News
NAFDAC’s crackdown: the thin line between fighting fake drugs and destroying legitimate businesses
DDM NEWS
NAFDAC’s Crackdown: The Thin Line Between Fighting Fake Drugs and Destroying Legitimate Businesses
For weeks, Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry has faced an unrelenting assault orchestrated by NAFDAC and the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN).
Under the guise of sanitization, key drug markets, including Idumota, Onitsha, and Aba have been raided, shops locked, medicines confiscated, and an entire sector broadly labeled as criminal.
The prevailing narrative suggests that all pharmaceutical traders are frauds, charlatans, and merchants of death.
The distribution system is described as a disaster, accused of poisoning the nation, with regulatory authorities advocating for its complete overhaul.
Lost in this aggressive enforcement, however, is the devastating impact on thousands of law-abiding business owners who have spent years ensuring Nigerians have access to life-saving medications.
The crackdown has disregarded distinctions between legitimate traders and offenders, resulting in widespread economic casualties.
Instead of targeting criminals, an entire industry has come under siege.
NAFDAC claims that over 11,000 shops have been shut down for dealing in fake drugs.
However, serious questions arise regarding the accuracy of this figure.
The percentage of counterfeit drug dealers within the industry does not approach such an overwhelming majority.
How, then, does the agency justify such mass closures? The implication that nearly every medicine shop in major markets is engaged in criminal activity appears to lack evidential grounding.
Businesses built on decades of trust and integrity now face destruction under sweeping enforcement measures that seem indiscriminate and excessive.
Among the affected businesses are those operated by hardworking Nigerians dedicated to ensuring the availability of genuine medications.
Many of these traders established their businesses long before NAFDAC had the capacity to regulate them.
Now, without due process, their shops have been sealed, livelihoods jeopardized, and reputations tarnished.
Regulatory agencies have repeatedly condemned Nigeria’s drug distribution system as chaotic and prone to counterfeit operations.
However, responsibility for this systemic failure does not lie solely with industry participants.
Successive governments have neglected the need for a well-regulated pharmaceutical supply chain, failing to provide the necessary infrastructure for an efficient and transparent distribution network.
Instead of addressing these shortcomings, enforcement authorities have resorted to punitive measures—blaming and penalizing those operating within a flawed system.
A government that has yet to establish a single centralized drug distribution center for over 200 million people cannot suddenly declare war on those filling the gaps left by regulatory inefficiencies.
A more constructive approach would involve engaging stakeholders, designing a transition framework that ensures compliance without economic destruction, and integrating the industry rather than alienating it.
Instead, dialogue has been abandoned in favor of heavy-handed enforcement.
The consequences of this approach are already evident.
The disruption of supply chains has led to skyrocketing prices of essential medicines.
Antibiotics, pain relievers, anti-malarials, and insulin, once affordable, have seen sharp price increases.
Hospitals and pharmacies now struggle to restock, leaving patients—particularly in rural areas—with fewer treatment options.
Rather than solving the problem of counterfeit drugs, these actions have exacerbated an already fragile healthcare system, making genuine medication less accessible and more expensive.
The fight against fake drugs remains a crucial public health priority.
A thriving pharmaceutical industry depends on consumer trust, and the presence of counterfeit drugs threatens not just consumers but also legitimate traders.
However, the current enforcement strategy, characterized by sweeping crackdowns and market raids, raises concerns about fairness and effectiveness.
Sealing entire shops without concrete evidence of wrongdoing risks harming innocent businesses and weakening the sector as a whole.
Key questions remain unanswered. When a shop is sealed, what happens to the families that depend on it?
Does shutting down thousands of businesses without prosecuting key offenders address the root problem?
If genuine reform is the goal, why is there no structured plan? Why has dialogue with industry stakeholders been overlooked? Effective regulation must be firm yet just, ensuring accountability while protecting the livelihoods of those operating legally. Destruction cannot be the sole strategy.
It is disgraceful that the Federal Government, PCN, and NAFDAC have abandoned the Federal Government-gazetted Coordinated Wholesale Centres (CWCs) to private individuals to develop.
The CWC initiative was conceived as a structured and conducive environment for pharmaceutical distribution.
If effectively implemented, it would have been the most practical and strategic approach to eliminating the circulation of fake and substandard drugs in Nigeria.
However, despite its immense potential to sanitize the pharmaceutical distribution network, the initiative never materialized, primarily due to the Federal Government’s reluctance to commit the necessary resources in funding, land, and infrastructure.
The establishment of CWCs was intended to centralize and regulate the wholesale distribution of medicines, thereby eliminating the infiltration of counterfeit and substandard drugs into the market.
By failing to implement this vital reform—an initiative requiring approximately ₦89 billion, far beyond the capacity of individual distributors—the government has left the sector vulnerable to unscrupulous operators who exploit the current fragmented and poorly regulated system.
It is worth noting that Lagos pharmaceutical distributors took it upon themselves to fund and build a CWC, which, according to reports, is about 25% completed.
Given the astronomical cost of such a project, what they have achieved is remarkable.
However, rather than receiving support from state and federal authorities, they have faced deliberate obstacles aimed at stalling progress.
Suffice it to say, the government’s failure to implement the CWC policy remains the primary reason behind the continued sale and distribution of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria.
The lack of a structured, government-backed wholesale framework has perpetuated an uncontrolled market where fake and substandard pharmaceuticals thrive.
Rather than unfairly punishing legitimate distributors—who themselves are victims of the government’s inefficiency—the authorities should focus on rectifying their own lapses by revisiting and fully implementing the CWC policy.
Only then can Nigeria truly curb the menace of fake drugs and ensure a safer pharmaceutical distribution system.
If NAFDAC is truly committed to eliminating counterfeit drugs, a revised approach is necessary.
Collaboration with the industry is essential. Legitimate medicine dealers should be seen as partners, not adversaries.
Targeting and prosecuting offenders rather than penalizing an entire sector would yield more sustainable results.
Without such adjustments, the ongoing crackdown risks becoming counterproductive, crippling the very businesses that have long ensured access to genuine medications in Nigeria.
Ademola Kizito, a public affairs commentator writes from Abuja.
News
VIRAL VIDEO: Moment Yahaya Bello Orders Kogi State House Members to Sit on Floor, Gives Strict Directives

A viral video circulating on social media has captured former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello making newly elected State House of Assembly member, Hassan Shado, and his supporters sit on the floor during a meeting in Abuja.
The meeting took place at Bello’s residence on Monday, where he received members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to discuss party unity and responsibilities.
Shado, who won the Dekina-Okura II State Constituency by-election on August 16, was formally presented to the former governor.
INEC declared Shado the winner after he polled 55,073 votes, defeating Godwin Meliga of the PDP, who garnered 1,038 votes.
During the session, Bello emphasized that Shado must strictly obey the directives of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo in all legislative matters.
He drew his ear to stress the importance of cooperation, warning the lawmaker to align with Assembly decisions even when he did not fully understand them.
Bello said, “Go and cooperate with the Speaker and other members of the House of Assembly. Support Governor Ododo in everything that comes to the Assembly, even if you don’t understand it.”
Bello also reminded Shado that political victories are collective achievements.
He stated, “No candidate wins an election alone. Your people worked tirelessly from nomination to election day. Do not let them down.”
He urged inclusivity, consultation, and collective leadership, emphasizing that unity remains the key to APC’s continued success in Kogi State.
The former governor praised the people of Kogi East for demonstrating unity, which he said had been lacking in the past.
He further expressed confidence that APC would retain all major political positions in upcoming elections, declaring, “Our President, Bola Tinubu, will be re-elected.
Governor Ododo will be re-elected. All our candidates will continue to win on our great party’s platform.”
Bello’s post-governorship period has been marked by controversy.
The EFCC accused him of diverting over N110 billion from Kogi State coffers during his tenure.
He evaded multiple court summons and even a failed arrest in Abuja that led to a shootout. Ultimately, Bello surrendered to the EFCC on November 26, 2024, after months of avoiding legal proceedings.
Despite his legal troubles, Bello maintains influence over APC lawmakers in Kogi and continues to assert political authority, as shown in the recent video with Shado.
Watch the video below.
Africa
Why Every Nigerian Should Learn Combat Skills — CDS

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has urged all Nigerians to acquire combat skills such as Karate, Taekwondo, and Judo to protect themselves in the face of increasing danger.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday, August 21, General Musa likened learning martial arts to other essential survival skills, including driving and swimming.
“That one should be taken as learning driving, learning how to swim.
Whether we have war or not, it is a survival instinct,” he said.
He added that in Europe, swimming and basic security education are compulsory because citizens must understand and practice personal safety.
The defence chief emphasised that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) should incorporate unarmed combat training into its programme to prepare graduates for real-world threats.
He explained, “That’s what the NYSC is supposed to do, but the NYSC has been watered down to three weeks. Self-defence is very important.
Unarmed combat, swimming, driving these are critical aspects of human survival. We should never take them for granted because they prepare us for the future.”
General Musa further encouraged Nigerians to remain situationally aware of their environment, alerting authorities to any suspicious activities or individuals.
He said, “The world we are in now is dangerous. We have individuals who don’t mean people well. They kill for whatever reason.”
Highlighting evolving threats, General Musa disclosed that terrorists increasingly use gold to finance their operations.
He noted that complex international networks make it difficult to immediately expose or prosecute these financiers. “Gold is the main source.
They circulate it through various channels, including foreign links, which complicates intervention,” he explained.
General Musa acknowledged that bad roads and challenging terrains hinder rapid military response to attacks.
He said, “Many Nigerians expect immediate intervention from the Armed Forces without understanding the logistical challenges. By the time information reaches us, terrorists have already struck and vanished because they move more quickly in these regions.”
He added that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the North-East further slow troop movement.
Regarding the Southeast, General Musa noted that the arrest of pro-Biafran agitator Simon Ekpa in Finland in November 2024 has improved security in the region.
He said, “Troops are actively pursuing Ekpa’s lieutenants in Imo, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, and Abia states. We will continue operations until all threats are neutralised.”
The CDS also praised the synergy among the Nigerian Army, Air Force, and Navy, which led to the arrest of Ansaru terrorist leaders, describing it as a major success in the fight against terrorism.
General Musa concluded by announcing an African Chiefs of Defence Staff conference to foster continental collaboration and enhance regional security efforts.
Health
Police Arrest Fake Doctor as Woman Dies During Abortion

Detectives from the Akwa Ibom State Police Command have arrested a man posing as a medical doctor following the death of a 35-year-old woman, Blessing Sunday Etim, during an alleged illegal abortion.
The suspect, identified as Sunday Okon Akpan, reportedly owns and operates the Full Life Medical Centre (FLMC) in Ikot Obio Odongo, Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Timfon John, the spokesperson for the Akwa Ibom Police Command, revealed that police launched a search for the victim after receiving a distress call from her mother.
DSP John stated that operatives acted quickly following the report, which indicated that Blessing had gone to work at the FLMC and never returned.
According to police reports, the suspect attempted to secretly dispose of the victim’s body in her room.
A co-tenant, who witnessed the act, raised an alarm, forcing the suspect to abandon the corpse and flee the scene.
Police quickly arrived at the scene, where detectives discovered a premature foetus, confirming the occurrence of an illegal abortion.
Police traced and arrested Sunday Okon Akpan, a resident of Afaha Offiong village, Nsit Ibom LGA.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspect is not a licensed medical doctor or nurse but a community health practitioner who allegedly used his clinic to perform illegal medical procedures, including abortions.
The health centre has since been found abandoned.
DSP John confirmed that the victim’s body has been deposited at a morgue for preservation and autopsy, while investigations continue to uncover more details surrounding the incident.
She also promised to update the public as the probe progresses.
This shocking incident highlights the dangers of unlicensed medical practitioners operating clinics and offering illegal procedures.
Police authorities are warning residents to verify the credentials of anyone offering medical services and to report suspicious activities to prevent similar tragedies.
As the investigation unfolds, Akwa Ibom police have vowed to ensure that justice is served, and the public remains safe from unqualified medical practitioners operating in the state.
News
Trump Orders Review of 55 Million US Visa Holders in Mega Crackdown

The Trump administration has announced a sweeping review of more than 55 million foreigners holding US visas, aiming to identify potential violations that could trigger visa revocation or deportation.
In a statement to The Associated Press, the State Department confirmed that all visa holders are now subject to “continuous vetting.”
Officials will examine any indicators of ineligibility, including overstaying authorised periods, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engagement in terrorism, or support for terrorist organisations.
If authorities find evidence of such violations, they will revoke the visa, and individuals already in the US could face immediate deportation.
Officials stressed that the review targets both individuals residing in the United States and those holding multiple-entry visas abroad.
Since assuming office, President Donald Trump has prioritized strict immigration enforcement, targeting not only undocumented migrants but also holders of student and visitor exchange visas.
The current vetting process extends far beyond prior reviews, potentially affecting individuals who initially received approval to stay in the US.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, last year the US had 12.8 million green-card holders and 3.6 million people on temporary visas.
Immigration policy expert Julia Gelatt of the Migration Policy Institute noted that the 55 million figure likely includes individuals living abroad with tourist or business visas. She questioned whether allocating resources to review people unlikely to return justifies the scale of the initiative.
Alongside the review, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on X that the US will immediately halt work visas for commercial truck drivers, citing safety risks and threats to American jobs.
“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on US roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio wrote.
The administration recently strengthened English proficiency requirements for foreign truckers following incidents where language barriers contributed to accidents. State Department officials confirmed they are pausing the processing of new work visas to reassess screening and vetting protocols.
“Ensuring that every driver meets the highest standards protects American workers and maintains a secure, resilient supply chain,” the department added.
Experts warn the broader implications of the review could ripple across the US economy. Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, explained that the administration’s policies aim to discourage companies, universities, and hospitals from employing foreign workers.
“The economic consequences will extend far beyond individual visas,” Alden said, emphasizing that employers risk compliance issues if they continue hiring foreign staff.
The review represents the most comprehensive enforcement action in recent US history and signals that the administration will aggressively monitor both legal and temporary visa holders to maintain national security and prioritize domestic employment.
News
2027: ADC Coalition Deceiving Nigerians – Baba-Ahmed

The 2023 Labour Party (LP) vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has warned Nigerians that the opposition coalition under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is giving false hope about rescuing the country from underdevelopment.
“They are deceiving us,” Baba-Ahmed said during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday.
Baba-Ahmed, who ran alongside Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election won by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) expressed his willingness to be Obi’s running mate in the 2027 presidential election.
Although Obi has shown interest in the 2027 race and is aligning with ADC coalition figures such as David Mark, Atiku Abubakar, Nasir el-Rufai, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola, Baba-Ahmed stressed that he wants Obi to remain in the Labour Party and contest as its presidential candidate.
“I’m in the Labour Party. I’m a Peter Obi man. I still want Peter Obi to come back to the Labour Party and contest the 2027 election,” Baba-Ahmed stated.
When asked about his plans for the 2027 race, Baba-Ahmed confirmed his readiness to serve as a running mate for like-minded leaders committed to restoring Nigeria.
“If Nigeria is still around and there is an electoral system to follow, my love for Nigeria is undying.
I would appropriately associate with groups and individuals aligned with restoring the nation,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also revealed two potential leaders he would consider deputising, with Peter Obi being his primary choice. “The first one has not said anything.
The second one is Peter Obi. I’m always with Peter Obi until he decides not to,” he added.
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