Rate of adulterated drugs and drinks in the country has soared to an alarming rate, as reports of fake factories keep unfolding daily.
The public outcry on social media sprung Gatekeepers News to the discrete month-long investigation into the matter.
A detailed investigation conducted by Gatekeepers News revealed that staff members of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, are poorly remunerated, affecting their morale in the execution of their duties.
A staff who pleaded anonymity lamented how their welfare seems not to matter to the management.
He said, “Our job is sensitive. We safeguard people’s health as regulators. We can’t earn peanuts and expect that there won’t be malpractices.
“We’ve been acutely short-staffed in the graduate entry-level cadre. Every staff member is overworked and underpaid.
“With the attainment of the World Health Organisation Global Benchmarking maturity level 3 and several ISO certifications, thus elevating the status and credibility of NAFDAC without pay to commensurate or technical support. Staff pay for the internet, use their personal laptops, etc, for work and meetings.”
Another source attributed the poor working standard to the high rate of fake items in the market.
The source said, “Working conditions are appalling. Considering the standards we expect from manufacturers, our own working standards are appalling.
“So much is expected of a NAFDAC staff, but he is paid so little.”
Another member of staff who was interviewed complained bitterly that they are not reimbursed for the training some of them are opportune to attend.
He noted that they are not being paid their travel allowance before they embark on the trip and it takes several months or years to get reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses.
The source said, “The management makes it appear you’re being done a favour to have been considered. Now tell me why a staff would not compromise in the event that he’s out of his country for an inspection whereas there’s no money to afford his accommodation and local transportation for the period of his assignment.”
Our reporters further gathered that the agency’s canteen has been shut down since the pandemic period.
A source confidentially told Gatekeepers News, “As regulators who go to restaurants to ensure good hygienic practice, we are left to consume roadside food since the closure of all the canteens in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. The pandemic left, and everything soon returned to normal, but the DG was adamant to the cry of staff members and instead converted most of the spaces to offices.
“Staff have continued to treat diarrhoea and typhoid. This may not be unconnected to the roadside food they consume.”
The source added, “In a particular directorate, over 50 per cent of staff have resigned.
“The agency had moved from hardcopy to electronic application processing, which is currently on napams.org and trade.gov.ng, but over 80% of staff use their personal computers for official work. Even when they manage to procure laptops, they assign them to management staff, leaving those who truly do the job out.
“In what seems like a misplaced priority, earlier this year, the DG bought mobile phones (iPhone) and distributed them amongst all directors in the agency, whereas many staff members are seen photocopying official documents in commercial business centres around the agency.
“So many expensive instruments in the laboratories are underutilized because staff are not adequately trained to use them. If you want world-class results, build world-class staff.
“Laboratory condition is appalling. We carry out GMP inspections but our own labs are an eyesore. Mould growth endangers lives. Laboratory cabinets are falling apart. Especially Oshodi and Maiduguri laboratories. Our members in Gashua, Yobe state are going through difficulties owing to the deplorable state of the building.
He added, “We are not armed, so we would appeal to the government to consider our safety while procuring offices for us. Our staff are constantly being attacked.”
According to a report by TheGuardian, “A NAFDAC staff on Grade Level (GL) 8 earns N1,247, 854 per year. That works out to approximately N103,987 per month before pension and tax deductions. Also, NAFDAC employees on GL 7 get paid N1,073,217 per year. That works out to approximately N89,434 per month before pension and tax deductions.”
According to reports, Late Prof. Dora Akunyili during her tenure as the DG, fought for some allowances for members of staff to motivate the workforce.
However, all the allowances Akunyili secured were scraped shortly after she left. For the first time, NAFDAC staff experienced a reduction in salary by over 50%. As if that was not enough, NAFDAC was placed on CONRAISS.
Meanwhile, netizens have continued to react to development, comparing how NAFDAC was under Late Akunyili and the current administration:
A netizen, @T_nsofor wrote, “Nobody will say it so I will. The reason Dr Dora Akunyili (Rip) was so effective was because a president wanted the very best and hired it and then supported it. Every cabal feared nafdac because who are you going to call when the president has their full backing.
“You call your godfather, the president will tell your godfather no, you bring gun, the president sends enough battalion to nafdac, you burn their offices, they get bonuses and it’s rebuilt.
“After OBJ, it went back to business as usual.
“It’s top to bottom guys.”
Nobody will say it so I will. The reason Dr Dora Akunyili (Rip) was so effective was because a president wanted the very best and hired it and then supported it. Every cabal feared nafdac because who are you going to call when the president has their full backing.
— the future is feminist (@T_nsofor) December 20, 2023
An X user, Imohunoren, wrote, “Since Dora Akunyili left us alone in this evil world, we’ve been eating and drinking fake products . That woman looked out for us for real. Top 5 Nigerian to ever exist.”
Since Dora Akunyili left us alone in this evil world, we’ve been eating and drinking fake products Cuz. That woman looked out for us for real. Top 5 Nigerian to ever exist
— Imoh (@imohumoren) December 18, 2023
On his part, a former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms Joe Abah wrote, “NAFDAC was one of the organisations I studied for my PhD between 2009 and 2012.
“I had the privilege of interviewing the late, great, Prof Dora Akunyili. I remember the interview as if it happened yesterday because I interviewed her at home and she insisted on cooking breakfast for my driver while he waited.
“In 2003, the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development reported that 80% of drugs on sale in Lagos were fake.
“The incidence of fake drugs is officially reported to have reduced from 41% in 2002, through to 16% in 2006, to 10% in 2011. It was expected to fall to 8% by 2013.
“In opinion ratings in Nigeria, NAFDAC was rated to be the most effective government agency in Nigeria for 3 years in a row. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime also rated Nigeria as West Africa’s most effective drug control country, and commended the work of NAFDAC.
“Fast forward to 2022, NAFDAC came out to say that the prevalence of fake drugs is 15%, not 70% as some researchers had claimed.
“Even at 15%, you would have noticed a retrogression from the 10% it was in 2011.
“And even if NAFDAC’s 2022 claim that fake drugs are at 15% is correct, what about its other roles to regulate food, drinks, water and cosmetics?
“I suspect that public perception of prevalence of counterfeit food, drinks and cosmetics would be very near the 80% it was exactly 20 years ago.
“I study public governance and pockets of effectiveness in dysfunctional States. To see NAFDAC retrogress in this way seriously challenges any notion that islands of excellence can withstand the general sea of dysfunction for very long, without a deliberate effort by successive administrations to deliberately seek out and appoint the same kind of person that first turned around the organization in the first place.
“Some functions should be immune from politics and patronage. End.”
NAFDAC was one of the organisations I studied for my PhD between 2009 and 2012.
I had the privilege of interviewing the late, great, Prof Dora Akunyili. I remember the interview as if it happened yesterday because I interviewed her at home and she insisted on cooking breakfast…
— Dr Joe Abah (@DrJoeAbah) December 19, 2023
