Local government officials’ account of barriers to regulating physical availability of alcohol in Nigeria

Abstract

Background

This study explored local government (LG) officials’ perspectives on barriers to regulating physical alcohol availability using three effective policies: alcohol licensing, alcohol outlet density, and hours and days of alcohol sale in Southwest Nigeria.

Methods

31 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 officials (director of finance, revenue collectors, and rate officers) in 24 LG across 3 Southwestern Nigerian States (Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo). Their perceptions on barriers to regulating physical alcohol availability were discussed. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using Iterative Categorisation.

Results

Accounts of the LG officials reveal political complexities and structural barriers to regulating the physical availability of alcohol. Five major barriers were identified: lack of political will, economic benefits over public health, absence of a database on alcohol outlets, weak judiciary system, and insufficient personnel and funding. Participants reported how the government lacked the political will to formulate and implement national regulations on alcohol licensing and outlet density. LGs prioritized economic benefits from alcohol outlets over public health.

Conclusion

Regulating physical availability of alcohol at local levels will require the empowerment of LGs through formulating national regulations on alcohol licensing and alcohol outlet density, sufficient funding, and strengthening the judicial system at local levels.

Keywords:

• Alcohol
• physical availability
• policy implementation
• barriers

Acknowledgments

We thank all the LG and officials who participated in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Due to privacy issues, the datasets generated from interviews in the study are not publicly available.

Additional information

Funding

The work was funded by a scientific research and writing mentorship initiative towards diversity in research on alcohol control policies grant awarded by the World Health Organization. The funding institution had no role in the design and execution of the study.