At a time the generality of Nigerians are
very angry with the members of the Senate for violently failing to protect the
fundamental human rights of the Nigerian girl child by out rightly refusing to
state in black and white the universally acceptable age of consent and/or
marriage in order to save the Nigerian girl child from ferocious attacks by
paedophiles and sexual predators who are prowling round like roaring lion
looking for innocent girl child to devour, the other side of the national
assembly- federal house of representatives was last week presented with a
historic opportunity to right the obvious institutional wrong about to be done
by the Senate when it had a public hearing on a proposed bill to amend the
extant law setting up the Nigeria's Consumer Protection Council to make it
stronger and more effective to protect the rights of all Nigerians.
The Consumer Protection Council is the
apex consumer protection agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria
established to amongst other things promote and protect consumer’s interest in
all areas of products and services, provide speedy redress to consumers’
complaints, inform, educate and empower consumers to act as discerning and
discriminating consumers in the market place. Since it was set up, this agency
has faced several challenges among which are what experts have identified
rightly as inherent weaknesses in the enabling law which include but are
not limited to non definition of consumers’ rights and inadequate provisions
for their enforcement; lack of a specific institutional framework for the
defence of consumers’ rights; undefined relationship with sector regulators
leading to some confusion as to the role of the agency; an over-bloated and
unwieldy 43-member governing board and many more.
At the public session attended by the
crème de la crème of the society including the minister of Trade and
investment, the urbane looking Mr. Olusegun Aganga, and Mrs. Catherine
Dupe Atoki, the newly appointed Director General of the Nigerian Consumer Protection
Council, a consummate human rights expert clearly told her audience that
the agency since it was established has had to contend with lots of teething
operational impediments even as she rightly pointed out that, over the years,
emerging technological changes, new trading methods, patterns and agreements
have brought about new challenges to consumers of goods and services in Nigeria
making it necessary to develop and employ further innovative ways to protect
the interests of consumers.
According to her, these challenges
necessitated the desire and clamour by Nigerians for the comprehensive
legislative review of the enabling law, a difficult but
necessary process this government agency commenced since 2003. The first
effort spearheaded by the then Senator Jonathan Zwingina faced the presidential
huddle when the then President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo failed to sign the
passed bill into law thus necessitating the presentation of this bill afresh.
This bill for the review of the enabling law setting up the Consumer Protection
Council didn't scale through in the last sixth session of the national assembly
which automatically transmitted it to the current seventh session. Nigerians
are looking up to the Federal House of Representatives and their counterparts in
the Senate to see this and many other human rights friendly proposed bills as
their chance to redeem their waning image by passing them on time to enable the
President assent to them so as to broaden the horizon and frontiers of human
rights respect in Nigeria.
The struggle to actualize the review
of the law setting up the consumer protection council should be seen as a
national priority by all and sundry particularly because of the fact that the
consumer rights of all Nigerians are most times breached fragrantly by major
businesses and most times a lot of Nigerians are not even aware that they have
inherent rights as citizens and importantly as consumers. Even the popular
slogan that the consumer is king is most times seen as a huge joke by even the
consumers who often sleep n their rights and allow manufacturers; traders and
service providers to violate their rights as consumers with reckless abandon.
Others who are aware of their rights do not want to pursue it to the highest
level because of the belief that the agency charged with these onerous tasks is
institutionally and structurally weak. These are the challenges that this
on-going review seeks to tackle.
In her characteristic candidness, Mrs.
Atoki said the purpose of the review is to re-enact the Consumer
Protection Council Act to provide for a broader and more effective Council,
clearly define consumer rights and ensure the removal of fake and substandard
products from the market, ensure the protection of Consumers and their access
to easy and speedy redress through the establishment of an elaborate consumer
redress system, establishment of institutions for the protection of consumer
rights and among other things complement laws governing unfair competition and
deceptive and fraudulent practices.
When this bill is passed into law here are
some of the specific benefits that will accrue includes the expert
formulation of clearly written Fundamental Consumer Rights
which for the first time in Nigeria certain specific rights of consumers are
defined for codification even as the Part 6 of the proposed amendment will
state that Consumers’ right to disclosure and information; right to choice; right to fair and
responsible marketing; right
to fair and honest dealing; right to fair, just and reasonable terms and
conditions; and the right to fair value, good quality and safety are hereby
guaranteed and protected by law.
These rights represent the basic rights of
consumers in the United Nations declaration of 1985 and this amendment makes
those rights an integral part of Nigerian law.
Importantly, experts say that clearly
defining consumer rights is important to consumer awareness and the enforcement
of consumer rights. Mrs. Atoki who has practiced law at the highest level
in Nigeria for over two decades told Nigerians that under the proposed
bill before the national legislators, the consumer has a right to return
and collect a refund for an unsuitable or defective product which he had
purchased notwithstanding exemption clauses like ‘once tested and taken away
cannot be returned’. This was hitherto a challenge as suppliers hide under such
clauses to refuse to refund or make good defective products. It is noteworthy
to state that in the United Kingdom and other developed climes, such clauses
are strictly enforced even by the sellers without much recourse to the law
enforcement mechanism.
Another salient quality of the proposed
bill s that an elaborate and well articulated redress system dedicated
specifically to consumer issues is set up under Part 8. By the proposed
amendment, consumers may enforce their rights either by themselves or through
the instrumentality of the Council, Civil society groups, the Courts or an ADR
Agent. These provisions will address the legal lacuna usually seen in many legislative
frameworks whereby Nigerians are clearly disempowered from initiating moves to
enforce observance of the beautiful provisions enshrined in the laws. A law no
matter how beautiful and edifying, if there are no clear provisions on how they
can be relevant if enforced, will increasingly become a huge scam. Agencies
such as the Public Complaint Commission falls within the realm of those bodies
that Nigerians see as bogus and unworkable.
Shedding light on the ease of enforcement
of the proposed bill if passed, Mrs. Atoki stated thus; "the bill makes
the enforcement of consumers’ rights by the consumer or the Council faster,
cheaper and less time consuming. Hitherto, consumers were constrained to go to
court with the attendant delays and costs. Under this bill they have
alternatives. "Institutions dedicated specifically for the protection and
enforcement of consumer rights are established under part 10. These include a
Negotiation, Mediation and Conciliation Tribunal, mobile courts and small
claims courts", She stated.
It is generally believed that when this
proposed bill scales through and the President assents to it, the Consumer
Protection Council will become operationally and financially independent to
more effectively battle the scourge of violations of the consumer rights of
Nigerians and the National Assembly and state legislators will be clearly
assisted by this new law to more effectively protect the rights of their
constituents as the elected representatives of the people. The new law should
therefore be considered as a priority bill in the ranking of the National
Assembly.
+Emmanuel Onwubiko; Head; Human Rights
Writers Association f Nigeria and blogs @www.huriwa.blogspot.com; http://www.huriwa.org/.
24/7/2013
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