\u2013 By Paul Omoruyi*<\/p>\n
I am calling on the Nigerian Government to declare a day of National
\nDETOXIFICATION from all the poisonous products Nigerians have been eating
\nand drinking for so many years now. Then start a National Sensitization
\ncampaign to educate Nigerians about the benefit of eating locally produced
\nverifiable natural food as opposed to eating unknown foreign food.
\nWe all know that majority of Nigerians suffer from disguised inferiority
\ncomplex that drive them to seek foreign products in order to feel good
\nabout themselves; or at least make them feel that they are better off than
\nother Nigerians who consume local products.
\nThree years ago, I was driving through a busy intersection in Nigeria when
\nI noticed an unusually large crowd as individuals push their way through
\nthe throng. Out of curiosity, I went over to see what the craziness was all
\nabout. I couldn\u2019t believe what I saw \u2013 sale of so called \u201cimported wines\u201d.
\nNoticing the pitiful look on my face, one buyer passionately told me \u201cthis
\njust land from Italy now now my brother\u201d.
\nI left that place knowing that people will drink those so called \u201cimported
\nwines\u201d without knowing what it is made from or from where it came.<\/p>\n
It could have been \u201cimported\u201d by a local dubious fellow (who has created
\nand affixed a \u201cMade in Italy\u201d label on a sugar and dye drink!) right across
\nthe street or from China, Ghana or just about anywhere anyone with access
\nto empty bottles exists.
\nNigerians will eat, drink, wear and buy at any price anything that has a
\n\u201cforeign\u201d name to it. Sometimes, I cannot make any sense out of it all.<\/p>\n
I remember a friend in Lagos enthusiastically telling me we should go eat
\nDomino Pizza or Burger fast food as \u201cbig boys\u201d. I looked at him in awe and
\noutright disbelieve. \u201cYou think I will come to Nigeria to eat all those
\ngarbage?\u201d I asked. No oo bros, na big boys levels for Naija oo, he said. Ok
\noo, na una know wetin una see for naija with all these foreign fast food,
\nme na bitter leaf soup I want eat.<\/p>\n
These days, young Nigerians die from different kinds of diseases and
\nillnesses unheard-of decades ago. Who knows how many Nigerians have died
\nfrom diseases engendered by eating\/drinking fake food\/drinks?
\nThe unfortunate side of all of this is that Nigerians naturally default to
\nblaming any death on witches and wizards; evil relatives or in-laws.
\nOnly God knows the number of Nigerians living today with poisonous toxins
\nin their systems from the fake-no-nutritive-value food that they have
\nconsumed (unfortunately still consuming) over the years.
\nLittle Nigerian kids are not left out from being fed with these poisonous
\nnutrition-less foods. Whenever I am in Nigeria, it amazes me to see how my
\nlittle nieces and nephews crave for Instant Noodle, popularly called
\n\u201cIndomie\u201d.
\nI cannot tell if the fake food videos being shared on social media is true
\nor false, but I do know that the United States Food and Drug Administration
\n(FDA) has been critical for years now about contaminated\/fake products from
\nChina. What gladdens my heart is that Nigerians are beginning to know that
\nthere is something called \u201cfake food\/drink\u201d that could be imported or
\nlocally produced.<\/p>\n
In the past, the United States FDA have banned several products from Asia
\nto protect Americans from consuming toxic foods.
\nOn June the 28th, 2007, CNN reported \u201cThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration
\non Thursday announced it is blocking the import from China of five species
\nof seafood until their importers can prove they are not contaminated.<\/p>\n
“FDA is initiating an import alert against several species of imported
\nChinese farmed seafood because of numerous cases of contamination with
\ndrugs and unsafe food additives,” said Dr. David Acheson, the agency’s
\nassistant commissioner for food protection, in a conference call with
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
The species cited are catfish, eel, shrimp, basa and dace, he said. Basa is
\nsimilar to catfish; dace is similar to carp.<\/p>\n
The medications cited include the antimicrobials nitrofuran, malachite
\ngreen, gentian violet and fluoroquinolones.<\/p>\n
Nitrofuran, malachite green, and gentian violet have been shown to cause
\ncancer in laboratory animals.<\/p>\n
Use of fluoroquinolones in food-producing animals can result in antibiotic
\nresistance.<\/p>\n
None of them is approved for use in farmed seafood in the United States and
\nsome of them have been shown to cause cancer when fed to laboratory animals
\nfor “prolonged periods of time,” Acheson said.<\/p>\n
The food will not be allowed into the United States until the importer can
\nprove it is free from harmful contaminants, Acheson said.<\/p>\n
He said the agency decided to broaden its previous alerts for products from
\nindividual companies to a countrywide alert after tests showed that 15
\npercent of those species of seafood produced by 18 companies in China
\ncontained traces of one or more of the contaminants.<\/p>\n
“FDA is taking this action to protect the public health of the American
\npeople,” he said.\u201d
\nThe Nigerian government has a big role to play here. NAFDAC and Customs
\nhave to ensure that mass produced local foods\/drinks and all imported
\nforeign food\/drink products go through rigorous testing\/quality control
\nbefore allowing them on the market.
\nFor those who do not trust the Government\u2019s ability to certify food on the
\nmarket, a quick googling of \u201chow to spot fake food\u201d will provide you a
\nwealth of knowledge of what to look out for to protect yourself.
\nNigerians as a people will need to change their disposition towards local
\nand foreign food\/drink products in order to avoid all the unknown deadly
\ntoxins they might be consuming daily.
\nGod bless Nigerians and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
\nPaul Omoruyi<\/p>\n
Email: eng.p.omoruyi@gmail.com<\/p>\n
Twitter:@paul_omoruyi<\/p>\n
Blog @:www,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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