By Isidore Obot
Alcoholic drinks are all around us. They come in various forms and prices – from expensive foreign wines and liquor to the more affordable palm wine and locally distilled beverages. Drinking at home or in a communal setting is a popular activity among old and young in Nigeria as it is in many parts of the world.
More than half (53 per cent) of Nigerians aged 15 years and above are alcohol consumers; 47 per cent are abstainers, a category that includes people who have never had any alcoholic drink and those who used to drink but stopped for religious, health or cultural reasons. More females (62 per cent) than males (33 per cent) fall under the category of abstainers. This distribution is similar to what obtains in most low-income countries but different from the situation in western countries where higher proportions of adults are alcohol drinkers.
