WHEN the Ondo State Government on April 27 announced the ban on sales and consumption of locally made gin popularly known as Ogogoro across the state, many knew that the order was dead-on-arrival, because the Ogogoro business is an age long thriving enterprise in several parts of the state.
Owing to the ban, there is an imminent collision between the state government and several residents who patronise the consumption of the product. Eventhough, the government announced the ban in order save lives, many consumers are against the move, as accortding to them, they see no correlation between consuming the substance the recent tragic disease which claimed the the lives of about 23 persons in two communities of Irele. They reportedly die as a result of ethanol poosionoing.
For these staunch consumers, they feel the ban order announced by the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju, as a mere waste of time and a face-saving. It will be recalled that the state government was prompted to place the blanket order on the sales and consumption of Ogogoro following its findings that the cause of the death of the 23 persons who died mysteriously in the agrarian community of Irele were linked to the consumption of the product.
Adeyanju at a media chat said that from clinical analysis conducted by the State Government, it was revealed that there were no known viruses which caused the death, but that toxicology reports have confirmed government’s prime suspicion of ethanol poisoning. In this light, he said the government has begun a sensitisation programme to residents understand that that the sales and consumption of locally-made gin is prohibited.
Justifying the ban, he disclosed that the sample from the deceased persons showed that they had a high concentration of the product in their system, adding that those that died were mainly Okada riders who congregated in a joint and took the poisonous ethanol.
Meanwhile, a twisted argument had earlier trailed the death of the 23 persons. While the state government believed that they died between April 13 and 15 owing to binge consumption of the poisonous Ogogoro, the natives of the land including their traditional leaders insisted that the deity of the land (Malokun) struck them for being offended by some youths who invaded its shrine and carted away monuments, which they sold to foreigners.
The state government, however, refuted this argument, describning it as an unscientific postulation. It thus insisted that those that died actually consumed poisonous ethanol. Not to offend the sensibilities of the traditionalist, Adeyanju said he would not want to join issues with the natives because what they are saying can not be scientifically proven.
Contrarily, the natives were quick to query why the victims before their death experienced blurred vision, blindness and loss of speech. For this reason, they stood their grounds that Malokun the deity of Irele was the one who struck to vent its anger with the recalcitrant youths. According to them, the Chief Priest of the community had already appeased Malokun, to stop the deaths. So, government’s ban on sales and consumption of the locally-made gin under the pretext of trying to stop the deaths is taking an unpopular action.
Speaking with Vanguard, a community leader, Chief Adeniyi Oluwalogbon wondered when the consumption of their age-long local gin became a poison that has decided to kill its consumers sequentially. He said government’s blanket ban on sales and consumption of Ogogoro is hog wash because there was no justification for it.
Another community leader, who pleaded not to be mentioned in print, accused government of “jumping into conclusion to strangulate them economically, even before agencies such as NAFDAC and SON carry out test, make public their findings and make recommendation on the brewing and standardization of the product.”
He insisted that the sales and consumption of Ogogoro in the area had thrived for ages and that the ban order was a waste of time and cannot be enforced. Speaking on the development, a member representing Irele in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Afolabi Iwalewa threw his weight behind the natives, submitting that the gods were angry because some unidentified persons desecrated its shrine.
While appreciating government’s prompt response to the ugly incident, Iwalewa was happy that the death has been curtailed. However, when Vanguard visited some parts of the state, especially affected communities, last weekend, sales and consumption of the product continued unabated, despite the ban. Some people were even seen still hawking the products on major streets and motor-parks across the state.
Even, some members of the NURTW, commercial bus drivers, as well as motorcyclists were seen brazinly sipping glasses of the dry gin. This suggests that the people of the state are not on the same page with the government to break the economic power of the less privileged people who derive their livelihood from the the sales of Ogogoro.
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