Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with skyrocketing inflation, a national currency in free-fall and millions of people struggling to buy food
Ibadan – The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised the alarm over the proliferation of substandard bread and other regulated products in markets across the South West region of Nigeria.
The warning came during a stakeholders engagement meeting held on Friday in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.
Recent laboratory tests conducted on bread samples from local markets yielded “concerning results”, according to Mrs. Roseline Ajayi, NAFDAC’s South West coordinator.
Ajayi said: “Recently, we observed that bread sold in the markets is failing laboratory tests because producers are using saccharine due to the high cost of sugar.
“They are introducing ingredients that are not good for the health of the consumers.”
The agency’s concern extends beyond bakery products. Ajayi disclosed that recent operations uncovered patent medicine dealers selling restricted drugs and unregistered products.
Additionally, some manufacturers were found to be non-compliant with packaging and storage standards.
While acknowledging the current economic challenges, Ajayi said NAFDAC would not compromise its standards.
“We are not unmindful of the prevailing economic challenges, but the agency will not compromise its standards.
“It is pertinent to note that the quality and safety of regulated products cannot be compromised,” she asserted.
The engagement meeting sought to foster collaboration between NAFDAC and relevant stakeholders to better safeguard public health.
Mr. Moses Adewole, Oyo State Director of Pharmaceutical Services, urged medicine sellers to operate within their expertise and warned against the sale of expired drugs, equating it to distributing poison.
Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with skyrocketing inflation, a national currency in free-fall and millions of people struggling to buy food. Only two years ago Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria is projected to drop to fourth place this year.
The pain is widespread. Unions strike to protest salaries of around $20 a month. People die in stampedes, desperate for free sacks of rice. Hospitals are overrun with women wracked by spasms from calcium deficiencies.
Although President Bola Tinubu increased the minimum wage — after strike action and months-long negotiations with labour unions — from N30,000 to N70,000, his government has increased spending for officials at a time of nationwide starvation.
For workers earning the new N70,000, or $43, per month minimum wage, capricious inflation and naira value have inflicted too much damage for the changes to make any difference in their lives.
The crisis is largely believed to be rooted in two major changes implemented by Mr Tinubu, elected 14 months ago: the partial removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the currency, which together have caused major price rises.
A nation of entrepreneurs, Nigeria’s more than 200 million citizens are skilled at managing in tough circumstances, without the services states usually provide. They generate their own electricity and source their own water. They take up arms and defend their communities when the armed forces cannot. They negotiate with armed kidnappers when family members are abducted.
But right now, their resourcefulness is being stretched to the limit.