Fake Drugs: Deji Adeyanju Demands State of Emergency, Seeks Sack of NAFDAC, SON Bosses
ABUJA, NIGERIA — Human rights lawyer and activist Deji Adeyanju, Esq., has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently declare a state of emergency over the dangerous influx of counterfeit medicines and substandard consumer goods flooding Nigerian markets.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Adeyanju warned that the country is facing a total breakdown in regulatory oversight, leaving millions of citizens exposed to lethal, poorly manufactured products daily.
’A Collapse of Regulation’
Adeyanju raised the alarm over what he described as a “complete collapse of regulation in critical sectors.” He asserted that life-saving medications are openly traded in wholesale quantities under harsh weather conditions.
“Nigerians are being exposed to dangerous products daily, from fake and substandard medicines to unsafe consumer goods, with reports of drugs being sold wholesale in the open under the hot sun,” Adeyanju stated. “No responsible government should expose its citizens to such risks and expect mortality rates not to rise.”
Calls for the Sack of NAFDAC and SON Leadership
The activist directed heavy criticism toward key regulatory bodies, explicitly naming the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON). According to him, the two institutions have demonstrated a clear inability to halt the proliferation of illicit goods.
To remedy the systemic failure, he urged President Tinubu to execute his executive powers and overhaul the leadership of these agencies. “The President must be alive to his responsibility and act decisively by removing the Director-General of NAFDAC and the heads of other failed regulatory agencies, including SON,” Adeyanju declared, adding that the administration must appoint “competent leadership capable of restoring effective regulation and enforcement.”
Demands for Systemic Overhaul
Beyond personnel changes, Adeyanju emphasized that Nigeria requires an immediate, top-to-bottom structural intervention. He noted that the consequences of allowing these failed systems to persist are measured in human lives.
“The Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency on the proliferation of counterfeit and substandard drugs and products and undertake a comprehensive review of the country’s regulatory system,” the statement concluded. “Nigerians cannot continue to pay with their lives for regulatory failure.”
