Neglecting Consumer Protection

Consumers generally fail to plug into the advantage of securing redress through the consumer protection council

The average consumer in Nigeria purchases goods without checking the expiry date printed on the product, the genuine identity of manufacturer and the overall quality of the product. In many cases, what he is buying is fake or sub-standard. And whereas there is a means for him to seek redress or compensation when goods bought are in many ways deficient, he has never bothered to do so, either out of complete ignorance or crass nonchalance. Although the Consumer Protection Council, CPC, is on ground to cater for the plight of displeased consumers, the establishment is still rarely consulted by buyers with complaints. Yet, it has been in existence for over 13 years.

A few consumers don’t gladly allow themselves to be cheated. Dr. Olajire Fagbola is one of them. Fagbola, who teaches agronomy at the University of Ibadan, deemed it fit to seek redress through the CPC, concerning a transaction that turned sour. The senior lecturer and consultant gained a N300,000 compensation from the outcome of his complaint over the unsavoury treatment by the automobile dealership division of Mandilas Enterprises. The lecturer had been involved in a legal battle with Mandilas over an aborted purchase of a motor vehicle after N3.3 million had been paid to the company (Mandilas), before the case was brought to the South-West Zonal Office of the CPC in Oshogbo, Osun State. While Fagbola paid the required sum to Mandilas for the vehicle to be delivered within seven days after the day of payment, 13 May 2010, the company failed to deliver on the agreed date. The claim by Mandilas that the vehicle type was not available from its supplier, Toyota Nigeria Ltd, at the period was no vindication.

Fagbola took Mandilas to court. The case was in court for two years before it was eventually resolved two weeks ago by the CPC. Most consumers are unlike Fagbola, unaware of any of the rights spelt out by the CPC in their favour. The CPC states that goods and services must meet the standard of quality promised, commensurate with value for money spent and adequately protected from hazardous products, production processes and services. Consumers are also entitled to provision of information to determine their choice, as well as protection from misleading or inaccurate advertising and labelling.

Besides, every buyer should have access to varieties of quality products and services at competitive prices. Dissatisfied consumers are also entitled to adequate legal representation and should actually be allowed to take part in the formulation of economic and other policies affecting buyers.

Although the major function of the CPC is to ensure that products are of high quality, some merchants even take advantage of lax monitoring to reap unduly from sale of products that directly affect the health of Nigerians. The watchful eyes of the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has not prevented the drug market from being infiltrated by unscrupulous manufacturers and merchants. While many of these drug merchants are quite aware of their defaults, the consumers are not well acquainted with the action to be taken when they discover they have bought and used fake products.

Samuel Enimola, an Economics lecturer at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Akoko, Ondo State, blamed the plight of consumers on ignorance. “Despite the provision made by the Nigerian government to ensure that consumers are protected, they remain generally unaware of their rights,” he said. It has also been observed that the considerably large size of the Nigerian market ensures ample room for manufacturers of products through segmentation and separation to take advantage of consumers. Economists posit that customers continue to suffer due to the negligible level of import substitution. A lot of the products purchased or consumed are simply not manufactured locally and difficult to monitor. Nigerians themselves exploit the lapses to flood the domestic market with inferior, imported goods.

The standard redress procedure of the CPC begins with the acceptance of and acknowledgment of a consumer’s complaint. After the complaint is analysed, the respondent or accused party is informed of the development, in a bid to get both sides of the story. This is followed by conducting an independent investigation, while awaiting the response of the accused party. If the respondent fails to respond after seven days, a reminder is served to that effect, with an additional five days of grace. The failure to respond after the second reminder leads to the accused party being summoned to a meeting in the presence of the complainant to determine the eventual position on the matter and how it can be finally resolved. If the accused party refuses to respond to this final summon by the Council, the issue is then transferred to a court of law.

The CPC is a parastatal of the Federal Government of Nigeria, supervised by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment and established by Act No. 66 of 1992. It became active in 1999.

—Funsho Balogun/TheNEWS Africa