The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) has blamed inadequate workforce and porous borders for the menace of fake products in Nigeria.
The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this in a monitord Channels Television programme on Wednesday.
According to her, Nigeria’s rise in fake products reflects the country’s problem.
She noted that while the agency plans to up its antics in checking the spread of fake products, Nigerians must be more cautious by purchasing food and other products only at identifiable places.
Adeyeye added that the current 10th National Assembly and the Minister of Health are working to address the agency’s staff shortage and improve laws to punish fake product offenders in Nigeria.
“We go to the market routinely to ensure the registered products are on the shelves. However, we depend on intelligence. The raid we conducted in Aba recently, the investigation has been on for a while, but when you have a large portion of the market dealing with faking of products, you can just walk in and make seizures.
“Therefore, we need to be careful not to endanger our staff’s lives, so I advise the public to shop at designated places. It is likely fake if it is too good to be true with price. Unfortunately, we have a very porous border, so when people are sold cheap things, they don’t question it.
“NAFDAC works very well. However, we need more staff. We have only 2,000 staff for over 200 million Nigerians, which is also part of the problem”, she said.
Regarding the availability of adequate equipment for the agency, Adeyeye said, “We got 40 pieces of ‘true scans’ for detecting fake medicines. We have used it to identify sub-standard drugs. However, the quantity aspect of it needs a lot of chemometrics; our staff are currently undergoing such training.
“We had 72 scanners in mind, two or 0ne per state, and then distributed around the ports and borders, but we could buy only 40 due to the Naira devaluation.”
How to identify adulterated products
While urging Nigerians to remain vigilant, the DG has tasked consumers to always scrutinize branded drinks to distinguish them from counterfeits before consuming them.
“NAFDAC wishes to advice that the members of the public should shine their eyes during this yuletide season. We are using this medium to appeal to Nigerians to buy only NAFDAC registered drinks from reputable and licenced retailers, bars and supermarkets.
“If the product is being sold well below its normal price, or doesn’t seem to include normal taxes on liquors, then it is probably fake. Check for poor quality packaging, spelling mistakes and unusually shaped bottles. Look for the contact information and address of the manufacturer. If it is missing, the alcohol is fake.
“Inspect the seal on the bottle. If the seal is broken or damaged, then the contents might have been interfered with and are not safe to drink. Check for fake bar codes. If you have an app on your mobile that scans bar codes, scan it and see if it’s listed as the correct product and beware of bad smells! If it smells like paint stripper or nail polish remover, then it probably is!”
She assured that NAFDAC will continue to ensure that the level of counterfeit products nationwide is brought to the nearest minimum so that Nigerians will continue to consume only healthy and safe products.
“We wish to reiterate that in line with our mandate to rid the county of fake and substandard products, we shall be on the trail of these evil counterfeiters, and bring them to book. The public is enjoined to report any suspicious activity of illegal producers of adulterated products or similar activities to the nearest NAFDAC office nationwide,” Adeyeye appealed.
