For a man that has served the public in diverse capacities and risen through the rank sin his career path to be where he is now, Egberi Odiri Mackson may need no introduction. But for those who do not know him, Mackson, a Political Science graduate of the University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Rivers State and native of Sapele in Delta State of Nigeria, is the National President and also Chairman of Rivers State Chapter of the Water Producers Association of Nigeria (WAPAN).

He is also the Managing Director of Pecta Table Water, a sachet water producing company based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and also Chief Executive Officer of Gladmackson Integrated Services. He is a member of the Association of Table Water Producers of Nigeria (ATWAP). He previously worked as Administrative Manager at Titheshop.com Nigeria Limited; Operations and Logistic Manager at DNS Integrated Services; and as Logistics Operations Officer at Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered).

In this riveting interview with Kristina Reports Correspondent, Confidence Biebara, he warned Nigerians to be careful with the water they drink, especially, sachet water, as, according to him, some of the water being sold to them is very dangerous to their health, disclosing his association’s ordeal in combating quacks in the industry, describing the water producing industry as a very “porous” one. Enjoy the read!

Kristina Reports: There have been complaints by the masses that the price of sachet water is skyrocketing and that sachet water producers are wicked. I have also purchased it and seen that the price has skyrocketed. What are the factors that are causing the prices to skyrocket?

Egberi Odiri Mackson: We are not new in Nigeria, you are not new, everybody knows what is happening. The recent removal of subsidy and the further devaluation of the naira, and the free fall of the dollar and all the rest of that have really affected our cost of production, knowing fully well that 95% of all our raw materials are all imported in this country, even to the nylon, and now we are looking at the high cost of fuel which have actually tripled our cost of production. When I mean triple, I mean the cost of transporting the raw materials from Rivers State to the cost of producing it; that’s for our generators and the cost of also delivering it. After production, we have to deliver to the various locations.

So, you see the thing has really become a burden to us. By the time we look at this whole thing, actually, a bag of water should be going for N400. For us to say, okay, we are making profit – because we have people who we are paying salaries. But looking at the situation on ground, mainly, majority of people who consume this water, from the middle class downward, we decided to hover around that N300 per bag, as against our earlier decision of N350 per bag just to see how; if the thing can be sustained, if not we push it up further. So, it’s basically the issue of the federal government policies and the economic downturn not that we are wicked. We are not, even the people that are saying it, if they should be true to themselves, everything has skyrocketed in the market, even through cost of transportation has really skyrocketed, the only thing we are waiting for now is maybe landlords should come and increase their own also. So, we are not wicked, that’s just it. They should bear with us.

“Our problem actually in the sector is that the government at all levels are not partnering with us, knowing fully well that it’s their responsibility of providing portable drinking water and we have taken up this responsibility. They should be able to cushion this sector for us that are operating it.”

Our problem actually in the sector is that the government at all levels are not partnering with us, knowing fully well that it’s their responsibility of providing portable drinking water and we have taken up this responsibility. They should be able to cushion this sector for us that are operating it. But you see we still have issues of multiple taxation and also the quacks in the industry to deal with. So, it’s not easy to deal with this kind of industry as it is large, porous, and free for all to come in. so, we are on our own also looking for a way for the government to partner with us to flush out these quacks so that we know that the water you are drinking is safe, that’s just it.

Talking about the quacks in the industry; when I went out a lot of companies were complaining about these quacks de-marketing their businesses. When they’ve agreed to sell for N300, this people will come and sell for N200 because they are not treating the water properly. So, what strategy have you people put in place to combat them aside looking at the government for partnership?

Well, it’s not easy for us to put out a strategy to combat them because Nigeria is governed by a constitution, like a situation we had yesterday that I had to go to Ahoada. There’s this company that, in fact, if you get there, if you get the chance, you will kill whoever that is operating it. The water regulatory commission went there, saw the place and shut the place down and asked the man never to produce again. But information reached us and we went there yesterday and saw that the man is still producing. When I gave order that his vehicle should be deflated, the next thing he ran to the police, and the police were trying to take sides saying it’s a criminal offense, by damaging people’s property.

I now told the policeman if you are talking about criminal offense, thank God you’ll talk about the constitution, do you want me to sit down and watch someone poison everybody? I said stand up, it’s not by sitting here and talking about criminal offense, stand up, carry your men, let’s go to this factory and see where the man is producing the water. So, when he saw that I was very angry the way I was speaking, whether the man was giving them sign the next thing they turned the matter up side down and said, let’s see how you people will resolve the matter. I said let’s go but they did not. But if I should go there now and break the gate, they will say forceful entry. So, we have the problem of the police also to deal with. If the police should partner with us, once people first run down to them, they take sides and I keep telling them, I told the policeman yesterday, I said looking at your appearance, you are a fine gentleman and somebody that is vast in investigation. I said it’s not everybody that runs down to the police that is actually innocent or that can win any case. I said I’m ready to push the case to anywhere, that’s just it.

“In the course of policing this industry, I’ve survived six attempts to kidnap me. In 2020, I’ve battled poison that almost took my life, even this Monday that just passed, we had to bring somebody from Niger to come and remove poison from my body.”

Okay, still on the quacks, your members complained about them de-marketing their business. For example, if you people agree to sell a bag for N300, they sell at a lower price, and if you eventually come down but the masses are not aware, the retailers are still increasing it. What are you doing to ensure that price is properly regulated in the market?

Okay, the retail regulation, I think when I was on air on Today FM, I told them that the retailers are to sell at N350, because we can’t give you product for N300 and you go and sell for N450. You want to make more profit than the person who produces the water. Even at N350, you are making more profit than the person who produces the water. For each of the bags at N300, we make profit of N15 and out of that profit of N15 naira, you will still have to take care of other costs and even if you make that profit of N15, as you call your roll manufacturer and ask them to bring roll for you, they’ll tell you N40 has added, without notice, and you have no option than to buy. So, those your profit will now shift back to the cost of production to procure raw materials.

See, it’s going to take more than half of the angels in heaven to come and convince Nigerians that water is not water, not all water is water. That is just the simple truth. And some of these retailers, in fact, the conscience of every man matters when doing business. We have gone to a place where we know that this person is packaging raw water for people to drink. We went to where they supply the water, and I asked the woman, do you drink this water? I pretended I want to buy. I said ‘madam, I wan buy this water o but you dey drink am? She said ‘God forbid, how I go drink cheap water? Ah, na Soso water naim I dey buy keep for house for my children to drink o. I can’t drink this thing’. I now said ‘madam, you are wicked’. It was then I now introduced myself to her. I said ‘you are wicked, people like you should be in jail’.

So, people should not just say water is water, not all water is water. I told people in the medical profession the day they invited us for a chat with other stakeholders; I told them, I said combine the power of Germany, US, whatever country that you may have, when it comes to medicine, combine them together to produce one drug, and if that drug is to be taken with water, as long as that water is contaminated, that drug is useless as a chalk, and everybody in conference concurred with me that I’m saying the truth. So, water issue, me, I select water a lot. If I’m not around my comfort zone, I’ll rather dehydrate, like when my wife gave birth in Delta State, as they just called me say your wife delivery o, I chartered water from here, not because there is no water in Delta State but I’ve not monitored the water in that area. I’ve not tested the water in that area. As water don dey finish, na so I go bundle them come back because I know that the water they drink from small will definitely affect them when they grow up. So, I monitor it seriously.

We went to where they supply the water, and I asked the woman, do you drink this water? I pretended I want to buy. I said ‘madam, I wan buy this water o but you dey drink am? She said ‘God forbid, how I go drink cheap water? Ah, na Soso water naim I dey buy keep for house for my children to drink o. I can’t drink this thing’. I now said ‘madam, you are wicked’. It was then I now introduced myself to her. I said ‘you are wicked, people like you should be in jail’.

It’s left for you people in the fourth estate to educate the public that water is not water. And one other thing we want to do also is to advise the public to also report to us if they suspect any foul play in any water, and also report to us if they should buy water that they feel that it’s not up to the size. Like this one now, they wrote 50cl, definitely when you carry the water you’ll know that this water is not up to 50cl. That is a criminal offense. You are cheating the consumer; you are cheating the retailer. As this one is here, it has particles inside. I have also instructed my head of standardization and quality control; we are going to the factory for inspection.

On advising the public to report any water they suspect, there are times when I drink water, it tastes like it has overstayed or tasting awful like some ingredients are in it, what causes these tastes? Is it because it’s not properly stored? What’s the specified time a sachet water should last before it expires?

A properly treated water, actually can last for two to three months before it starts having taste and also the causes of this taste are probably the areas they store the water. If you store water close to tomatoes, fish, whatever, this nylon you see here will drag the odour of those vegetables into the water. So, that’s why if you go out now, there is a banner showing the various steps of storing water. So, this might be the cause of the taste but you can rule out the fact that some water is bad even as it is just produced and you taste it, you will see that the taste is there. But majority of these taste issues are due to storage at the final point. Sometimes, you see the women who are selling it keep the water on the ground. They keep the water anywhere and sun will heat it up, and if you store water directly under sun and the sun starts heating this nylon, it starts reacting with the chemical and once that is done, you start having traces of cancer. So, if you consume that water, you have traces of cancer. So, the public should also learn how to store water, good storage practice. Like now, if I store this water on ordinary floor that is not tarred, this will absorb the aroma of the cement into it and before you know it, it will start having odour.

Okay, for the records, how much is the price of a bag of sachet water from the company and down to the retailers? What price should it be sold at?

From the company, it’s N300, the retail level is N350, then for those who operate coldrooms, that’s chilling, and rechilling for those children who hawk, it’s N400.