Health

Poisoning Of Nigerians With Counterfeit Consumables: A Wake-Up Call For NAFDAC And SON

Published

11 months ago

Dec 20, 2023.

Philip Ibitoye

Last weekend, a video of officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) uncovering illegal beverage factories in Abia State went viral on social media.

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Martins Iluyomade, NAFDAC’s director of the southeast zone, said the suspects, occupying over 240 shops at the Cemetery market, sold products often produced using unsafe ingredients and unsanitary practices.

“Every section of the shops you see here is a factory, and everyone is a manufacturer of a product,” the NAFDAC director told Channels Television.

“There are two sets of illegality going on here. Some sets of people are manufacturing products of other people in large quantities, so much so that there is little or no difference between their products.

“And the ones that are manufactured here are manufactured in a very bad environment, with poor Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and using banned chemicals and colourings.”

Some of the fake beverages NAFDAC destroyed at the illegal factories in Abia State

Both sets should worry every Nigerian who is concerned about their health. As the viral video shows, the first set trades in creating the counterfeit of popular drinks such as Fanta, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola. In this case, consumers can’t differentiate between original and counterfeit products.

On the other hand, the second set throws caution to the wind and uses banned chemicals that are detrimental to consumers’ health. Undoubtedly, both sets create poison and should never be allowed to serve the public. Sadly, there’s no mechanism to protect Nigerians from picking up the wrong products in a market filled with counterfeit products.

This week, someone who works with a drug manufacturing company in Ibadan, Oyo State, told me that the facility does not strictly adhere to safety standards. They alleged that the company is owned by foreigners who visibly show no concern for the safety of Nigerian consumers. This staff member further alleged that NAFDAC operatives are known to take bribes to roll back sanctions against this company.

Evidently, the saturation of the Nigerian market by counterfeit and substandard consumables has not happened without the complicity of government agencies responsible for protecting consumers.

While the law mandates NAFDAC to prohibit the sale, distribution, or use of adulterated, counterfeit, or substandard products, Section 29 of the SON Act, 2015 empowers the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) to seize products deemed detrimental or hazardous to life.

Some of the fake beverages NAFDAC destroyed at the illegal factories in Abia State

Notably, the recent enforcement action by NAFDAC officials in Abia State has sparked meaningful and timely conversations around the menace of counterfeit and substandard consumables in the markets. However, a raid in one state or market is nowhere near enough to clear a nationwide rot. The rot is profound, as social media posts have made clear in recent days.

Nigerians on social media platforms, especially X (formerly known as Twitter), have posted several photos of suspected counterfeit products. Most are consumables that people across the country eat and drink at home, parties, and other functions daily. The implication is that millions of Nigerians are potentially being poisoned every day while this illegal food industry is allowed to thrive.

In characteristic manner, social media users have made jokes with/about counterfeit products, but we must not lose sight of the problem: the adulterated and substandard products threatening the well-being of Nigerians. In terms of the impact of these substandard products on people’s health, the NAFDAC director in southeast Nigeria warned that consumers may be at risk of liver or kidney failure.

“My fear is that this is yuletide period, people have bought drinks in the house, and they don’t even know the source of the drinks they have bought,” he said.

“There is also a high level of increase in liver failure, and kidney failure and some of them are major results of some of the poisonous things that people have taken.”

In order to protect Nigerians from this stark and scary reality, relevant government agencies must take urgent, decisive steps to rid the Nigerian market of adulterated, counterfeit, and substandard consumables. The agencies must devise a robust plan to achieve this objective. Also, they must immediately deploy and mandate mechanisms that can help consumers identify counterfeit products at the point of purchase.

Away from the witty, eye-watering, chair-kicking jokes on social media regarding this menace, two things are clear: fake consumables have consumed the Nigerian market and are killing Nigerians slowly. Hence, it should no longer be business as usual at NAFDAC and SON. NAFDAC can still rekindle the crusading spirit of the late Dora Akunyili, a former DG of the agency, and it must!

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