Denies Causing Port Congestion, Addresses Other Issues

Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, Director General, NAFDAC

Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye has revealed that NAFDAC was owing vendors, contractors and staff of the Agency N3.2billion when she took over as Director General in 2017.

Speaking during a virtual press conference with select journalists, Prof. Adeyeye, she and her management team when able to pay the debt without monetary support from the federal government not approval of the Agency’s budget within a two year period.

She disclosed that the Agency had to save by cutting cost and changing the orientations and mind set of staff of NAFDAC.

According to her, “My appointment threw me into an ocean of problems besetting NAFDAC from day one of my appointment. 80% of operational equipment were not functioning, there was no budget to work with, there was industrial strife, there were debts everywhere and the pressure was much”

The first thing I did was to change the image of the Agency, culture and mind set of staffs of the Agency from self-centeredness to Customer focused and country dedicated.

“A mind is a terrible thing to waste. We had to invest in our staff to increase and boost their efficiency and productivity. I think this is paying off because we have seen improvement in our operations across the country. There are still numerous challenges but we have progressed from where we were when I was appointed.

Speaking on NAFDAC laboratories, Prof. Adeyeye disclosed that she was shocked when she visited the Lagos Lab of the Agency when she assumed duty as Director General.

In her words, “As a Professor for over thirty years, I have spent time in laboratories. Everything we do in NAFDAC is lab, Lab, lab from water to food to drugs-all are lab based tests and analysis. From what I saw in the finances of the Agency, I was not surprised why things were the way they were then”

“Before my appointment I was talking with lab equipment vendors to equip my personal research laboratory. So I have a fair idea of what the cost of lab equipment are. There are some single equipment that cost as much as N350m. So far we have 7 functional laboratories in the countries out of the over twenty that we need. We have to start from somewhere and we are in the process.

The NAFDAC Director General explained that the short fall in needed labs in the country is why there were over 6, 000 applications awaiting approvals when she took over at NAFDAC; she said the backlog was cleared within two months under her leadership.

Conflict with SON and NAQS

The NAFDAC Director General while admitting that there is no conflict between NAFDAC and the Standards Organization of Nigeria, SON, nor the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, NAQS, however clarified that the issues between these Agencies is overlap of functions arising from “the letter of the Law and the Spirit of the Law”

Whereas NAFDAC will say, for instance, that an insecticide, because of its toxicity level should not be used in homes, SON and NAQS  may disagree from their own perspectives.

“Over regulation and everybody wanting to be everything in Nigeria is a big challenge” Prof. Adeyey said.

Port Congestion

On Port Congestion blamed on E-Certification processes by NADFAC, the Agency denied causing delays and accused importers and their Agents of not reading their mails nor responding when mails are sent to them. “Online documentation is the way to go. Agents should embrace the culture and modern way of transacting businesses instead of looking for excuses, the DG said.

Covid19

Speaking on the possibility of getting a local cure for covid19, Prof Adeyeye said “Nigeria has a lot of potential on herbal medicine because we have been researching for years on our herbs. I am a herbal person because I grew up using herbs and I have on my own done a lot of research work on our local herbs. There are several submissions from Nigerian researchers on Covid19, what we have as at now are herbs for management and control. You cannot claim a cure until you have carried out clinical trials with proven efficacy of any drug or herbs”.

“There are three stage of the Covid19 pandemic. You have the early stage, the mild stage and the severe stage. From reports we have gotten and literature at our disposal, Chloroquine works very well at the early stage. Those who have recovered from the disease have testified to its efficacy”.

The Nigerian health sector was in coma prior to the outbreak of covid19 but we have woken from our slumber and a lot is being done to strengthen the health sector” Adeyeye said.

She called on Nigerians to join NAFDAC in its regulatory work and keep the country safe.

“The fight is on, the war is big, Spare no one and shield no one. It affect us all. Expose anyone who undermines public health and safety in any way” Prof. Adeyeye said.