Stone Reporters News | Editorial
Every day, millions of Nigerians purchase medicines, food, beverages, cosmetics and other regulated products with the expectation that what they are buying is safe. Yet the continued discovery of counterfeit, falsified, substandard and unregistered products raises an urgent question: how effectively are consumers being protected before dangerous products reach the market?
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has a statutory responsibility to regulate the manufacture, importation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of products within its jurisdiction. That responsibility must be measured not only by the number of arrests, seizures and public announcements, but also by the effectiveness of measures designed to prevent unsafe products from reaching consumers.
The public deserves a regulatory system that identifies risks early, intercepts dangerous products, removes them quickly from circulation and holds offenders accountable through lawful processes.
There is no doubt that arrests and prosecutions are important components of enforcement. Individuals and businesses suspected of manufacturing or distributing counterfeit products must be investigated, and where sufficient evidence exists, prosecuted in accordance with the law.
However, displaying arrested suspects and confiscated products before television cameras cannot, by itself, demonstrate that the wider supply chain has been secured.
A successful enforcement operation should also establish where the products originated, how they entered the distribution network, which wholesalers and retailers handled them, how many units were sold and whether consumers who purchased them can be identified and warned.
Without those follow-up measures, an arrest may generate publicity while leaving significant public-health risks unresolved.
This is particularly concerning in the pharmaceutical sector. Falsified medicines may contain incorrect ingredients, inadequate quantities of active substances or substances that pose direct health risks. Substandard medicines may fail to meet established quality specifications, even where deliberate fraud has not occurred.
Such products can undermine treatment, delay recovery and contribute to avoidable complications. Poor-quality antimicrobial medicines may also contribute to antimicrobial resistance, a major global public-health concern.
The World Health Organization has previously estimated that at least one in ten medical products in low- and middle-income countries is substandard or falsified. That estimate covers a broad group of countries and should not be presented as a current Nigeria-specific prevalence figure. Nevertheless, it illustrates the seriousness of the challenge.
The consequences extend beyond medicines. Unsafe food products, contaminated beverages and cosmetics containing prohibited or harmful substances can also expose consumers to preventable health risks.
NAFDAC has undertaken enforcement operations, issued public alerts, seized products and introduced verification and traceability measures. Those activities should be acknowledged. The question is whether existing measures are sufficiently coordinated, sustained and accessible to protect consumers throughout Nigeria's extensive distribution networks.
The agency, under the leadership of its Director-General, Professor Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, should place greater emphasis on measurable preventive outcomes.
Routine market surveillance should be risk-based, continuous and capable of reaching informal markets, warehouses, transport hubs, wholesale distribution centres and online sellers. Inspections should not depend solely on public complaints or high-profile enforcement exercises.
Product authentication and traceability systems should be strengthened so that consumers, pharmacists, healthcare providers and distributors can identify suspicious products and verify relevant information through reliable official channels.
Where a dangerous product is discovered, NAFDAC should publish clear and accessible alerts identifying the affected product, manufacturer where known, batch number, expiry date and recommended consumer action. Such information must be communicated in ways that reach people beyond those who regularly follow government websites or national newspapers.
There should also be stronger cooperation between NAFDAC, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, law enforcement agencies, professional associations and legitimate manufacturers.
These institutions have different statutory responsibilities, but coordinated intelligence and enforcement can help identify illegal production facilities, suspicious importation routes and distribution networks.
Public accountability is equally important. Nigerians should be able to understand what happens after a major seizure or arrest. How many affected products were removed from circulation? Were additional distributors identified? Were recalls completed? Were prosecutions initiated, and what were their outcomes?
Publishing regular, reliable performance information would allow the public to distinguish between enforcement activity and demonstrable improvements in product safety.
Professor Adeyeye must also recognise that public complaints about suspected fake products are legitimate concerns requiring serious attention. Consumers who report suspicious medicines or unsafe goods should receive clear guidance and, where possible, information about how their complaints are being handled.
The agency's leadership should communicate with empathy, transparency and urgency. It is not enough to assure Nigerians that enforcement is taking place; the public should be able to see how those efforts translate into better protection.
At the same time, the responsibility does not rest exclusively with NAFDAC. Manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, retailers, healthcare professionals and consumers all have roles to play. Government must ensure that regulatory institutions have the legal powers, laboratory capacity, funding and operational independence necessary to perform their duties effectively.
Nigeria cannot afford a regulatory approach in which dangerous products are principally identified after they have already entered homes, pharmacies, markets or healthcare facilities.
Prevention must become the central measure of success.
Stone Reporters News therefore calls for stronger surveillance, more effective supply-chain monitoring, faster product recalls, transparent enforcement outcomes and accessible public reporting mechanisms.
The agency should also publish measurable targets against which progress can be independently assessed.
The ultimate purpose of NAFDAC is not to produce dramatic images of suspects standing beside seized goods. It is to reduce the likelihood that Nigerians will encounter dangerous products in the first place.
The real achievement is not how many suspects are paraded after fake products are discovered, but how many dangerous products are prevented from reaching Nigerian consumers.
That is the standard of protection Nigerians are entitled to demand.
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