An Abuja based Human Rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju has raised the alarm over the flooding of Nigeria’s market with fake drugs and substandard products, calling on President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency to curb the disturbing development.
This even as he called for the sack of the Director General of National Agency For Food and Drug Administration Control ( NAFDAC) for failure to curtail the activities of those involved in the trade of fake drugs and substandard food products across the country.
He noted that the rate of mortality has remained on the increase in the country because of the prevalence of these illicit trade.
According to him, the government of the day has to rise to the occasion and prevent further destruction of the country’s image by the importers and merchants of fake drugs and substandard products.
He said, ” the alarming prevalence of counterfeit and substandard drugs and other consumer products in Nigeria points to a complete collapse of regulation in critical sectors. Nigerians are being exposed to dangerous products daily, from fake and substandard medicines to unsafe consumer goods, with reports of drugs being sold wholesale in the open under the hot sun. No responsible government should expose its citizens to such risks and expect mortality rates not to rise.
” NAFDAC appears incapable of effectively curbing the proliferation of fake and substandard products, while similar concerns extend to the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and other regulatory agencies responsible for protecting Nigerians.
” The President must be alive to his responsibility and act decisively by removing the Director-General of NAFDAC and the heads of other failed regulatory agencies, including SON, and appointing competent leadership capable of restoring effective regulation and enforcement.
” The Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency on the proliferation of counterfeit and substandard drugs and products and undertake a comprehensive review of the country’s regulatory system. Nigerians cannot continue to pay with their lives for regulatory failure”.