The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has said the agency lacks enough personnel to effectively monitor regulated products across Nigeria.
Speaking on Channels Television on Thursday, Adeyeye said NAFDAC’s workforce of about 2,000 employees is too small to cater to a population of more than 240 million people.
She compared Nigeria’s regulatory capacity with that of Indonesia, noting that the Asian country has roughly 20,000 regulatory workers for a population of about 280 million.
“We have been chronically short of staff in NAFDAC.
“We are 240 million people and we have 2,000 staff. A comparable country in Indonesia that has about 280 million people, they have 20,000 staff. That is the gap that we have been discussing in terms of closing,” she said.
Adeyeye explained that the agency was not seeking a workforce as large as Indonesia’s but said recruiting at least 5,000 additional staff would significantly improve its operations.
“We are not asking for 20,000. We need at least 5,000 more. At least 5,000 more staff,” she added.
According to her, the shortage has placed a heavy burden on existing workers, making it difficult for the agency to maintain effective oversight across the country.
“Because, like you said, we cannot be everywhere. We are stretched thin. We are doing the very best we can do,” she said.
The NAFDAC boss also urged the Federal Government to provide financial support for the Federal Task Force created to strengthen enforcement activities.
She noted that although the Federal Task Force C34 Bill became law in 2004, it has not received any funding since its enactment.
“Another is our support. The Federal Task Force C34 bill was enacted in 2004. That bill was never supported with one naira,” Adeyeye said.
She, however, expressed optimism that the government would respond to the agency’s requests, saying discussions with the Minister of Finance had given her confidence that more support would be forthcoming.
Adeyeye added that the Federal Task Force works alongside task forces in all 36 states to boost enforcement efforts nationwide.
“The Federal Government is listening that we need a lot of staff and we need support. And I believe they’re going to do that,” she said.
