Fake Drugs, Stolen Lives: Nigeria Must Act Before More Families Mourn, by Isaac Asabor

There is perhaps no more cruel way to exploit a fellow human being than to sell a sick person a medicine that promises healing but may instead worsen the illness or cost the patient his or her life. Yet, the growing concerns over counterfeit and substandard medicines in Nigeria suggest that this disturbing possibility is becoming an increasingly serious threat to public health. It is a national emergency that demands more than public outrage, social media campaigns and official assurances.

The recent alarm raised by Nollywood actresses Ngozi Ezeonu and Ruth Kadiri over alleged fake drugs and other unsafe consumer products has brought the issue into sharper focus. Their interventions may have been emotional, but the concerns behind them deserve urgent attention. When people begin to fear the medicines they buy from pharmacies, the drinks they give their children and the food they serve their families, something fundamental has gone wrong with the system designed to protect them.

Ezeonu, speaking from the perspective of a mother, pleaded with those involved in producing counterfeit medicines to stop, warning that innocent people, including children, were paying the price for the greed of others. Kadiri, on her part, recounted how garlic she bought reportedly turned green after blending and expressed concern about the safety of products sold to Nigerian consumers.

While such personal experiences do not, on their own, establish that a particular product is counterfeit or dangerous, they reflect a wider crisis of public confidence. Nigerians should not have to approach ordinary shopping with the anxiety that what they are purchasing could endanger their lives.

The concern becomes particularly grave when it involves medicines. A patient who walks into a pharmacy does so because he or she needs relief, treatment or, in some cases, a fighting chance at survival. Such a person should not have to wonder whether the medication purchased is genuine, contains the stated active ingredient or has been stored under conditions that preserve its effectiveness.

Imagine a patient battling malaria, hypertension, diabetes or an infection who faithfully takes prescribed medication without improvement because the medicine is falsified, substandard or otherwise compromised. The patient may assume the illness is becoming more complicated, spend more money on additional treatment or suffer preventable complications. Meanwhile, the person who supplied the questionable product may continue to count profits.

This is the frightening human cost of counterfeit medicines. Beyond the immediate danger of ineffective treatment, some falsified products may contain incorrect ingredients, harmful substances or inappropriate quantities of active ingredients. Their use can delay proper treatment, cause serious harm and undermine confidence in legitimate medicines and healthcare professionals.

For a country where many households already struggle to afford medical care, the consequences can be devastating. Nigerians who pay out of pocket for treatment cannot afford to waste scarce resources on medicines that fail to deliver the expected therapeutic benefits. When a patient becomes worse after treatment, the family may have to borrow money, seek additional medical attention or sell possessions to finance another round of care.

The tragedy is compounded by the possibility that some patients may never discover that the medicine they took was compromised. Not every unsuccessful treatment is evidence of counterfeit drugs, and illnesses such as kidney and liver disease have multiple possible causes. Nevertheless, the risk of falsified medicines is too serious to be dismissed or left uninvestigated.

This is why the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) must rise to the challenge. The agency occupies a critical position in the protection of public health through the regulation of medicines and other products under its mandate. Its responsibility cannot end with registering products, issuing warnings or occasionally announcing seizures of illegal goods.

What Nigerians need is a visible, sustained and intelligence-driven enforcement system capable of identifying counterfeit products before they reach consumers. This requires regular, risk-based inspections of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, wholesale distributors, importers, open drug markets, retail outlets and pharmacies. Where credible allegations emerge, the authorities must investigate promptly, publish verified findings and remove dangerous products from circulation.

Government must also strengthen the capacity of NAFDAC and other relevant agencies to conduct laboratory testing, trace suspicious products and prosecute offenders. Counterfeit medicine production and distribution are not harmless commercial offences. Those who knowingly manufacture or distribute dangerous falsified medicines place human lives at risk and should face the full penalties prescribed by law.

However, enforcement must go beyond arresting street-level sellers while the major suppliers and criminal networks remain untouched. Investigators should follow the supply chain to identify the manufacturers, financiers, warehouse operators and distributors responsible for moving falsified products into the market. Effective prosecution must be supported by credible evidence, transparent procedures and consistent application of the law.

The Federal Government should provide the resources required for stronger surveillance, modern testing facilities, digital product verification and effective coordination among NAFDAC, the police, customs authorities, pharmaceutical regulators and relevant security agencies. Border controls must be strengthened, but locally manufactured counterfeit products also require attention. The problem cannot be addressed by concentrating exclusively on imported goods while domestic production networks escape scrutiny.

Equally important is the need to make legitimate medicines easier to obtain through reliable and traceable distribution channels. Weaknesses in pharmaceutical supply chains create opportunities for unscrupulous operators to introduce falsified products. This is why the call for coordinated action made by African pharmaceutical stakeholders at the fourth Thematic General Assembly of the African Pharmaceutical Distributors Association in Lagos on October 8 deserves practical follow-through.

Stakeholders at the gathering, including pharmaceutical distributors, professional associations and regulatory representatives, emphasized stronger collaboration, accountability and secure supply chains. Their position recognizes an important reality: medicines pass through several hands before reaching patients, and every stage presents an opportunity either to preserve product integrity or compromise it.

Nigeria must therefore work with neighbouring countries and other African states to improve information-sharing, traceability and joint action against criminal networks operating across borders. Counterfeit medicine trafficking cannot be defeated by isolated enforcement efforts when the supply chains involved extend beyond national boundaries.

Public education is another essential part of the solution. Consumers should be encouraged to purchase medicines from properly licensed outlets, verify product details through available official channels and report suspicious products to the appropriate authorities. But government must not shift the burden of product safety onto consumers. An ordinary buyer cannot be expected to identify a sophisticated counterfeit simply by examining its packaging.

NAFDAC should make it easier for members of the public to report suspected falsified medicines, obtain timely responses and learn the outcome of investigations where appropriate. Whistle-blowers who expose illegal production and distribution networks should receive adequate protection against intimidation and retaliation.

Above all, political officeholders must recognize that counterfeit medicines are not merely a regulatory concern; they are a matter of human security. The wealthy may have access to treatment abroad, but the overwhelming majority of Nigerians depend on the country’s healthcare facilities, pharmacies and medicine supply chains. A compromised system does not discriminate according to the urgency of a patient’s need.

The question is not whether Nigeria can afford to intensify the fight against fake drugs. It is whether the country can afford the human consequences of failing to do so.

Ezeonu’s plea that people should stop sacrificing lives on the altar of money and Kadiri’s demand for tougher enforcement deserve to be translated into action. Their voices have amplified public concern, but celebrities cannot substitute for regulators, and public indignation cannot replace effective institutions.

Government must act decisively, NAFDAC must demonstrate measurable results, legitimate pharmaceutical businesses must protect the integrity of their supply chains, and offenders must be held accountable.

In fact, every medicine sold to a patient carries an expectation of safety, quality and therapeutic benefit. When that expectation is betrayed through deliberate fraud, the consequences can be irreversible. Nigeria must not wait until more families lose loved ones before treating counterfeit medicines with the seriousness they deserve.

Without a doubt, a nation that lets fake medicines to proliferate risks turning the quest for healing into a gamble with human life. The time to stop that gamble is now.