Nigeria’s Anti-Fake Drug Initiative

ANAMBRA, Nigeria (MNTV)- Nigeria’s southeastern Anambra state has announced plans to build a coordinated wholesale drug centre in Oba, Idemili, as part of efforts to standardize the drug market and eradicate fake and counterfeit drugs.

 The new centre will accommodate the relocated and standardized Ogbo market, arguably Africa’s largest open drug market in Onitsha.

 “Onitsha remains the largest trading hub in Africa, we will further expand this status to a more befitting height,” Anambra governor, Chukwuma Soludo, said, as reported by Sahara Reporters.

 During a visit to the Ọgbọ and adjoining market in Onitsha, Soludo learned that regulators had discovered shops selling banned drugs in the nearby plumbing materials market, leading to its shutdown.

Soludo emphasised the need for the federal government to tighten control over the supply chain, questioning how banned drugs from India were entering the country. 

“As the biggest open drug market in Africa, it is not surprising that Federal Agencies and regulatory bodies would, from time to time, visit the Ogbo market in Onitsha to enforce standards and check the sale of fake, counterfeit, and controlled drugs in the market.”

He lamented that right inside the shops were found cartons of counterfeit and controlled drugs, many of which had been banned globally. 

He asked, “How these drugs, which have been banned globally and locally, are still being manufactured in India, pass through our various ports (sea and air), and find their way to our local drug markets remains a question only the relevant authorities can answer.”

He emphasized that while Nigeria must rid itself of fake and counterfeit drugs, it is important for the Federal Government to tighten up the noose on the supply end of the value chain.