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Tag: NAFDAC

  • ‘Only NAFDAC can give opinion on products’

    ‘Only NAFDAC can give opinion on products’

    The Director of Drug Evaluation and Research of National Food, Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mrs Titilope Omowunmi Owolabi speaks with Olatunji Ololade on the routine steps taken by the agency to register herbal gin products.

    If herbal alcoholic beverages contain dangerous compounds like arsenic, lead, alkaloid while they have low pH value of 3.88 to 4.99, can they be adjudged to be toxic to the human body?

    First of all, let me say that NAFDAC just like any regulatory body all over the world works with specifications…standards. Then herbal products because they are agricultural based and they are grown, they can contain what you and I or a layperson can consider as dangerous but there are always limits. The important thing is that where such components exist, they should not be above the specified safe limit. For instance, we have in beer, nitrosomes; ordinarily, nitrosomes are very poisonous but they must not be above a certain limit because it is not all the time that your processes can remove every poisonous substance totally. The important thing is that they must be at a limit that is safe for consumption.

    Investigations revealed that some of the herbal alcoholic beverages on sale contain very low pH value. Laboratory technologists and analysts emphasized that herbal gin like some which contains 3.88 pH value is very low and too acidic for human consumption. From your experience as a pharmacist, if an alcoholic beverage contains a very low pH value, can it be said to be dangerous for consumption?

    See, I don’t agree with that. It depends on the preparation. It depends on how you are supposed to take it. It depends on why you are taking it. It’s just like drugs; there are some drugs that you must take only when you have eaten and there are some drugs that you must take when you have not eaten, if you fail to stick to the specified dosage, the drug may not work effectively. You have to look at a particular product in its totality, you do not generalize. So for you to now ask me if a pH of 3.88 is okay, I cannot say if it’s okay or not because I do not know the product. There are some of these products that they say on the pack that you should take two or three spoonfuls and dilute in water; after that what is the pH? So it’s difficult, unless you see the particular product and check if it was registered by NAFDAC or not.

    Some of the products do not have NAFDAC registration number…

    So if it does not have NAFDAC registration that means it is a fake product. We only do legal products but now that you have told us, the PR (Public Relations) unit will contact the enforcement directorate to look further into it…There are some products that after NAFDAC has registered them, and in registering them, we subject them to very strict registration processes.

    NAFDAC registration process…

    First of all, the various relevant directorates will look at it…for instance, if it is a drug, they will send us the label and everything, and we will look at it. The Registration and Regulatory Affairs (R&R), department will also look at it. If it is a local product, we will go to the factory and make sure that we use our hands to personally take a sample of the product to be sure that, that is where they are producing it. So we will take the sample, we look at it again and send to the lab. The lab will look at all the components. For herbal products, because of the nature of herbal products, the lab does not dwell much on active ingredients because these are not like orthodox products, what they look at is safety. They have to look at heavy metals, they look at pesticide residue. In fact, in the lab, if it is herbal product, because I work in the drug lab, they actually feed the product to guinea pigs and rats to see whether they will die. So that is assessing toxicity. Because of the nature of the preparation, we don’t really do efficacy because it is difficult to check for the efficacy of herbal products we check it overtime, that is, evidence-based. World Health Organization (W.H.O) says evidence-based…overtime.

    However, if you want to do clinical trial, you are allowed. Then you get a five-year registration thing if not, you will get two-year listing. And that is why for those listed, it is boldly written on their pack or label that “These claims have not been verified.” But we don’t allow claims like HIV/AIDS. We don’t allow such claims. But if you say it cures leg ache, backache, neck ache, body ache, we allow it. So we look at all that. At this stage, the product has sub-approval from the R and R department. Afterwards, the R and R will call all the other directorates’ executives from the deputy director downwards to come and look at the product that you want to register. If those ones say it is okay, they will now call what we call Food and Drugs Registration Committee meeting which is held once a month and strictly attended by the directors, and chaired by the DG (NAFDAC’s Director General). If the directors and the DG now look at the products under consideration and decide which one is fit for approval and registration.

    Sometimes, we will register a product presented through this way and the criminals, it can be the company itself, fakers or adulterators will now go and put in what suits them. So maybe that is why you are seeing all these thing in alcoholic drinks. They are not supposed to be there. And that is why we do routine inspection; unannounced, we go out to visit and inspect factories and production facilities of approved and registered products. And sometimes, when we get there, we find out that these companies, when they register A, go ahead and start doing A, B, C. Sometimes, they register a certain product with a label but when we get to their factories during routine inspections, it’s another label that we see on their products.

    Pharmacists, doctors and laboratory technologists’ perspectives about The Nation findings on these products indicate that they are extremely dangerous for human consumption; some of the identified products bear NAFDAC registration numbers, would you still maintain that they aren’t really hazardous to health?

    Now let me correct something; in many cases, people just paste any NAFDAC number on their products. Sometimes, you will find that these numbers are not even genuine because NAFDAC has a special way of numbering approved products. Some of them can even use existing numbers, that is, numbers given to somebody else’s product and that is why NAFDAC is proposing to put on its website, the list of all registered products.

    So the list is not on the website yet?

    I don’t think so. It’s not. It’s not on the website yet because it’s going to be a very heavy document. It’s going to be a very heavy document but it will be soon. Let me also correct an opinion; you see, whether you are a medical doctor, pharmacist or laboratory technologist, you cannot give an opinion on a product unless you are in a regulatory body. I am a pharmacist and I can give an opinion because I am in a regulatory body. If I am a pharmacist in the hospital, I cannot give an opinion on regulatory work because I do not have the specification, I do not have the allowed limit…so the only people that can give opinion are the lab people (NAFDAC lab people).

     

  • ‘Foreigners behind Fulani/Tiv clashes’

    ‘Foreigners behind Fulani/Tiv clashes’

    Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii, on a visit, distributed relief materials to internally-displaced persons in various camps in Benue State. He spoke with journalists about the security challenges in the country, particularly in Benue State, saying, among other things, why he thinks foreigners are behind the clashes between farmers and herdsmen. UJA EMMANUEL was there for The Nation. Excerpts:

    What are your thoughts about the security challenges in the country, particularly the sustained attacks on farmers in Benue State?

    Nigeria is undergoing very serious security challenges. These were the kind of challenges that we never anticipated that would happen in our part of the world. If you heard about it you thought that it was something for different regions of this world. Unfortunately the reality now is that most parts of the country are undergoing these security challenges. Benue State is not alone; it’s the general situation across the country. States like Zamfara, Borno, so many other states and then particularly Benue State, now are facing very serious security challenges. Initially we thought that it was a dispute between Fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers but from what we’ve seen so far I think this has gone beyond these common Fulani herdsmen. We’ve lived with the Fulani herdsmen; as a child we’ve grown up with them, we joked together, and were playmates. In fact, most often when I see a Fulani person I never thought he would ever be my enemy because we just looked at them as friends and playmates. Then suddenly you see that the Fulani herdsmen cannot live side by side with the Tiv man; I don’t believe it’s the Fulani herdsmen that we’ve known. The herdsmen that we know carry sticks, at most a dane gun. For this kind of sophistication I don’t think that a true Fulani herdsman has the time to go and train how to shoot like these people, the kind of expertise that they display and the kind of sophisticated weapons that we see them with. I believe that this is aggression from outside the country. These people are coming from somewhere outside the country to come and attack. We have to sit down with our Fulani colleagues and think very carefully to find out where these attacks are coming from. I don’t believe these are common herdsmen. But they are causing very serious security challenges with potential danger that the farmers cannot go to farm. I heard that as far away as Delta, Kogi and so many other states, farmers cannot go to the farm any longer because they are afraid that they would be attacked and so there will be hunger in a few years to come because people are not planting their crops. Apart from that whole villages have been sacked and people are living in very difficult conditions, some are dying under very difficult conditions. But I believe that Nigeria will overcome these security challenges because there is a lot of work going on, a lot of discussions and negotiations and I believe that very soon a solution would be found. I advise our people to be very circumspect about what they say, the kind of things that they say. They should refrain from making inflammatory statements because like I said there is a lot of work being done to find a lasting solution to this situation. Sometimes you will be complicating the work of the leadership or the solutions they are trying to find by making unguarded statements or sometimes taking the law into your own hands. I think we should leave the security agencies; many of them have been dispatched already to Benue State so leave their job to them, do not complicate their jobs for them. I also want to tell our people that if the security agencies find you causing problems, as far as they are concerned any person causing problem is the enemy so they do not distinguish between people who have come to attack and the people who are being attacked. If they see you on the attack they will deal with you so you have to be very careful. Sometimes you have your right but if you mismanage how you convey your rights or you react to what has happened you become the aggressor. Our people have to be very careful. Do not just lynch anybody on the street because he looks different. Do not attack anybody or make statements that will cause panic or may cause people to feel that they are being attacked.

    There are claims that chemical weapons are being used in these attacks; can NAFDAC investigate these claims?

    I have heard about these claims; in fact from the symptoms that they described to me it would appear that chemical weapons are being used. I have seen some of the canisters that we have at our disposal; they’ve shown them to me. These people went and cut this usual tear gas, poured the chemical inside and then sealed it up. I have seen them first hand. But NAFDAC does not have the capacity right now to verify that. It has to be done in a specialized laboratory for testing of these sophisticated chemical weapons that are used. But from the description of some people who have died from the attacks I believe that chemical weapons are being used on our people. From some of the symptoms that doctors have described, doctors who have attended to these victims.

    Why did you procure relief materials for the displaced people and what kind of things did you bring for them?

    Generally when you see people suffering from lack of basic things, you are concerned. Because of my position I have a lot of friends in different parts of Nigeria, so these items, none of them was procured by me personally, it was not my funds. Friends called me offering to see how they could be of help. That is why many of these donations have come. Friesland brought 6,000 cartons of their milk juice. They called themselves and volunteered to donate these things because they saw the news in the media and they immediately contacted me. They knew that my people were under this type of difficult condition so they offered to give some of these things. Companies like Emzor brought some medicines and anti-malaria drugs and some of them vitamins for people who are malnourished. Different companies brought some things here and there that is why I have these items that I have here. Drinks, biscuits, Beloxi a company from Lagos called and donated biscuits, so many other companies called to donate some items that I brought here.

    What did you do in your first term as well as your vision for the second term?

    I think we did a lot in the first term; we brought a lot of innovations to so many things. When I came to NAFDAC in 2009 I told Nigerians that I would sustain all the gains that had been made at NAFDAC before I came and then take the agency’s operations to the next level, to international standards that are obtainable in the most advanced countries. I think that is exactly what we did. First and foremost we consolidated on all the gains both infrastructure-wise, there is no abandoned project in NAFDAC to begin with, all the projects that my predecessors started we’ve completed them. We also sustained the war against counterfeit medicines and then expanded that war. By the time I came to NAFDAC the incidence of counterfeit medicines had been reduced in 2005 to about 16.7 per cent. Unfortunately the incidence of counterfeit anti-malaria drugs had increased. In 2008 we had more than 60 per cent of anti-malaria drugs circulating in Nigeria were either fake or substandard so we had to reduce those indices. We set to work, we increased public awareness campaign. You know that before I came the public awareness campaign was different. NAFDAC was popular but when I came I refined the public awareness campaign to make it more educative. We created a television program, what we call ‘NAFDAC and your health’ to give the masses information about the products, more details about our regulatory activities, the products that we regulate so that the masses can be part of what we’re doing at NAFDAC and so that they can define a stake for themselves so that they will also be able to help us. It has turned out to be very successful. But realizing that not everybody has access to television we also created what we call the NAFDAC number. It’s on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, and so you can hear our messages even in very remote corners of the country. Herdsmen can hear our messages; farmers can hear our messages in very distant corners of the country. They can call in and report incidences of fake products, that was another addition. We increased collaboration with all other security agencies in Nigeria, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Immigration and all other security agencies, we partnered with them more. At the international level we also increased our visibility. I became the Vice Chairman of the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce, IMPACT in Geneva. When IMPACT was scrapped and the first membership mechanism under the World Health Organization, what we call the SSFFSC that is the Spurious Sub-Standard Falsified False-labeled Counterfeit Medical Products Taskforce was created in Geneva made up of 193 countries I became the first chairman and currently I’m still the first chairman under the areas. But of course on a daily basis you support individual students as much as you can if they come with financial problems so that you help them go back to school. We have other programs that we’re doing even at the village level. In my village I was able to refurbish my primary school and bring it to international standard. I visited the school and when I went back I felt so bad that the children did not even have basic facilities compared to where my children at age seven they already have access to computers. My program is that I wanted every child to have access to food when they go to school so I built them a dining hall at the school and of course I have a computer room there and they’ve installed some computers so that they can have access to them and the internet. And then we refurbished the hospital which was lying there idle. We were able to refurbish and bring them a modern ambulance there and even equipped it. We encourage young doctors who come here to go back to the villages and sometimes I pay them some stipend. I had to recruit some nurses that I’ve over the past four years as well as some cleaners at that General Hospital in Lessel. About seven people have been on my payroll there for the past four years. I recruited them when I knew that after I refurbished the hospital it did not have enough staff so I had to recruit them and I pay them monthly from my own pocket for the past four years. These are some things that we’re trying to do in order to give some people opportunities.

     

    n I knew that after I refurbished the hospital it did not have enough staff so I had to recruit them and I pay them monthly from my own pocket for the past four years. These are some things that we’re trying to do in order to give some people opportunities.

     

  • NAFDAC workers, others trained on vaccine regulation

    Canadian drug regulatory agency Health Canada has trained some members of the staff of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and their Ghanaian, Sierra Leonean, Nigerien and Ugandian counterparts on vaccine regulation.

    Health Canada team led by a Senior Regulatory Officer, Bobby Chauhan,  said the capacity building was necessary to scale up regulation of vaccines in the respective countries.

    He spoke at the Health Canada and NAFDAC mentorship training workshop in Lagos.

    He said knowledge was transferred to the trainees during the workshop based on the tool on the ground within NAFDAC .

    He said regulation of drugs in developing countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone was not in any way different from that of Canada and other developed countries, adding: “There is a system on ground which is followed”.

    NAFDAC Director-General, Dr Paul Orhii said there is the need for a stronger collaborative network to build confidence in the country’s regulatory system, especially on vaccine which can prevent many diseases.

    He said collaborating internationally will enable the agency meet the rising challenge and risk posed to public safety by increased globalisation.

  • NAFDAC warns motor park traders

    In its bid to rid motor parks of fake drugs, substandard and unwholesome products, the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has partnered with Youth Corps members on an enlightenment programme at various motor parks in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

    The state NAFDAC coordinator, Mrs. Juliana Abayomi, who disclosed this in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said that during her campaign at Maraba and Offa motor parks, she elaborated on the inherent dangers associated with consuming fake, adulterated and sub-standard products, which include loss of relevant vitamins in the body, increased chances of having cancer, loss of iodine in the body, to mention but a few.

    She further stated that NAFDAC officials and those of other regulatory agencies recently went round Kwara North Senatorial Zone for inspection and monitoring.

    The NAFDAC boss disclosed that some water manufacturing firms, patent and pharmacy stores in the locality were punished because of their negligence in un-wholesome practices.

  • Controversy trails NAFDAC’s new levy on water producers

    Controversy trails NAFDAC’s new levy on water producers

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and members of the Water Producers Association of Nigeria (ATWAP) are enmeshed in a cold war over new levies, writes SINA FADARE

    Members of the Water Producers Association of Nigeria (ATWAP) are unhappy with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) over new levy the regulatory body imposed on them. The controversial levy is N25, 000. All water producers throughout the country are to pay the levy.

    A circular from the Director-General’s office was sent to all the zonal and state offices of NAFDAC for prompt action. The new levy is in addition to the N16,000.00 renewal fee all water producers in the country are accustomed to.

    According to the circular dated February 10, signed by Mrs. O. N. Mainasara on behalf of the DG, Dr. Paul Orhii, the levy, which took effect from January, should get to the agency via its consultant, Emani Global Network Nigeria Limited before June ending.

    The circular titled, “Re: Annual monitoring of water quality standard and compliance (AMWQS&C) for all water manufacturing facilities nationwide using mobile laboratory modern equipment for on-site physico-chemical and microbiological test analysis/method,” compelled the state coordinators to make sure that the money should reach the agency through the consultant.

    Part of the circular reads: “I have been directed to inform you that the Annual Monitoring of Water Quality Standard and Compliance (AMWQS7C) for all water packaging facilities nationwide by Emani Global Network Nigeria Limited  in collaboration with NAFDAC has been approved by the DG (NAFDAC).

    “A lot of producers have not been carrying out regular laboratory evaluation to ascertain their water quality whether portable or otherwise fit for drinking. A review of the laboratory analysis of both sachet and bottled water submitted for registration recorded a high percentage of failure rates due to pathogens. The cost is twenty five thousand naira (N25, 000:00) for ATWAP members and thirty thousand naira (N30, 000:00) for non ATWAP members.”

    According to the circular, nine commercial banks were involved in the transaction. Each water producer is expected to pay into designated banks using NIBSS payment service.

    All the zonal and state coordinators are expected by the circular to “liaise with the Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Directorate, Yaba, and Emani Global Network Nigeria Limited on implementation and kickoff of the annual monitoring of water quality.” Investigation has, however, revealed that the levy has polarised members of the ATWAP and non-members. The Nation gathered that the levy has generated a lot of hiccups among water producers. It was learnt that while some of them who have big companies did not mind paying the amount, others felt that it was exploitation .

    Speaking on the development, the Managing Director of Heritage Water , Lagos, Mr.  Olu Makinde, said that the new levy was like double burden on producers of water, especially those who are trying to get their bearing in the business.

    “Most of the money we got goes to procurement of diesel to power our generator, which is almost running everyday because of poor supply of power. By the time you put all other logistic into cost of production, there is little left after payment of salary of my workers.  If people like me could be complaining, what do you think those who are struggling to survive in the business will be experiencing?” he asked.

    One of the regulatory officers of NAFDAC in Abuja, who spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity, said the situation was sad because it is capable of discouraging small businesses, adding that NAFDAC will rake in nothing less than N1.6trillion nationwide from this levy.

    He explained that before any water producer could be registered with NAFDAC, it takes a detailed process.

    “They have to engage the service of water experts that will certify their products before bringing it to NAFDAC for laboratory test. After it has been certified okay for public consumption, the agency will approve it for NAFDAC registration. Therefore, the engagement of another consultant that will collect the new levy from ATWAP members and nonmembers alike is absurd,” he said.

    Speaking on the implications of imposed levy on water producers in the country, Wole Aladewolu, a water expert, said the situation is not only sad but worrisome. He explained that if the agency is sincere, the NAFDAC laboratory at Oshodi is one of the best in Africa and it is competent enough to test the hygienic level of any water in the country without engaging any consultant.

    “See what has just happened at the recent recruitment at the Immigration, you can see that politicians are trying to play a fast game on Nigerians and just using some innocent comptrollers in the service who are not aware of what is going on. l hope that NAFDAC issue will not turn to such.

    “How can NAFDAC justify a situation where all the water producers in the country will pay the sum of N25, 000 into a consultant’s account through some designated banks? It is not only odd but very suspicious. The sad aspect of it is that the regulatory officers of NAFDAC will now be on the neck of water producers in order to rake in the illegal money,” he lamented.  The negative implication of this, according to Aladewolu, is that a lot of water producers will go underground to produce water that may not be hygienic and pump same into the market, especially in rural areas.

    When The Nation contacted some of the top executives of ATWAP for comment on the issue, they kept sealed lips, fearing that NAFDAC may swoop on them. But, the few who spoke on condition of anonymity said they are helpless on the issue as “it is difficult to fight an agency like NAFDAC and not pay dearly for it. Therefore, it is better to let the sleeping dog lie.”

    Getting NAFDAC to comment on the issue was frustrated, as its Director of Communication, Jimoh Abubakar, was hostile to this reporter. He said there were a lot of good things happening in the agency apart from the one this reporter was seeking confirmation on.

    “l don’t know how your organisation can sponsor you to go all over the country to investigate NAFDAC if you are not sponsored by some people,” he alleged.

    His counterpart in Lagos, NAFDAC Public Relations Officer, Mrs Christy Obiazikwor, did not pick her calls and failed to respond to the sms sent to her phone requesting to know why NAFDAC embarked on such venture.

    But a member of the Board of Trustees of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) introduced another angle to the introduction of the levy when he said the issue is beyond the NAFDAC DG.

    Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said some notable agencies and parastatals have been directed by the Presidency to generate fund for the party ahead of the 2015 general elections. The Nation could not confirm this information.

    “This was the decision of a powerful clique in the Presidency championing Jonathan’s second-term ambition and the money is going to be handled by a consultant who is very dependable and a confidant of the Presidency who will be paid handsomely after the deal might have sailed through,” he said.

    He explained that the committee beamed their searchlight on the Custom and the Immigration Service to provide such a fund no matter how and where they are going to get it.

    “So NAFDAC is just a victim of powerful power brokers and top PDP echelons who are ready to return Jonathan to Aso Rock,” he added.

     

  • ‘Inspiring change for female politicians’

    ‘Inspiring change for female politicians’

    The theme for the celebration of this year’s International Women’s Day is Inspiring Change. Yetunde Oladeinde assesses the strides recorded as well as some of the challenges facing Nigerian women in politics.

    THE first International Women’s Day was held in 1911 and ever since the date has been significant for women all over the world. It is a day to celebrate achievements in the social, political and economic spheres while focusing world attention on areas requiring further action.

    At the moment, the 2015 election is around the corner and different interest groups are busy strategising to carve a niche for themselves. Nigerian women, interestingly, have for long been playing crucial roles in the political life of the country, and this has contributed in no small measure in shaping the political system of the nation.

    It is, therefore, pertinent to find out how women in politics can inspire change and increase the number of women in elective positions across the country. For Iyabo Anisulowo, “Women are more in politics now, unlike in those days. But there are also categories of women, some are just there to support the men; they sing and dance. While some are activists, agitating for political positions to pull their weight and show that they can also do what the men are doing.

    “But because of lack of enough education, the women have not been able to occupy some of these positions. We want more women to contest election, even if they are not going to win, at least people will know that we tried to wrestle power from the men. But we are improving now.”

    She added that “Politics is also very expensive to play and most women are poor. For instance, when we go for rallies, you have to pay for buses to convey your supporters, cook food, among other things. In developed countries, it is not like that. You can interact with your people through the use of technology. Women are not also violent in nature. Politics now involves thuggery and the usage of arms, and only a few women can withstand that.”

    It is also important to look at the women who have made a mark against the odds. One of such women is Chris Anyanwu, a politician and journalist, who has recorded a number of milestones. The achievements came with a number of obstacles like her incarceration during the Abacha regime. “I fully realise that my incarceration was a well-calculated plan by General Abacha and a certain misogynist clique in the ruling circle to force me out of the profession and by it send a strong signal to the female elite that there are limits for women in this society. The tragic demise of the only other female publisher and the gory murder of three outstanding and outspoken women in the country during this same period all fit into this pattern of behaviour,” she said.

    Abike Dabiri-Erewa, member of the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives representing Ikorodu Constituency in Lagos State, is another politician and journalist who has set a pace for many. In the House, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa is distinguishing herself by working tirelessly as she sponsored a bill that would grant freedom to practice journalism after a certain qualification.

    Professor Dora Akunyili, former Director General of NAFDAC and politician, is another amazon that comes to mind. In year 2010, she resigned her appointment as the minister of information in the President Jonathan cabinet and decided to pick a senatorial form on the platform of APGA in Anambra State to contest for a seat in the upper federal legislative chamber in the 2011general elections. Unfortunately, she was not successful at the polls.

    During the 2011 presidential election, Sarah Jubril stood out as the only woman who challenged President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the presidential flag of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

    And across the 63 political parties, she was the only woman who struggled to occupy the Aso Rock seat of power.

    According to Jubril, “Women had been grossly marginalised in the power-sharing arrangement, with no woman occupying the nation’s highest office since independence in 1960.And this is in spite of the fact that women account for about 51% of the voting population of the country. The highest office a woman has occupied is Speaker of the House of Representatives, which Hon. Patricia Etteh held for four months and 26 days between June and October 2007 before she was compelled to quit over alleged graft.”

    A veteran presidential aspirant of sorts and in her early 60s, Jubril’s presidential ambition dates back to 1992. She was an aspirant in the defunct Social Democratic Party, SDP, in the botched Third Republic. She also aspired in 1998 on the platform of the PDP and lost the presidential ticket to Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, who went on to win the polls.

    Despite the difficulties faced by women in politics, they continue with their political ambition, contributing enormously to the political and national development in their own way as the challenges militating against them are not present, although Nigeria is yet to have a female president. Women over the years could be said to have recorded

    some measure of appreciable political achievement in other political fields of endeavours, meeting their political objectives with limited support and resources at their disposal.

    In 1957, during the pre-independence era of Nigeria, a couple of women political activists such as Mrs. Margaret Ekpo, Mrs. Janet Mokelu and Ms. Young were members of the Eastern House of Assembly. The late Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, though not a full-fledged politician, was a very strong force to reckon with in the politics of the Western Region.

    Hajia Gambo Sawaba also waged a fierce battle for the political and cultural emancipation of women in the north. One can say that women have always played viable political roles in Nigeria in spite of all the limitations and encumbrances. In addition, the Babangida era marked a turning point in the history of women struggle in Nigeria, when Maryam Babangida institutionalised the office of the first lady in 1987.

  • NAFDAC holds workshop for food vendors

    NAFDAC holds workshop for food vendors

    The Director-General of National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Dr. Paul Orhii has enlightened food vendors in Enugu on the importance of food safety.

    Dr Orhii spoke at a two-day workshop on National Food Safety workshop organised for all categories of food vendors ranging from primary producers, small and medium-scale food processors, state and local government and public inspectors, agricultural extension officers, state agricultural development programmes (ADP) officers, regulators, household food handlers and catering services providers, among  others in Enugu.

    He stated that the agency has developed guidelines for food hygienic practices (NGFHP) which addresses the whole spectrum of national food chain, adding that the scientific concept of rational and systematic approach of identification, assessment and control of hazards during production, processing, manufacturing, preparation and use of food must be applied.

    He maintained that the aim of the workshop was primarily to ensure that food safety is integrated into the design of the process rather than the end product testing participants would be exposed to safe practice in primary food production and storage, traceability of food labelling and other guides on exportation of food products, consumers and household safe handling of food, extant regulatory control for safe food, financial transactions with NAFDAC, among others.

    Represented by Dr. Samson Adebayo Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, he said after the workshop, participants would apply NAFDAC’s guidelines for food hygienic practices throughout the food chain from the primary producer to final consumer.

    He urged the participants to apply the knowledge they gained at the workshop in their everyday routine.

    Present at the workshop were non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community-based organisations, public-based organisations, airlines caterers, warehouse operators, fast food operators, street vendors and food operators among others.

  • NAFDAC introduces harmful water-detecting technology

    NAFDAC introduces harmful water-detecting technology

    The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has introduced on-the-spot-detecting-device, to curb water-born diseases.

    The effort, NAFDAC said, is projected to increase the safety of drinking water and end unapproved production of drinking water.

    Speaking at the launch of the Annual Monitoring of Water Quality Standard and Compliance for Water Manufacturing Facilities in Abuja yesterday, the Director-General, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, said the measure became necessary given the growing public health concern about the proliferation of spurious packaged water in all the nooks and crannies of the nation’s cities and villages.

    He said: “It has become apparent that some of the ‘pure water’ are nothing but agents of water-borne diseases and are not fit for human consumption.”

    The device, according to the consultant on the project and the Principal Consultant/Chief Executive Officer, Emani Global Network Ltd, Emmanuel Osiegbu, is a Mobile Laboratory Modern Equipment for on-site physico-chemical and microbiological Test Analysis/methodology.

    “It helps to check if the water being sold meets the safety standards and safe for drinking,” he added.

    Osiegbu said: “We are witnessing a paradigm shift in the approach and methodology of NAFDAC as a regulatory agency. Adopting a proactive approach in handling the water problem by implementing the Mobile Laboratory Modern Equipment for on-site physico-chemical and Microbiological Test Analysis/Methodology.

    “It would ensure continuous monitoring of the water quality produced at the manufacturing facilities, employing on-site modern equipment to perform physico-chemical and microbiological test analysis.”

  • NAFDAC holds workshop for food vendors

    NAFDAC holds workshop for food vendors

    The Director-General of National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Dr. Paul Orhii has enlightened food vendors in Enugu on the importance of food safety.

    Dr Orhii spoke at a two-day workshop on National Food Safety workshop organised for all categories of food vendors ranging from primary producers, small and medium-scale food processors, state and local government and public inspectors, agricultural extension officers, state agricultural development programmes (ADP) officers, regulators, household food handlers and catering services providers, among  others in Enugu.

    He stated that the agency has developed guidelines for food hygienic practices (NGFHP) which addresses the whole spectrum of national food chain, adding that the scientific concept of rational and systematic approach of identification, assessment and control of hazards during production, processing, manufacturing, preparation and use of food must be applied.

    He maintained that the aim of the workshop was primarily to ensure that food safety is integrated into the design of the process rather than the end product testing participants would be exposed to safe practice in primary food production and storage, traceability of food labelling and other guides on exportation of food products, consumers and household safe handling of food, extant regulatory control for safe food, financial transactions with NAFDAC, among others.

  • NAFDAC’s drive for national food safety

    NAFDAC’s drive for national food safety

    Mention the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and what is etched in your memory is an institution charged with the regulation and control of pharmaceutical products in Nigeria. Embedded in this mindset are the imageries of interception and burning of fake and adulterated drugs, shutdown of drug markets in Onitsha, Kano, Lagos and elsewhere in the country. Of course, you are also sensitised to the frenzy with which NAFDAC confronts these enormous challenges.

    The administration and control of drugs might be top in the charge handed over by the Federal Government to NAFDAC; it has an equally enormous responsibility to control and regulate food in Nigeria. The NAFDAC Act (as amended) is unequivocal about its control and regulation of manufacturing, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and consumption of food. The high visibility of the agency in the control and administration of drugs across the country is being replicated in the manufacturing, importation, distribution and sales of food also. Dr Paul B. Orhii, who recently won the confidence boosting second-term as director-general of the agency is stepping up the drive to achieve this objective. This is the context I situate the novel creation of the Food and Applied Nutrition Directorate of the agency as well as equipping it with seasoned and sophisticated food scientists and nutritionists to confront and deliver on food fortification.

    The imperative of this stepped up action on food safety in the country become clearer after a recent gory prognosis of global food safety by Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America: “Across the globe, particularly in developing countries, far too many people are consuming more and more unhealthy food.”

    And you are likely to get the bang effects of the prognosis after perusal of the 2013 food index ranking from Oxfam, the international relief and development organization. The survey, which covers 125 countries, ranked them on the availability, quality and affordability of food and dietary health. It also looked at the percentage of underweight children, food diversity and access to clean water, as well as negative health outcomes such as obesity and diabetes. As to be expected, while Netherlands was ranked first as the country with the most nutritious, plentiful and healthy food in the world, African nations were predominant in the bottom 30 countries with Chad maintaining the rear.

    Good food – food rich in vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, protein, iodine, iron, zinc, folic acid – is no doubt meant to help nourish the human body to provide it with energy, good sight, effective and efficient reproductive ability, sustainable mental alertness, dynamic and reliable intelligent quotient; they are also meant to enrich the blood, enhance efficient respiratory and metabolic activities, to mention but a few. The relevance of nutritious food to the human body cannot be underplayed. Food is therefore, not merely consumed for the fun of it, rather it is intended to fulfill a multiplicity of vital functions in the human body system.

    In July 2011, the Federal Government inaugurated the National Food Safety Management Committee (NFSMC) and charged it with the responsibility for food safety and quality control measures as well as management of the process of ensuring food safety from farm to table. We could elongate the charge of the committee by saying it should also be concerned with food security, which is all about a people having access to sufficient, adequate, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

    The agency is expected to play a pivotal role in the realization of the above objective. And towards this end, it has taken it upon itself the task of ensuring the preparation and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne diseases. Doing this efficiently would mean promoting safety between industry and the market, and then between the market and the consumer. Specifically with regards to industry to market practices, food safety considerations must target the origins of food, as well as policies on biotechnology and food and guidelines for the management of governmental import and export inspection and certification systems for foods. And in considering market to consumer practices, the concern has always been that food ought to be safe in the market. The emphasis here is the safe preparation and delivery of food to the consumer. The agency has developed the competencies in all of these areas.

    Mention must be made of the elaborate campaign and intensive enforcement operations of the agency, which are aimed at eradicating the use of Potassium Bromate as baking flower/dough enhancer in bakeries across the country owing to its link with cancer disease. Its dogged determination at attaining the nation’s comprehensive salt iodization programme is commendable. Iodine deficiency is traced as the main cause of preventable brain damage and reduced IQ in children worldwide. Similarly it has also been established globally that the absence of iodine in salt/meals is responsible for a neck deforming ailment tagged goiter. Generally, people need additional sources of iodine as it is found in relatively small amounts in the diet. The international drive for universal salt iodization, that is the fortification with iodine of all salt used for human consumption, was recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), as the main strategy for eliminating iodine deficiency.

    The adoption of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), a systemic preventive approach to food safety and biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished product to be unsafe, and designs measurements to reduce these risks to a safe level, in NAFDAC operations, is part of its efforts to maximize the fortification of food for human consumption. The HACCP system can be used at all stages of a food chain, from food production and preparation processes including packaging and distribution.

    NAFDAC is strenuously working to ensure that food products for public consumption have the required nutrients through well tested enrichment processes. Among the food vehicles/ products being maximally enriched with the needed nutrients are sugar, flour, vegetable oil, etc.

    The agency has keyed into the Jonathan administration‘s Transformation Agenda, especially in the agricultural sector with emphasis on using it to diversify the nation’s economy and to serve as additional foreign exchange earner for Nigeria. In furtherance of this, it has stepped up its commitment to boosting the quality of the nation’s exportable agricultural produce such as cashew nuts, cocoa, cassava, sorghum, melon seed etc. NAFDAC is very active in the national campaign to use local cassava flour as substitute to wheat in the baking of bread, cakes, etc.

    Hygiene is indeed a critical factor in the efficient and effective fortification of food products. This is why NAFDAC is compelling fast food companies, restaurants, bakeries etc to embrace good hygienic practices. Heavy sanctions are usually visited on defaulting companies.

    Ideally fortified nutritious food products help the human body to adequately develop anti-bodies, which in turn help it to successfully wade off attacks. There is no doubt that NAFDAC is promoting a healthy and safe food culture in Nigeria, since a healthy nation, is indeed a wealthy nation.

    • Ikhilae, is a Lagos-based public affairs analyst.