Rethinking Consumer Protection in Nigeria: Salako Ajulo Calls for Stronger Safeguards for 2026 and Beyond

Rethinking Consumer Protection in Nigeria: Understanding the Challenges, Progress, and Strategic Pathways for Nigerian Consumers in 2026

Sola Salako Ajulo, Founder/President of Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CAFON)

Stakeholders across Nigeria’s consumer ecosystem gathered on Friday, March 13, 2026, to mark World Consumer Rights Day 2026, as the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN) hosted its annual consumer advocacy event at the Rite Foods Limited production facility in Ososa, Ijebu Ode, Ogun.
The event, held under the theme “Safe Product, Confident Consumer,” brought together government regulators, industry leaders, civil society advocates, and media professionals. The 2026 edition also celebrated a decade since BJAN launched its annual World Consumer Rights Day initiative, reinforcing the association’s commitment to promoting consumer awareness, responsible business practices, and market accountability in Nigeria.
Hosted at the modern Ososa facility of Rite Foods Limited, participants were treated to a tour of the manufacturing plant, observing first-hand the company’s production processes, quality control protocols, and safety measures. This provided practical insight into the theme, highlighting the intersection between safe product delivery and consumer confidence.
Consumer Protection Beyond Laws and Regulations
Delivering the keynote address, consumer advocate ‘Sola Salako Ajulo framed consumer protection in Nigeria as a lived reality rather than just a legal construct.
“When we talk about consumer protection in Nigeria,” she said, “we often speak in legal language — policies, regulations, enforcement frameworks, and complaint statistics. But consumerism is not just about laws. It is about the everyday lived experience of Nigerians: the mother who pays for electricity she never receives, the young entrepreneur whose bank account is debited by unexplained charges, the elderly pensioner who unknowingly purchases counterfeit medication, and millions of citizens navigating opaque, unresponsive, and structurally unfair markets. That is the true state of consumerism in Nigeria.”
Salako Ajulo observed that, in 2026, Nigeria stands at a defining crossroads. Over the past decade, particularly following the enactment of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) in 2018, the country has made significant progress in strengthening consumer protection frameworks. Awareness is rising, regulatory enforcement is improving, and consumer voices are increasingly assertive. Yet, despite these gains, the everyday reality for many Nigerians remains shaped by systemic vulnerabilities, limited access to redress, and persistent imbalances in market power.
She described the current environment as “a landscape of progress under pressure” — where legal frameworks advance faster than institutional capacity, and consumer expectations rise faster than market accountability.
The Consumer Reality: Persistent Structural Challenges
1.1 Cost-of-Living Pressures and Economic Vulnerability
Understanding consumerism in Nigeria requires examining the broader economic context. Nigerian households operate under significant financial strain, with inflation eroding purchasing power and the rising costs of food, transportation, healthcare, and essential services exerting sustained pressure on household budgets.
“For many households, consumption is no longer driven by choice — it is driven by affordability and survival,” Salako Ajulo emphasized.
Economic vulnerability shapes consumer behaviour in critical ways. Many individuals tolerate poor service delivery simply because alternatives are impractical or costly. Switching providers often entails time, money, or logistical hurdles, leaving consumers trapped in unfavourable service relationships.
“This dynamic amplifies consumer risk,” she said. “It reduces bargaining power, increases tolerance for service failures, and exposes people to exploitative practices. Consumers may continue patronizing providers they distrust, not out of confidence, but out of necessity. In such conditions, markets are easily distorted and unfair practices difficult to challenge.”
1.2 High Complaint Burden in Essential Services
Consumer complaints in Nigeria remain heavily concentrated in essential services, reflecting persistent structural weaknesses. Reports from the FCCPC indicate that the highest complaints arise in banking, fast-moving consumer goods, fintech services, and electricity supply.
Common complaints include:
Unauthorized bank or digital charges
Service failures
Poor disclosure of contract terms
Delayed complaint resolution
Misleading marketing practices
For example, electricity consumers often receive estimated bills that do not correspond to actual consumption, while telecommunications users continue to experience dropped calls, poor network coverage, and unexplained deductions. Banking customers report failed transactions, delayed reversals, and unexpected debits. Meanwhile, digital financial services, while expanding access to credit, have introduced new consumer harms, including aggressive debt recovery and unauthorized use of personal data.
“These examples show that, for many Nigerians, being a consumer is a daily struggle, not a predictable, protected experience,” Salako Ajulo noted.
1.3 Low Awareness and Weak Redress Culture
A critical challenge in Nigeria’s consumer ecosystem is the gap between legal protections and consumer awareness.
“Nigeria possesses relatively strong consumer protection laws, but legal protections are effective only when consumers know their rights and how to exercise them,” she said.
Many Nigerians are unfamiliar with complaint channels or redress mechanisms. Some perceive processes as ineffective or overly burdensome, while others fear retaliation from service providers. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle: when violations are not reported, unfair practices become normalized, and market standards deteriorate.
Low awareness drives consumers to informal redress methods, including social media exposure, rather than structured legal or regulatory channels.
1.4 Digital Risks and Emerging Consumer Harms
Nigeria’s rapid digital transformation has created new opportunities for consumers but also introduced vulnerabilities. Digital platforms dominate financial services, retail commerce, transportation, and communications, yet new harms have emerged:
Harassment by digital lenders
Unauthorized collection or misuse of personal data
Hidden digital fees
Online fraud
Deceptive e-commerce practices
Regulators have responded with digital lending guidelines, strengthening data protection and ethical debt recovery standards. Consumer protection now extends into digital environments, encompassing data privacy, algorithmic decision-making, and technology-driven market interactions.
“Protecting consumers in this evolving landscape requires adaptive regulatory frameworks capable of addressing fast-changing technological risks,” Salako Ajulo explained.
Signs of Progress: A Strengthening Consumer Protection Ecosystem
Despite persistent challenges, Nigeria has made measurable progress over the past decade. The country has moved from a fragmented, reactive system to a structured, institutional framework with clearer legal authority and expanding enforcement capacity.
2.1 Stronger Regulatory Enforcement
The FCCPA 2018 marked a watershed moment, integrating consumer protection with competition regulation and market fairness oversight. The creation of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (CCPT) strengthened consumer access to redress.
Consumers can now file complaints through structured channels, seek mediation, and pursue compensation through clearly defined legal pathways — a major departure from earlier decades.
Between March and August 2025, the FCCPC resolved over 9,000 consumer complaints, securing more than ₦10 billion in compensation for affected consumers. The CCPT has emerged as an alternative dispute resolution platform, offering faster adjudication than conventional courts.
These developments signal a shift in market accountability, prompting businesses to invest in compliance systems, customer service frameworks, and transparent communication processes.
2.2 Expansion of Consumer Protection into New Frontiers
Consumer protection in Nigeria has expanded beyond traditional markets into technology-driven domains. Digital commerce, algorithmic decision-making, and borderless e-services have created new consumer risks, requiring regulators to innovate.
The Digital Lending Revolution and Its Risks
Mobile lending applications initially provided access to credit for financially constrained consumers. However, challenges emerged:
Public shaming via mass messaging
Unauthorized harvesting of personal data
Persistent harassment
Opaque loan terms with exorbitant effective interest rates
Regulators responded with guidelines mandating registration, data privacy safeguards, and ethical debt recovery standards, shifting from reactive complaint handling to proactive intervention.
Data Protection as a Consumer Rights Frontier
Personal data has become a commercial asset. Many consumers remain unaware of how their information is collected, shared, or monetized. Unauthorized data sharing and weak cybersecurity practices create significant vulnerabilities.
Nigeria’s data protection regulatory framework reflects recognition that consumer protection must now safeguard digital identities alongside financial interests.
Competition Law as Consumer Protection in Practice
Competition enforcement addresses market dominance and anti-competitive behavior, protecting consumers indirectly by ensuring fair, open, and competitive markets. By addressing structural market risks, regulators extend consumer protection beyond individual complaints.
2.3 Increased Consumer Voice and Advocacy
Consumers are increasingly asserting themselves, particularly through social mediathe event, which enables rapid exposure of service failures and demands for accountability. Public advocacy campaigns, civil society interventions, and public-interest litigation have shifted the culture from passive consumption to active engagement.
“This transition from silence to voice is a key milestone,” Salako Ajulo said. “Consumers are no longer passive recipients; they are stakeholders. “lders. “lders. “lders. “lders. “lders. “lders in shaping market accountability.”
The Next Phase of Consumerism in Nigeria: A Strategic Agenda for 2026 and Beyond
Nigeria has laid a strong institutional foundation with legal frameworks, regulatory institutions, enforcement capacity, and growing consumer awareness. Yet the next phase requires systemic transformation, moving from reactive enforcement to proactive market-shaping strategies.
Salako Ajulo identified seven strategic shifts necessary to guide policy priorities over the next decade:
Strategic Shift 1: From Complaint Handling to Preventive Consumer Protection
Consumer protection must move beyond reacting to complaints. Businesses must embed consumer protection into corporate governance, treating it as a core component of risk management alongside financial, operational, and reputational risks.
Strategic Shift 2: Building a National Consumer Advice and Support Infrastructure
Most consumers require guidance rather than litigation. Establishing real-time advice systems, mediation services, and consumer rights education networks is critical. Such infrastructure is a key measure of ecosystem maturity.
Strategic Shift 3: Institutionalizing Consumer Protection Governance Within Businesses
Consumer protection must be a strategic function, not just a customer service department. Boards and senior management should prioritize consumer welfare in corporate decision-making.
Strategic Shift 4: Strengthening Digital Consumer Protections
Regulations must evolve with technology, encompassing digital lending, e-commerce, algorithmic governance, and data privacy.
Strategic Shift 5: Enhancing Regulatory Collaboration
Regulators, civil society, and industry must coordinate more closely to address structural market risks and emerging digital challenges.
Strategic Shift 6: Promoting Public Awareness and Education
Empowering consumers through rights education, awareness campaigns, and accessible information is essential for meaningful market participation.
Strategic Shift 7: Institutionalizing Accountability and Transparency
Businesses and regulators must be transparent in operations, ensuring consumers can access clear, accurate, and actionable information, thereby restoring trust in the marketplace.
Towards a Confident Nigerian Consumer
The 2026 World Consumer Rights Day commemoration at Rite Foods Limited underscored that safe products and confident consumers are central to sustainable economic development.
As Nigeria continues its journey toward a fairer, transparent, and accountable marketplace, all stakeholders — including regulators, businesses, civil society, and consumers — must embrace shared responsibility.
The ten-year milestone of BJAN’s WCRD initiative reinforces that progress in consumer protection is not only a regulatory goal but a societal imperative.
“By embedding consumer protection into corporate governance, strengthening awareness and support infrastructure, and proactively addressing digital and structural risks, Nigeria can transform consumerism into a true force for equity, accountability, and dignity,” Salako Ajulo concluded.
On World Consumer Rights Day 2026 at Rite Foods’ Ososa facility, highlighted Nigeria’s consumer challenges, progress, and strategic pathways, emphasizing safe products, empowered consumers, and stronger market accountability.