Safe Products, Confident Consumers: Closing the Gaps in Nigeria’s Marketplace

From everyday household items to essential goods, product safety remains one of the most overlooked yet critical aspects of consumer protection in Nigeria. It was against this backdrop that a cross-section of regulators, industry experts, and global voices convened for a timely conversation on strengthening product safety systems.

Hosted by Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF) in commemoration of World Consumer Rights Day 2026, the webinar, Safe Products, Confident Consumers: Protecting the Consumer Across the Product Lifecycle, examined what it truly takes to build a marketplace where safety is not assumed, but guaranteed.

Bringing a regulatory perspective, Dr. Mrs. Olubunmi Dorcas Otti, Southwest Zonal Coordinator at the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), highlighted the role of enforcement, compliance, and institutional accountability in protecting Nigerian consumers. Her insights reinforced the need for stronger systems that do not only respond to harm, but actively prevent it.

From a global standpoint, Delicia Reynolds Hand, Senior Director, Digital Marketplace at Consumer Reports, expanded the conversation into the fast-evolving digital economy. She underscored how product safety risks are increasingly amplified online, where regulatory gaps, platform responsibility, and cross-border trade create new layers of complexity. Her contribution brought into focus the need for frameworks that ensure consumer protection keeps pace with digital innovation.

Representing the manufacturing and quality assurance perspective, Victoria Odusegun, Trade Quality Specialist at Seven Up Bottling Company, offered practical insights into how safety is maintained across production and distribution channels. Drawing from over a decade of experience in the FMCG sector, she emphasized the importance of rigorous standards, compliance monitoring, and accountability across the supply chain in building consumer trust.

Adding an operational and analytical lens, Christopher Nwachukwu shared perspectives grounded in industry experience and data-driven decision-making. His contribution highlighted how identifying inefficiencies and strengthening internal processes can significantly improve product safety outcomes and overall market performance.

A factor that contributed to the framing of the webinar was a survey on product safety in Nigeria. 43.6% of respondents had purchased counterfeit products more than once in the last 12 months, 67.3% did not know Nigeria’s product safety standards, and 72.7% did not believe they could get quick resolutions if they reported unsafe products. 

These figures attested to the prevalence of unsafe products in the Nigerian markets and weak market surveillance, the low-awareness level of legal knowledge among consumers and the consumer passivity normalized by years of inadequate or cumbersome redress mechanisms.Across the conversation, it was echoed that product safety is a shared responsibility. Regulators must enforce, businesses must prioritize safety by design, and consumers must be informed enough to demand accountability.

Join us in advancing stronger product safety systems in Nigeria.