Some of the things we deliberately ignored in the past are gradually coming to consume us lately. We were busy paying lip service to casual but sensitive things that now turn out to be a scourge we grapple with.
The indiscriminate siting and sales of illicit drinks in and around our neighbourhoods which needed to be arrested before now, has turned out to be the unseen peak that is ploughing our eyes these days.
The spread of these beer parlours and level of alchohol consumption today in Jos, the capital city of Plateau State has been a thing of great concern. To some, it is a huge business to the point that there exist gin’s “refineries” secretly coming up on a daily basis and people have been consuming it without knowing their sources.
Some of these illegal breweries are not far from our neighborhoods, but people are careless to monitor what comes in and out a “Jericho Hall fenced building” that is sited around their neighborhoods. This is simply because some of their youths are employed as security operatives or distribution agents.
Ignorantly, these youths take their pay off every month without knowing what is happening inside the main factory. They are always brainwashed with the story that the structure was just a mere warehouse that stores products brewed from the Western and Southern part of Nigeria or other African countries.
This has been going on long before now and the authorities saddled with the responsibilities of monitoring these illegal factories are not aware because we failed to ask questions and inform them. All we are concern about is the so- called employment these factories provide to our youths.
In fact, most of these people in the neighborhoods are aware of what is happening but would prefer to keep mute because their children are working in one similar factory or the other and will be unfair to deny his child earning his daily bread.
Convincing any resident in such neighbourhoods that sounds of machines heard only in the late hours of night coming from these structures are a proof that industrial processes take place there is a herculean task. And that was the intention of the owners. In fact, the mere fact that they only produce in the dead of night make their products suspect.
It would be recalled that the immediate past Gbong Gwom Jos, Late DIG, Da Victor Pam, staged a fight against illicit drinks popularly known as “Goskolo” in the neighborhoods and it was communally fought, dislodging both brewers and sellers of this illicit drink in communities. But it appears the hydra headed monster has resurfaced.
Yes, the consumption of this dreaded substance was somehow reduced and the urge for it seemed to be completely subsided along the line. Unfortunately, we assumed that the battle was over and relaxed. We forgot that these desperate illegal businessmen always strategise. As it is now, the situation is going out of hand because a new style has been introduced.
It will interest you to know that the same Goskolo has surreptitiously been channelled and repackaged in some small containers with an attractive outlook to give the public the impression that they are refined, blended and legal alcoholic beverages approved by the government.
However, findings have revealed that most of these factories are located around Utan, Apata, Kabong (Gada Biu), Goodluck Jonathan road, Tafawa Balewa Street, Bukuru and many more. They are yet to be discovered and that they are brewed in some hidden corners in the capital city of Jos and only God knows the materials used. You see labels and addresses that indicate names of some unknown companies from southwestern and eastern states which are deliberate attempts to misdirect.
We, therefore, call on government agencies like NAFDAC, NDLEA, SON, PAN, NSCDC, Police and other agencies to stage a house-to-house search in these areas to arrest all these illegal producers and marketers of this dangerous drinks that have killed so many of our promising youths.
Communities should also collaborate with these government agencies to fish out those indulging in this life consuming business.
Jos was one of the most serene and liveliest cosmopolitan towns in Nigeria that accommodated all and was fun to visit. It was a common sight to see people in the cool of the day especially at weekends, relaxing with one or two bottles at various designated gardens. However, now the story is different.
Most young people ignore the usual place where locally brewed alcohol (Bukutu) is normally found in isolated ghetto areas when they cannot afford a decent drink. They have embraced these illegal illicit alcohol drinks because they are cheap, and they call them “Quick Action” and they are killing them silently.
Could it be that the system then had monitoring mechanism that recognized products that were accepted or welcomed in Jos? This is because products like Gulder, Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, Heineken, Star Lager and even the Rock Lager Beer/Class brewed in Jos were not abused as they are today.
Therefore, government on its part should do the needful by coming with stringent rules and regulations that will monitor the excesses of these illegal factories and the influx of different illicit alcoholic beverages into the state as refined gin. It is killing us and we cannot fold our arms to see that happen!
