The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has sensitised students of secondary schools in Kogi to know about their rights and responsibilities as consumers.
Addressing students at Baptist Group of Schools Lokoja on Friday, the Assistant Chief Consumer and Business Education Officer, FCCPC, Abuja, Mr Ibrahim Bello, said the sensitization was to educate consumers on their rights and responsibilities.
Bello said the FCCPC is educating consumers to be well-informed and have value for their money on any purchased goods and services.
According to him, consumers have responsibilities to speak out, think independently, complain, share experiences, and be alert to the quality and safety of products and services before purchase.
He added that consumers have rights to information, product labelling, trade descriptions, price disclosure of products, sales records, selecting suppliers, fair dealings, returning goods, and examining goods.
“Others are rights to safe, good-quality products, the right to cancel advance bookings or orders, the implied warranty of quality, the right to disclose used or reconditioned goods, and so on.
“One of the functions of FCCPC is to educate consumers, and we are doing this sensitization simultaneously across the six states of the North Central,” Bello said.
He said FCCPC would collaborate with schools to establish clubs: ‘Fan Club’ in primary schools and ‘Young Consumer Club’ in secondary schools to sustain the sensitization programme.
“The FCCPC mandate is to protect and promote the interests of consumers by providing them with a wider variety of quality products at competitive prices.
“We are also ensuring the adoption of measures to guarantee that goods and services are safe for intended or normally safe use.
“We also initiate broad-based policies and review economic activities in Nigeria to identify and prohibit anticompetitive and restrictive practices that may distort competition or constitute an abuse of a dominant position of market power,” Bello said
He advised consumers to have knowledge of what they were buying so as to have value for their money, noting that there were many fake and substandard products on the market.
Bello urged consumers to always report issues of purchasing fake or substandard products to the commission through their diverse complaints platforms.
He added, “We are calling on consumers to report any sale of fake and substandard products to FCCPC through our portal and social handles, including our hotline and offices.”.
In their separate comments, the principals of Baptist Group of Schools, Mrs Victoria Olaleye, and KELIEN International School Lokoja, Mr Joseph Okpanachi, commended FCCPC for the gesture towards their schools.
“We appreciate the gesture because we have manufacturers, producers, as well as consumers among our students.
“So, when both parties know their rights, they will be able to enlighten their parents and others.
“This will help society form a good and sane generation that will be able to compete fairly,” Okpanachi said.
“We are very lucky to have FCCPC in our school to sensitise our students and make us aware of our rights and responsibilities as consumers.
“We will immediately inaugurate the Young Consumer Club in our school,” Olaleye said.
One of the students, Maria Umoru, said, “We are happy for the sensitization because it has made us aware of our rights and responsibilities for any product we buy in the market.
“We have also been advised to always check the expiration date on any product and never patronise road sellers.”
Schools visited include Baptist Group of Schools, KELIEN International, Sunnah Academy, Christ Field, Julitola International, and Irawo Secondary School, Lokoja.
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