“Pẹlẹbẹ” – A weapon of mass destruction — by Tinuade Ogunlesi

I was at a high brow hotel for a conference.
Few hours after I checked in, the hotel was transformed. Many cars drove in and there was a crowd surge. From the slogans and dressings, I understood it was a political gathering. And the number of buses bringing in loads of “party supporters”, not to be addressed as “political thugs” showed it was a major event.

I went out at sun set to attend a conference event. By the time I returned, the floor of the lobby leading to the main door to the hotel reception had changed. From afar, it looked like an artistic collage.

The hotel management could not have changed the tiled flooring to terrazo flooring within three hours, moreso in the night. The floor of the lobby was covered wall to wall with a “carpet” of empty sachets of different brands of gin. Litters of gin sachet, they were. These sachets are known on the street as “pẹlẹbẹ”.

“Pẹlẹbẹ” is a Yoruba word for “slim” or “flat”, just an attempt at describing the sachet as handy. They come in 18ml or 30ml sizes. I hear this is what many political footsoldiers, artisans and commercial drivers, consume for recreation. Adolescents, male and female, are definitely in the league of the consumers of “pẹlẹbẹ”.

Giving “pẹlẹbẹ” out as souvenirs at events seems to make a lot of sense though. It is a lot cheaper and easier to handle than the bottled forms. A sachet will be emptied into the mouth within a twinkle of an eye so people are likely to consume a large quantity within a short time and without attracting attention. Just as many sachets can be kept in the pockets. This ease of access is, therefore, a big problem.

The season of political activities is here now and there will be an upsurge in meetings, rallies and campaign. Sure, a lot of money will be budgeted for “pẹlẹbẹ” because that is one of the cheap mechanisms of engaging political thugs as they need to charge up to do the thinkable and the unthinkable as the need arises.

Beyond political gatherings, virtually all artisans consume “pelebe” as some sort of energizer. A visit to motor parks and auto-technician workshops will show the magnitude of consumption. Even at building construction sites. Young and old. Male and female.

Go into the hintherlands and slums at sun rise and sun set; groups of men congregate at strategic locations referred to as “tarmac”, where they take “pẹlẹbẹ” and discuss football, flirting, betting, local politics, and engage in local gossips.

Beyond adult circles, even school children have been sadly caught with “pẹlẹbẹ” in their pockets. Adults initiate them by sending them on errands to get “pẹlẹbẹ” from the sellers in the neighbourhood. The kids listened to Olamide’s “science students” track and they simply wanted to experience how to get the eyes dirty. This is not particularly surprising because of the size and affordability of “pẹlẹbẹ”.

In all, the usual inhibitions to alcohol consumption are no longer there. No one needs to go about with bottles constituting nuisances. Just as no one still needs to be a high earner to drink gin. An average street artisan can afford “pẹlẹbẹ”. It is even available everywhere on the street.

That makes it good business for the sellers and the manufacturers. The turn-over rate must be very high. Alcohol use, like other substances of abuse, are very rampant in the society for many reasons. A tool to lift the spirit out of the perpetual feeling of sadness occassioned by the poor national economy, especially.

However, I worry a lot about the short-term and long-term effects of excessive gin intake. Gin is a high concentration alcoholic drink.

In the immediate, alcohol creates a state of confusion, altered perceptions, coordination, memories and judgement.

These are the reasons, alcohol ingestion cannot be divorced from wrongdoing generally – violence, fights, battery, knife and gun attacks. Alcohol beclouds reasoning and differentiating between appropriateness and exigencies become difficult. That inability to clearly define the right leads to wrong decisions and actions. People commit various crimes under the influence of alcohol. Are we still surprised crimes abound? Are we still surprised at the widening of the scope of crime and people who commit crime? Look in the direction of alcohol and other substances of abuse.

People generally takes alcohocol as a tool of recreation as it is believed to lift the spirit and brighten the mood. Therefore, politicians “spoil” their supporters with “pẹlẹbẹ” to keep the political space and environment highly charged. They shout, sing and dance as the energy level ascends. Same thing applies at other social events such as parties, cinemas and musical concerts. People enjoy the “good” feeling when they take alcohol, even though that feeling is transient.

From a sachet taken in hiding once in a while, it becomes a regular engagement that goes down without any inhibition from cost or who may be watching. Of course it is very cheap and very readily accessible,

When dependence creeps in, the individual can hardly do without alcohol. In the extreme, they will be glad to skip meals in exchange for a sip of gin. While bad feeding goes on on one hand, financial disruption goes on, on the other hand.

Excessive spending on alcoholic drinks, in order to sustain the dependence, becomes the norm. Low finances lead to unpaid bills. Personal goals get repeatedly missed because there is no financial strength to push the goals through.

Distorted sense of judgement and recurrent job-related errors set the template for job loss. So, there is the perpetual psychological problem of a feeling of inadequacy. Unfortunately, these bad emotions drive more alcohol intake as the “feel good” effect is perceived to be a solution to the psychological repression. So, the tendency is to take more and with this comes worse attacks on health, finances and general well-being. They frequently get sick from poor nutrition and poor immunity, especially.

Long term alcohol use comes with general but non- specific effects such as the risks of hypertension, diabetes, and cancers. With all these come the secondary risks of eye damage and visual impairment, kidney diseases and stroke.

The direct effect of prolonged intake of high dose of alcohol is shrinking of the liver known as Liver cirrhosis. This puts the blood pipes passing through the liver under excessive tension and they may rupture.

This causes uncontrollable vomiting of blood among other features of liver damage. The liver will eventually fail in its major functions making bleeding get worse, also putting the kidneys at risk.

With all these destructive and deadly consequences on the burner, the manufacturers of “pẹlẹbẹ” are smart enough to issue a public warning to consumers to “drink responsibly”. What determines responsible drinking?

Unfortunately, NAFDAC, the regulatory agency has a struggle banning the sales of “pẹlẹbẹ” to preserve the health of the nation. The manufacturers play on emotions by positing that their products are for the less privileged, who cannot afford to buy 75cl bottles of gin but also deserves to enjoy the drinks and feel good. So, who controls the access of little children to pẹlẹbẹ? Who monitors to ensure responsible drinking?

Continuing unrestricted access to “pẹlẹbẹ” is a time bomb. The nation’s current health system lacks the wherewithal to cope with the likely explosion in the number of liver diseases waiting to happen upon the nation in another ten years. It will be massive except something is done. NAFDAC and the various social orientation agencies need to mount intensive public enlightenment activities.

Yes, we know it will be tough because the manufacturers will fight from all directions: they will play on the people’s emotions with claims of repression by NAFDAC. The courts will also not be spared. The legal fireworks are on already, claiming NAFDAC licensed the products initially, so why are they turning around to ban what they licensed? This is the problem when businessmen and capitalists prioritise their financial wellbeing over the health of people.

If the small sized portions pose a risk to the wellbeing of the nation, then, the formulation can be reviewed. We can go back to smaller bottles of gin that will still be cheaper than the old traditional 75cl bottles. Curtailing access will definitely be a worthy effort. We can also curtail access by making it a lot more expensive.

The public needs to be educated that every sip of “pẹlẹbẹ” is an inch towards liver cirrhosis and liver failure. Unfortunately, the liver is not easy to transplant unlike the kidneys.

Is alcohol intake totally bad? Definitely, not. The Bible recommends moderate intake of it. The cardiologists also say, a bit of it is good for the heart. By the way, what determines “moderate” and “a bit”? So, moderation and caution are required, just as it applies to everything about life.

Before you tear that next sachet of “pẹlẹbẹ”, ask yourself, in all the troubles confronting us in this land, if your liver deserves to be fried.

–Ogunlesi is a Professor of medicine at the Olabisi Onabanjo Teaching Hospital