Mrs. Ngozi Ezeonu has called on fake drug sellers to stop putting lives at risk and urged NAFDAC and other agencies to strengthen enforcement.
In a video shared on Instagram, the veteran actress called out producers of fake drugs and other products, blaming them for contributing to the health problems and deaths in Nigeria.
She urged them not to be “our own enemies”, warning that the harm caused by fake products could eventually affect their own family members or even themselves.
The actress also appealed to them to prioritise human lives over making money, saying people who cannot afford to travel abroad for treatment are particularly vulnerable to the effects of fake drugs.
“There’s something I want to talk about this morning. It’s something that is really giving me a lot of concern. I don’t know if any of you have gone to any hospital recently. You will see our youths dying. A lot of them are sick. Some have kidney problems, liver problems. Most times, I don’t think it is their lifestyle. Most times, it is probably the medication,” she said.
”Somebody will be sick, the person goes to the hospital, the person is given a prescription, the person gets the drugs, takes the medication, and the sickness is not going. Instead, they are probably getting worse.
“Come on, guys! Why would anybody want to throw stones in the market? Who do you think it will fall on? It might fall on your mother. It might fall on your father, your children, or even you. You might be in that market at the wrong time, and that stone hits you.
”Let us not be our own enemies. I know we have to get money, be rich, but not at the detriment of innocent lives. You are big guys; when you’re sick, you travel overseas. Do you ever take a moment to think if those people are like us, making fake drugs, injections, fake everything? Even with all your money, you go there for treatment, and you’re not well. How would you feel?
”You’re so rich that you can fly your whole family abroad when they are sick. What about the people who are not as well-to-do as you are? Some people go to the general hospitals, regular hospitals, to treat themselves.
“What would you gain when people die because you have to make money? It’s paining me. We shouldn’t be our own enemies. We should value lives. Please, if you are one of the people who are making these fake drugs, please stop. People are dying; our children are dying. Let us not waste our lives.”
Ezeonu urged the authorities in charge of goods standards to strengthen checks on the quality of food and other products in the market to prevent harm to consumers.
”…And to the authorities, it’s not just politics. We are the ones you are governing. Do you people check the standards of what people eat these days? Nobody knows. Oga, madam it might be your own children. It might be you; it will hit. I just want to beg you to refrain from wasting lives,” she added.
