Rights Activist Adeyanju Decries Collapse Of Regulation, Says Nigerians Dying From Sale Of Counterfeit Medicines.
Rights activist and lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on the proliferation of fake and substandard drugs and consumer products in Nigeria.
Adeyanju, in a statement on Monday, said the alarming prevalence of counterfeit drugs and unsafe goods across the country points to a total collapse of regulatory enforcement, warning that mortality rates will continue to rise if urgent action is not taken.
"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," he stated.
The activist accused the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, of failing in its core mandate to protect Nigerians from dangerous products, adding that similar lapses extend to the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, and other regulatory bodies.
Adeyanju urged President Tinubu to act decisively by sacking the Director-General of NAFDAC and heads of other regulatory agencies that have failed to check the circulation of fake products, and replace them with competent hands capable of restoring effective regulation.
"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," he said.
He also called on the Federal Government to urgently undertake a comprehensive review of the nation's regulatory system, stressing that Nigerians should not continue to pay with their lives due to regulatory failure.
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