeking approval for its organisational structure.
However, the application was not approved because the required supporting documents were not attached.
The committee heard that despite the rejection of the request, officials linked to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC)/PFIPC later appeared during the 2025 manpower budget defence exercise and sought approval for staffing and recruitment arrangements.
The office disclosed that the council informed government officials that its activities were being carried out largely through personnel seconded or deployed from other institutions.
Lawmakers were told that the council requested approval for a total of 314 positions. The figure consisted of 14 existing officers and an additional 300 proposed positions.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service further revealed that concerns later arose regarding documents presented by the council as evidence of its legal backing.
Officials told the committee that upon examination, the documents failed to display essential features expected of an enabling law or valid legal instrument establishing a government body.
Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, head of the Civil Service of the Federation, also rejected claims that her office deployed civil servants to work for the council.
She maintained that the office did not assign personnel to the body and did not provide office accommodation for its operations.
According to her, matters relating to the creation, supervision and oversight of government agencies fall under the responsibilities of other relevant institutions, including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria also provided details regarding accounts linked to the council.Nigerian current events
Hamisu Abdullahi, director at the apex bank, who represented the CBN Governor before the committee, explained that the bank opened two foreign currency accounts following a formal request from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
He told lawmakers that the request was received on July 30, 2025, and instructed the bank to create a United States dollar domiciliary account and a Pound Sterling domiciliary account.
Abdullahi stressed that the CBN only opens accounts for government agencies after receiving official authorisation from the Accountant-General’s office.
However, he disclosed that the accounts never became operational because the council failed to provide authorised signatories required for activation.
As a result, both accounts remained dormant from the day they were opened.
He informed the committee that neither account had received deposits nor processed withdrawals. The accounts also recorded no foreign exchange allocations, remittances, inflows or outflows.Governor election news
According to him, the balances in both accounts remain at zero.
The CBN official further stated that the council did not engage directly with the apex bank regarding the management or operation of the accounts after they were created.
Following the submissions, members of the committee demanded more information as part of efforts to determine the full scope of the council’s activities.
Hon. Abdulmalik Danga, chairman of the committee, directed the Central Bank to submit comprehensive records relating to both the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
The committee requested details covering the opening of the accounts, their operational history and any information connected to related banking activities.
Lawmakers also instructed the CBN to work with commercial banks to identify and provide records of any accounts linked to the entities under investigation.
However, the committee is expected to continue its hearings as more government agencies and officials appear before lawmakers to provide explanations on the controversial council and the circumstances surrounding its operations.
STEM Africa Fest, an annual science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education event designed to expose children to hands-on learning, returned to Lagos, with organisers urging greater integration of practical STEM education into Nigeria’s school curriculum to prepare young people for future careers.
The organisers said the initiative has reached over 25,000 children across Africa in six years, renewing calls for greater integration of practical STEM education into Nigeria’s school curriculum.
The festival, which began in 2021 during the COVID-19 lockdown, has expanded beyond Nigeria to Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Zambia, Rwanda and Kenya, promoting experiential learning through science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM). The sixth edition which held in Lagos, attracted about 3,500 children and parents from all over.
Conveners, Titi Adewusi and Jadesola Adedeji, said the initiative was conceived to address the gap between classroom theory and practical learning, giving children opportunities to build, experiment and interact with emerging technologies.
According to Adewusi, this year’s theme, “Building Future Innovators”, reflects the organisers’ vision of nurturing Africa’s next generation of innovators, problem-solvers and creative thinkers.
“Children are learning the theories and we wanted to bring the real thing, hands-on. If you’re teaching a child about 3D printing, we want them to actually experience it. If you’re teaching a child about building robots or AI, we wanted them to experience it,” she said.
Adedeji, said the idea for the festival emerged from a shared desire to make science education more engaging after discussions between the founders several years ago.
She said the maiden edition, held during the pandemic, attracted over 1,000 participants globally, while the first physical edition recorded over 6,000 attendees.
They identified funding, stakeholder mobilisation and expanding the festival to other locations as some of the challenges encountered since its inception. They noted that increasing demand from different states and African countries had prompted them to adopt a partnership model that allows collaborators replicate the programme using an established framework.
They also urged governments at all levels to strengthen support for STEM education by integrating practical learning into school curricula and partnering with private organisations to improve access to science and technology education.
Adewusi said they have developed a STEM curriculum that is being implemented in some schools and expressed readiness to collaborate with the government to expand its adoption in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal on quality education.
Adedeji added that government support should go beyond funding to include curriculum development, teacher training and institutional backing for STEM-focused initiatives.
Representing Access Holdings, Programme Manager for Sustainability, Ikechukwu Iheagwam, said the company’s continued support for the festival aligns with its commitment to advancing education and technology.
He said exposing children to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics would better prepare them for the future, adding that private sector participation should complement government efforts in improving STEM education.
Some pupils who attended the festival said the practical sessions strengthened their interest in science and technology.
A student of Court Hill College, Opebi, Jason Lawal, said he participated in activities including a Rubik’s Cube challenge and an artificial intelligence masterclass where participants created short AI-generated animations.
Another student of Greater Ecstasy High School, Iyana-Ipaja, Fatima Namama said attending the festival over the years had deepened her interest in laboratory science and technology. She called for wider integration of STEM education into the school curriculum and more opportunities for pupils to participate in similar learning events.
The organisers said the festival’s impact extends beyond attendance figures, noting that some former participants have returned in recent years as exhibitors in coding and robotics, reflecting its contribution to nurturing future innovators.
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