The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the purpose of strengthening collaboration in combating the influx of illicit pharmaceutical products and other harmful substances into Nigeria.
Speaking during the signing of the pact in his office on Thursday, Comptroller-General of Service, Adewale Adeniyi, said the MoU was the culmination of years of sustained dialogue and coordination between the agencies.
He listed the provisions of the MoU as including a comprehensive scope of collaboration, particularly in intelligence sharing.
The Comptroller-General explained: “This partnership is a response to a major scourge we are facing in the country.
“Sometimes, at midnight, NAFDAC DG sends intelligence to me, saying, ‘we learnt that a suspicious container may be berthing in the morning’. This kind of real-time information flow is critical to our joint efforts.
“It is time for all of us to say, collectively, that this will be the beginning of the end. We are going to save Nigeria and the future of our kids from these dangerous products”, he added.
In her remarks, Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, described the initiative as a very important given the impact of the products regulated by her agency on Nigerians.
She said: “We consume at least two of our regulated products everyday — food and healthcare items. This partnership is about ensuring that the food, drugs, and healthcare products we take are safe and of the highest quality.”
Adeyeye pointed out that unregulated and illicit products posed a threat to national security, as some approved chemicals could be misused by criminals and terrorists.
According to her, the agency has some ghost companies that are not registered for the production of their items, hence the MoU marks the beginning of the end of such sharp practices.
