NAFDAC Enlists 600 Pharmacists in Fresh War Against Fake Drugs, Food

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has inaugurated 600 pharmacists under a new reserve volunteer programme to strengthen the fight against fake drugs and unwholesome food across Nigeria.

The Pharmacists Reserve Volunteer Programme, PRVP, will provide the agency with additional manpower for surveillance, pharmacovigilance, compliance monitoring and other regulatory activities.

NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, inaugurated the programme after administering the oath of allegiance to the pharmacists, who already work in different fields.

The volunteers were drawn from all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with representation across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

Adeyeye said the programme would enable NAFDAC to extend its regulatory activities beyond its laboratories and ports of entry to communities where unsafe medicines and food products reach consumers.

“Regulation that lives only in the capital cannot protect a nation of more than two hundred million people,” she said.

“The programme is how we take regulation to the doorstep of the Nigerian people.”

She explained that NAFDAC selected the volunteers through a deliberate process that considered merit, availability and geographical representation.

According to her, the initiative is not an internship or temporary attachment but an investment in the country’s regulatory future.

“It is an investment in you, and through you, in the regulatory future of this country,” she said.

The pharmacists will receive training in pharmacovigilance, post-market surveillance, quality assurance, compliance monitoring, inspection and enforcement.

They will also support public sensitisation on drug abuse, antimicrobial resistance and the dangers of substandard and falsified medicines.

Adeyeye said the reserve would allow NAFDAC to mobilise trained pharmacists at short notice when public health emergencies arise.

Such situations, she explained, could include product recalls, suspected circulation of falsified medicines and emergencies in hard-to-reach communities.

She said the agency’s long-term ambition is to establish a standing pool of trained and vetted pharmacists in every state.

The volunteers would then work with NAFDAC state offices to strengthen regulatory activities in markets, community pharmacies, patent medicine stores and primary healthcare centres.

Adeyeye, however, warned the pharmacists that integrity would remain central to their responsibilities.

She said they would encounter offers and pressures designed to compromise their duties while carrying out regulatory assignments.

“As patriotic Nigerians, reject such offers. The moment a regulator can be bought, the public loses its only protection,” she said.

The NAFDAC boss also listed availability, discipline and confidentiality among the requirements for the volunteers.

She urged them to respond promptly whenever they receive assignments and ensure they complete their duties.

She further warned them against sharing confidential information obtained during inspections and investigations on social media.

The pharmacists, she said, must also maintain a learning attitude by studying regulatory guidelines, asking questions and documenting their work properly.

Adeyeye urged them to respect the communities they would serve, noting that they would represent both NAFDAC and the pharmacy profession.

“You will enter markets, pharmacies and health facilities as ambassadors of NAFDAC and of the pharmacy profession. Conduct yourselves accordingly,” she said.

The volunteers will also benefit from practical regulatory experience and professional mentorship from experienced NAFDAC officials.

Adeyeye said their service would receive formal documentation through certification and letters of service, which could strengthen their professional profiles.

She added that the programme would enable them to build professional networks across the country and gain experience relevant to careers in the pharmaceutical and regulatory sectors.

Beyond career development, she said, their work would contribute directly to protecting Nigerians from dangerous products.

Adeyeye said the programme could help ensure that children receive genuine medicines, families avoid harmful products and consumers gain greater protection from unsafe food.

She also directed NAFDAC directors and state coordinators to take ownership of the volunteers.

The officials, she said, must mentor the pharmacists and deploy them meaningfully to ensure the programme improves regulatory coverage at the state level.

Declaring the programme formally inaugurated, Adeyeye told the volunteers that their enrolment came with a responsibility to put public safety first.

“You carry today not just a certificate of enrolment, but a pledge to serve with integrity, to represent NAFDAC and your profession with honour, and to place the safety of the Nigerian public above every other consideration,” she said.

The Coordinator of the PRVP and Director of Narcotics and Controlled Substances, Dr. Momodu Omamegbe Rametu, said the programme had grown rapidly from a call for expressions of interest into a nationwide pool of 600 pharmacists.

Rametu described the reserve as an organised backup system that would provide additional support during emergencies and specific regulatory operations.

She said it would also increase citizen participation in regulation, post-market surveillance and drug demand reduction campaigns.

Similarly, the Coordinator of the NAFDAC Training School, Dr. Tunde Sigbeku, said training would provide the knowledge required to make the volunteers effective in the field.

Sigbeku described volunteering as a call to responsibility and service rather than merely a title.

He said the agency’s online training would cover post-market surveillance, pharmacovigilance, antimicrobial resistance prevention, inspection and enforcement.

The programme will also expose the pharmacists to narcotics and controlled substances, veterinary medicines, drug abuse prevention and surveillance intelligence gathering.

“You will be a good hand for us in surveillance intelligence gathering and above all in research,” Sigbeku told the volunteers.

He commended Adeyeye for establishing what he described as a nationwide reserve of pharmacists who could support NAFDAC in its regulatory operations.

“This is the first time the Agency is having a backup or a reserve of foot soldiers across the country to help us in the battle against fake drugs and substandard products,” he said.