Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), revealed that she inherited a substantial debt of ₦3.2 billion and discovered that ₦500 million was unaccounted for when she assumed leadership of the agency.
EKO HOT BLOG reports that during an interview on Channels Television’s Inside Sources, Prof. Adeyeye discussed the severe financial difficulties she encountered upon taking office.
She pointed out that in a developed country like the United States, such financial irregularities could have led to the agency being declared bankrupt.
“When I took over at NAFDAC, I found a debt of ₦3.2 billion and noticed that ₦500 million was missing without any explanation,” she said.
“I questioned if the money had been used for capital projects. At the time, ₦1 million was equivalent to $2,000. Multiply $2,000 by ₦500 million—it was a huge amount.
Coming from the US, where money is hard-earned, I could have given up, but I saw an opportunity and took it.”
Prof. Adeyeye described the financial situation as precarious, emphasizing that in the US, the agency would have likely faced external financial management due to such mismanagement. However, without the resources to hire external consultants, she had to adopt a different strategy.
“It was challenging because, in the US, NAFDAC would have been declared bankrupt, and financial oversight would have been imposed. But we didn’t have the funds for that,” she explained.
Despite these obstacles, Prof. Adeyeye implemented cost-saving measures and leveraged technology to enhance the agency’s operations. “I decided to cut costs drastically and utilize technology to keep our system running. We started using Zoom for meetings as early as 2018, which was unpopular because many were accustomed to travel allowances and daily travel expenses. But saving money was essential.”
Commenting on the nation’s current struggles and the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests, Prof. Adeyeye lamented the decline of the country over the past 60 years.
“The current situation reflects six decades of decline. I remember when Nigeria was functional, shortly after we gained independence,” she said, recalling her personal experiences and her family’s sacrifices for Nigeria’s democracy.
She shared how her husband, alongside President Bola Tinubu and other pro-democracy activists, fought for the country’s democratic future, often at great personal cost. “My husband and the current president, Bola Tinubu, were among those who fought for independence. Many of them suffered broken homes as they sought help to liberate us from military rule.”
Reflecting on her return to Nigeria after 37 years abroad, Prof. Adeyeye expressed her disappointment in the nation’s deteriorating values, healthcare system, and pharmaceutical industry.
“I returned to a country that was almost unrecognizable in terms of values, the state of our pharmaceutical industry, the quality of medicines, and overall healthcare delivery. What we see today is the result of six decades of decline.”
In closing, Prof. Adeyeye called for collective action to restore Nigeria’s values and transparency, warning that corruption has deeply infiltrated society. “We cannot be truly blessed if corruption persists. It has eaten into the fabric of our society,” she concluded.
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