Businesses Must Respect Consumer Rights,Says Irukera
The Director General, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Mr. Babatunde Irukera, has said one of the biggest challenges to consumer rights protection was determining “whether companies do enough to respect their obligation to regard those rights”. He said it had become crucial to recognise what consumer rights are, to respect those rights, ensure their enforcement and consumer satisfaction. Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum organised by FCCPC to commemorate the World Consumer Rights Day 2019, with the theme: “Trusted Smart Products’’ he further lamented that most constitutions across the world do not capture consumerism as a fundamental human right and the nature of business practiced is mainly centered on making profit.
He said: “The biggest problem in the World today is whether consumers truly recognise their rights and whether companies do enough to respect their obligation to regard those rights.
“And so, to dedicate a specific day to the rights of consumers, I think it is appropriate, with the number of years this has happened, I think consumers are more aware of their rights.
“Although in spite of this, there is still a long way to travel for consumers to truly understand their rights and for them to have the motivation and understand the enforcement mechanism that is available.
“This is also an opportunity for governments to reinforce and deepen the regulatory framework and the enforcement mechanism to ensure consumer rights are respected.”
Irukera said the choice of the popular Bannex plaza for the sensitisation programme was “because it is the hub for exchange and sale for smart products whether telephone devices, televisions, computers and the like’’.
However, Chairman, Bannex Tenant Association, Mr. Chibuike Nzedimma, tasked the commission to collaborate with channels of smart products to ensure that proper standards for products were set.