LATEST UPDATE: What Happened To NAFDAC?
After the end of an hectic day at work. I left the office and headed up towards the bus-stop near my office to board a bus. Immediately I reached the bus-stop, I noticed something reminiscent of the early 2000s and 2005s where every street and corners in most major cities in Nigeria were littered with drug hawkers selling fake drugs.
The hawker approached me as I stopped to wait for a bus going to my area brandishing to my face one of his wears, a so called Pain killer that heals everything from headache to dysentery.
"Oga buy now, na just fifty naira". The hawker advertised as he followed further as i moved away from him.
"I no dey interested". I silently whispered to him after he was being persistent and annoying. I looked at the bag he carried and in it were assorted drugs neatly tucked in the bag.
I stared one more time at the man and judging from his looks I can say he should be in his early 30s. My thoughts were however interrupted when a bus arrived with the conductor shouting at the top of his voice calling the area I was heading to. I moved stridently and boarded the bus.
Twenty minutes into the drive, we stopped at an intersection and the next set of hawkers who beseeched the bus were drug hawkers and their likes. I shooked my head and thought of what was really happening.
" Is NAFDAC no more?
Have they been merged or what exactly? "I thought.
This thought of mine was put paid to as we drove in front of the central laboratory of NAFDAC at Oshodi few minutes later and the place was bustling with activities from what I could see. So what was happening I asked myself.
Alighting few minutes at Iyana Isolo which is not more than a 2 kilometers from Nafdac's Oshodi office I was greeted by two men carrying a suitcase with drugs filled inside and they were freely selling and lobbying passersby even though there was a police patrol van few metres away. You can imagine such audacity.
To be honest, I was appalled and sadened to see these hawkers back on the street given the yoman's job done by Prof. Dora before leaving office. For anyone who's been a keen follower of public health issues it would be no news that nafdac under the current admin is definitely asleep to its responsibilities. This makes me wonder what kind of country we are in when a ministry or parastatal only functions when the administrator is a disciplined person and we slide back into wrong doing/haplessness immediately that person leaves office.
Question is ;does the head of nafdac need to lose his cousin or child to fake drugs before they start enforcing laws they are paid to enforce?
Does the IG of police uncle or family have to suffer or die from accidental discharge before they do something about police brutality and such issues?
Do we always need strong people before things work?
This is a public call on Nafdac to step up and get to work. It's not only the drug hawkers alone, most food companies and products do not follow healthy procedures again because of lack of oversight .
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