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Tag: Mrs. Yetunde Oni

  • NAFDAC union to continue strike until new DG apointment

    NAFDAC union to continue strike until new DG apointment

    The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) workers says it will continue to down tool until the Federal Government appoints a substantive Director General.

    Mr Ejor Michael, the National Public Relations Officer (PRO), Medical and Health Union of Nigeria, NAFDAC chapter made this known on Saturday in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    The union on Sept. 22 embarked on an indefinite strike to demand for a new DG or the appointment of the most senior director to run the affairs of the agency.

    Michael said that the Acting DG, Mrs Yetunde Oni had been on acting capacity since February 2016 and had acted for over one year.

    “She clocks 60 years on Thursday and by virtue of public service rule she has to go, but she doesn’t want to go.

    “We therefore, ask the Federal Government to give us a substantive DG or the most senior director in NAFDAC take over same way Oni took over as the most senior in 2016,” he said.

    The union alleged that the acting director had handed over to a director who is not the most senior.

    Mr Idu Isua, Vice Chairman of the union said that the next senior director was supposed to take charge after Oni had attained the mandatory age of 60 years.

    He said that the next in line to the Acting DG should automatically take charge before the appointment of a substantive DG by the Federal Government.

    In a swift reaction, Mr Jimoh Abubakar, Director of Public Relations and Special Duties, NAFDAC said that the appointment of the DG was an exclusive preserved of the President.

    He said that the controversy surrounding the appointment of an acting DG was needless, adding that the Federal Government was aware of the situation and would take appropriate step at the right time.

    “Government in its wisdom will take appropriate decision, we should not be in a hurry, government is aware of information we are not privy to.”

    He said that the problems with most Nigerian were that they always want to interpret the government.

    NAN reports that there had been squabbles on the running of NAFDAC between the former acting DG, Oni and the most senior director.

    NAN recalled that Oni handed over to a director that is junior to the next in line, but the union said the anomaly must be corrected to avoid bastardising the public service rule.

  • NAFDAC warns against importation, production sale of fake products

    NAFDAC warns against importation, production sale of fake products

     

    NAFDAC has warned against the importation, production, sale and use of fake and substandard cosmetics and condiments in the country.

    Mrs Christiana Essenwa, the Deputy Director of NAFDAC in Anambra, gave the warning in Onitsha on Tuesday at a one-day sensitisation workshop for stakeholders in the manufacture and sale of cosmetics and condiments.

    Cosmetics are preparations applied to the face or the body to make it more attractive, while condiments refer to salt, pepper, or similar substances added in small amounts to food, usually at the table, to improve or adjust its flavor.

    Essenwa, who spoke on the topic, `The role of NAFDAC in curbing the health hazards of fake and substandard regulated products’, said the agency had discovered that some cosmetics and condiments contained hazardous ingredients harmful to the body.

    “There is a report that certain long-lasting lipsticks contain aluminum and toxic compounds which are dangerous to health.

    “Again, some of these eyelashes (ladies put on) have also been discovered to cause inflammation of the eyes just as turmeric powder in cosmetics elevates cancer and cacogenic growth.

    “Fake and substandard products generally affect socio-economic development by straining the healthcare system and harming the national economy, tourism and trade,” Essenwa warned.

    The deputy director further warned against deceptive and detrimental advertisement of such products, their use as well as sale of harmful bleaching creams, saying they affect the skin and organs.

    Advising the public to always insist on receipts for purchased items, Essenwa said consumers and retailers should endeavor to report suspicious activities on fake and substandard products.

    “Reject products that do not have NAFDAC registration number; expired products should be discarded; ensure that products have manufacturing date, full and traceable address, before purchasing them,” she added.

    In a remark, the Acting Director-General of NAFDAC, Mrs Yetunde Oni, represented by Mr Fori Tatama, said the fight against counterfeiting of cosmetics and condiments was dear to the agency.

    Oni said the workshop was aimed at building the capacity and strengthening relationship with dealers and importers of cosmetics and condiments in Onitsha.

    Also speaking, Mrs Christabel Okoye, the Chairman of Christabel International, said the 11 years technical partnership with NAFDAC had resulted in reduction of fake and substandard products in the country.

    Okoye emphasised that the fight was `a fight for all’ and urged the public to join in the campaign against products counterfeiting.

    A participant, Mr Obinna Ogbu urged NAFDAC to key into the Federal Government’s robust ‘Whistle Blowing Policy’ to encourage full support of the public in the fight against counterfeiting.

    “You cannot just tell people to blow whistle on their fellow businessmen by just assuring them of anonymity without having something to gain,” Ogbu said.

  • We’ll encourage local production of narcotics for hospitals’ use  –  NAFDAC

    We’ll encourage local production of narcotics for hospitals’ use  –  NAFDAC

    The Acting Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mrs. Yetunde Oni, on Friday said  the agency would encourage local production of narcotics to meet the need of the nation’s health sector.

    Narcotics are used as a painkiller during minor and major surgeries by physicians.

    Mrs Oni said that it has been identified that narcotics could be manufactured in Nigeria under close monitoring, adding that works are being done in that direction.

    The Acting – Director made this known to journalists in Ijebu – Ode, Ogun State, at the end of the agency’s Management Retreat with the theme: “Repositioning NAFDAC for Efficient Management and Resource Control for Greater Performance.”

    “NAFDAC does not produce, we encourage companies that can produce. We have identified that Nigeria can manufacture narcotics locally. It is work in progress. We hope in the next few months we will get there.

    “Narcotics is a controlled drugs and we cannot afford to go into large scale manufacturing. It has to be controlled. A certain quantity has to be given to us and we have to give account of how we have used it. It requires a lot of monitoring and surveillance,” she said.

    She also said that the agency needs more laboratories for greater performance amid its increasing volume of task.

    According to her, the existing seven laboratories are not enough for testing products’ samples for registration, product complain samples, enforcement samples and samples that have violated NAFDAC laws.

    “Right now we have seven labs in the whole of Nigeria, just seven labs carrying out all these functions, we are taking samples for registration, we are taking complain samples, taking enforcement samples, we are taking samples that have violated our laws into just these seven labs, covering all the seven classes of products to regulate so we cannot agree less that we need more labs,” she said.

    The Acting Director – General revealed the agency is contemplating building a laboratory in Ogun state because of the increasing number of industries coming to the state to do business.

    She said such laboratory if established would help the agency monitor the quality of products being manufactured in the state, and however, added that the  recent burnt laboratory of the agency in Oshodi – Lagos, did not set them back because it quickly got back-ups and supplies from six other laboratories in other parts of the country.

    “Ogun State is coming up, some of the companies in Lagos have relocated to Ogun State, and to ease the work of NAFDAC, it will not be out of place to have a standalone office in Ogun State and also a lab complement our efforts of ensuring that right quality products are manufactured in Ogun State and reduce the load on the Lagos lab.

    “And for me and I want to reiterate this, NAFDAC should have office in all the States of the federation and we are growing bigger, volume of activities are increasing, if we have a stand alone office in every of the States, nothing stops us from having a stand-alone lab to serve the need of that particular state in terms of products that are regulated by NAFDAC, that we will become more efficient and effective.

    “Our productivity will soar higher and higher, however it is capital intensive to come up with such a lab, it is futuristic, we are talking about 10, 15, 20 years from now,” she said.

     

  • NAFDAC destroys items worth N252m in Gombe

    NAFDAC destroys items worth N252m in Gombe

    Goods worth N252,882,020 million have been destroyed by the Northern zonal office of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Wednesday  in Gombe, Gombe State.

    The items destroyed include bags of flour, packs of body creams and drugs such as Analgin injection, groundnut oils and various juice drinks.

    The Acting Director-General of the agency, Mrs Yetunde Oni, said that the items were either voluntarily surrendered to the agency by those who had them in stock or mopped up by NAFDAC officers during enforcement surveillance.

    The D-G said faking of regulated products or selling of unwholesome products was the greatest evil of the time, calling it an act of terrorism.

    He said products counterfeiters were not just a problem to the country but were more dangerous than armed robbers.
    A representative of the Secretary to the State Government SSG, Mr Obel Yaji, used the occasion to appeal to NAFDAC to regulate the activities of traditional medicine hawkers.
    He said NAFDAC had been active in saving lives and that checkmating traditional medicine hawkers would help in deepening the impact of the agency on the public.

  • NAFDAC embark on a three-day staff re-orientation

    NAFDAC embark on a three-day staff re-orientation

     

     

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has embarked on a 3-day re-orientation and training programme.

    The programme according to a statement issued by the agency cuts across the six geo-political zones in the country.

    Acting Director – General of NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni who flagged off the re-orientation programme said the key objective was to “re-align and re-orientate staff on transparency, accountability, dedication to duty and efficient service delivery”.

    Mrs. Oni explained that the programme was undertaken to “re-orientate staff towards these core values in the bid to reposition NAFDAC”. She stated that when the current management took over in February this year, “we promised to be decisive, firm, courageous, bold, accountable and transparent in running the affairs of the Agency”.

    According to her, no reform process will be credible or sustainable without demonstrable service delivery as this is the key objective of current reform exercise at NAFDAC.

    The Acting Director-General appealed to all regulatory officers at the re-orientation workshop to imbibe the culture of hardwork, honesty and efficient service delivery so that they can be part of the change agenda of Mohammadu Buhari administration.