48 DEAD IN ONDO: WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM 2015?

Forty-eight people are dead, five have reportedly lost their sight completely, two are partially blind and total of 182 cases have been recorded.

NAFDAC’s preliminary investigation points to dangerously high concentrations of methanol in locally prepared alcoholic and herbal concoctions linked to the outbreak in Ondo State.

But beyond the deaths and arrests, there is a question we should be asking:

How did we allow this to happen again?

Because this is not the first warning.

In 2015, Irele and Odigbo LGAs in Ondo State experienced another methanol-poisoning outbreak, people developed headaches, blurred vision, blindness, loss of consciousness and died.

Eleven years later, we are talking about methanol, blindness and deaths again.

So what did we learn from 2015?

What preventive systems were introduced? Were producers monitored? Were products routinely tested? Were communities continuously educated? Was the supply and possible diversion of methanol monitored?

And where were the early-warning systems?

Perhaps regulators, including NAFDAC, must also be willing to look inward.

Who regulates the regulators?

What internal safeguards ensure that inspections are thorough, approvals remain credible, enforcement cannot be compromised, and officers entrusted with protecting the public are themselves held to the highest standards of accountability?

This is not an accusation of wrongdoing, it is a question every credible safety system should be able to answer.

Because public confidence depends not only on regulations, but on the integrity of the people and systems responsible for enforcing them.

But these questions are not for NAFDAC alone, they are for government, public-health authorities, local governments, producers, distributors, professional bodies and us in the safety profession.

If 48 people died in a factory explosion, the safety profession would be talking.

Why should this be different?

Food safety is safety, chemical safety is safety, product safety is safety. Public safety is safety.

Our responsibility cannot end at the factory gate.

And there is an even bigger conversation we cannot ignore.

Recently, Nigerians have raised concerns about the safety and authenticity of several everyday food and consumer products, including yoghurt, beverages and products associated with major manufacturers. NAFDAC has rightly cautioned that social-media allegations are not scientific proof and must be properly investigated.

But that is exactly the point: are they being investigated?

When citizens repeatedly raise safety concerns, who independently tests the products and publicly communicates the findings?

Where allegations are false, clear the manufacturers and restore public confidence.

Where they are true, act before somebody dies.

We cannot wait for illness, blindness or death before food-safety concerns become national headlines.