Nigeria’s spirited clampdown: Barring pouch booze to sober up the economy

    BusinessDay | Newsletter | Feb 05, 2026    
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A peculiar form of commerce has flourished for long in the long in the buzzing streets of Lagos and Abuja, where affordability often trumps every consideration. This commerce does not move in your typical air-conditioned supermarkets; it lugs in the hands of hawkers ducking betwixt traffic jams. For a few Naira, these vendors deliver fast, handy relief from a small, transparent sachet of alcoholic drink of typically dangerous nature – “paraga” or “ogogoro”. Here, a fierce debate has resumed over regulation, public health and economic livelihoods with a clampdown on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages packed in sachets and containers under 200 millilitres. The policy derives its root from a 2018 pact.

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