Nigeria’s Public Health Emergency: The Deadly Proliferation Of Fake Foods And Drugs
By
Moshood Isamotu
There is a silent war going on in Nigeria. Unlike the familiar battles fought with guns, bombs, and other instruments of violence, this one is largely stealthy, with the economy and lives at its core. Its perpetrators are not bandits from the Sahel, religious extremists from Yemen, kidnappers, or those who carry sophisticated weapons. But like a toxicological substance, their activities are calamitous and have turned out to be lethal on a mass scale.
Welcome to the frightening world of fake, adulterated, and counterfeit foods and drugs.
From imitation medicines and adulterated cooking oil to contaminated beverages, baby food, and bottled water, a dangerous trade is steadily invading Nigerian homes, turning everyday consumption into a potentially fatal gamble.
With the prevalence of fake, adulterated, and counterfeit foods and drugs, Nigerian consumers now buy poison, openly packaged unsuspectingly as edible; families lose their loved ones without understanding what went wrong, and children suffer irreversible health consequences from what their parents innocently believe to be nourishing food or life-saving medication.
In global forums, Nigeria is cited heavily for the severe circulation of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, adulterated food, refilled branded drinks, and toxic products that pose major health risks. While China consistently ranks as the world’s primary origin and manufacturing hub for counterfeit and pirated products, accounting for the largest share of global seized counterfeit value, Hong Kong and Turkey rank close behind as major global transit and manufacturing centers for illicit goods and counterfeits.
According to the Organized Crime Index, countries scoring highest on the trade-in-counterfeit-goods scale (1 to 10) include China (9.00), Paraguay (9.00), Afghanistan (8.50), Mexico (8.50), Peru (8.50), Cambodia (8.00), India (8.00), Iran (8.00), and Nigeria (8.00).
The scoundrels now operate from warehouses, factories, shops, open markets, and ordinary neighbourhoods. Their victims are unsuspectingly consumers, while their motivation is the insatiable pursuit of money. Their insidious tactics have killed many violently, silently, and in installments. No one is immune.
It is no surprise that some foods no longer nourish, while some common medicines no longer heal. The marketplace is no longer a place of legitimate enterprise, but a hunting ground for unsuspecting victims.
Nigerians are now increasingly confronting the disturbing reality of the proliferation of fake foods and drugs that has reached alarming heights, making it more than an ordinary consumer-protection problem. It is now a systemic public health emergency, an economic crime and, arguably, a national security threat. What sociologists might describe as economic and social fraud has gradually become a street-level criminal enterprise. It has assumed the combined status of pandemic, endemo-pandemic and syndemic vice. From the corner shop in Mubi, Adamawa, to Ogbete market in Enugu and Odo Ori market in Iwo, Osun State, death is being retailed as edible.
The wealthy and the poor, educated and uneducated, urban and rural dwellers are all falling victim. Even unborn children are exposed when pregnant women consume contaminated food or drinks.
What makes the situation particularly disturbing is the changing character of the counterfeiters. It is no longer restricted to imported fake products or occasional circulation of substandard medicines. They are reportedly operating sophisticated local manufacturing facilities, reproducing popular brands, labels, packaging, and repackaging products with disturbing precision.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the agency directly in charge of regulating food and drug administration in Nigeria, has repeatedly expressed worrisome about the ugly trend.
According to the agency, cosmetics, foods and beverages account for more than 50 per cent of counterfeit products seized nationwide, with pharmaceutical products constituting a substantial proportion of the remaining cases.
This preponderance of the incidence has seemingly overwhelmed NAFDAC. While manufactured products may carry identifiable addresses, batch numbers, and registration details, monitoring every food hawker, roadside trader, and informal producer across thousands of communities presents a formidable challenge.
NAFDAC’s reported seizure and destruction of counterfeit, adulterated and fake products valued at approximately ₦1.54 trillion in three years portends a disturbing indication of the scale of the problem. Yet, the confiscated products represent only a fraction of what successfully enters the marketplace. The summary is that Nigeria is under siege from killer foods and drugs.
At the heart of this criminal enterprise is greed. The desire to make money without regard for human life has transformed what should be legitimate commercial activity into an organised assault on society.
Porous borders, weak distribution controls, inadequate regulatory resources, and increasingly sophisticated criminal networks further complicate enforcement.
Economic hardship has also created fertile ground for the trade. Inflation, declining purchasing power and the rising cost of food, medicines and other essentials have forced many households to prioritise affordability over quality.
Counterfeiters exploit this desperation by offering products that resemble established brands but sell at considerably lower prices. For a struggling family, the price difference can be attractive. Unfortunately, what appears to be a saving may ultimately cost a life.
The problem is compounded by weak enforcement, inadequate funding, and poor coordination among regulatory agencies. Products pass through several wholesalers, distributors, re-packagers, and retailers before reaching consumers. By the time a suspicious product is discovered, tracing its origin and identifying those responsible can become extremely difficult.
There is also a disturbing tolerance for cutting corners. Manufacturing or selling products that deliberately endanger human lives is not business ingenuity. It is criminal and, at its most sinister, cruelty.
The consequences of consuming fake and adulterated products can be devastating, although the damage may not become immediately apparent. NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, described counterfeiters as “merchants of death”.
When a patient purchases what appears to be the appropriate medication, takes it faithfully and expects recovery. But unknown to the individual, the drug may contain no active ingredient, an insufficient quantity of the required substance, or an entirely different chemical.
The illness persists, treatment fails, and precious time is lost. In severe cases, the patient dies, while the family may never discover that counterfeit medication contributed to the tragedy.
This is one of the cruelest dimensions of the menace: people can die believing they received treatment when, in reality, they were victims of fraud. Toxic substances, industrial dyes, and contaminated chemicals are applied to improve appearance, preserve products, or increase volume. Some adulterants are poisons and increase the risk of chronic illnesses.
Contaminated or diluted staple foods contribute to malnutrition, impaired development, and weakened immunity. Pregnant women and their unborn babies are also exposed to serious risks.
Another grave consequence is antimicrobial resistance. Medicines containing inadequate quantities of active ingredients may fail to eliminate disease-causing organisms while encouraging the development of resistant strains. Infections consequently become more difficult and expensive to treat, threatening not only individual patients but entire communities.
Available studies and regulatory estimates paint a disturbing picture.
A 2019 study by Beargie and other researchers, titled The Economic Impact of Substandard and Falsified Antimalarial Medications in Nigeria, estimated that poor-quality antimalarial medicines account for approximately 12,300 deaths annually in Nigeria. The researchers estimated that this represented about 16 per cent of malaria-related deaths among children under five.
The World Health Organisation also stated that approximately one in ten medical products in low-and-middle-income countries is substandard or falsified, causing a massive toll on global health and economies.
In addition, between 72,430 and 169,271 children are estimated to die from pneumonia each year after taking counterfeit antibiotics, while substandard or fake anti-malarial treatments cause thousands of preventable deaths and accelerate antimicrobial resistance.
Food safety presents another dimension of the crisis. The WHO estimates that contaminated food causes approximately 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths globally every year. Although these figures cover food contamination more broadly, they demonstrate the enormous human consequences of unsafe food. Experts estimate that food fraud affects roughly 1% to 5% of the global food industry, costing the economy anywhere from $10 billion to $40 billion per year.
However, Nigeria lacks a comprehensive official register capturing every death directly attributable to counterfeit foods and medicines.
Nevertheless, the available evidence and the scale of regulatory seizures suggest a crisis that demands urgent national attention. Behind every confiscated carton of fake medicine, every seized container of adulterated cooking oil and every dismantled illegal factory lies the possibility of countless unsuspecting victims.
Perhaps one of the most damaging consequences of the counterfeit trade is the erosion of public trust. Consumers expect manufacturers to deliver products that meet established quality standards. They equally expect regulators to ensure that what reaches the marketplace is safe for consumption. But the reality presents a sharp contrast.
A recent report by NIQ – FMCG (NielsenIQ), the world’s leading consumer intelligence and market research company that tracks what consumers buy, why they buy it, and how retail markets shift across the globe, found that 99% of Nigerian consumers describe brand trust as “very or somewhat important”, with quality and consistency as the strongest drivers of trust. However, faking, adulterating, and counterfeiting have driven that trust to the lowest ebb.
When consumers purchase familiar brands only to discover that their contents have been adulterated, the damage goes beyond the individual transaction. Confidence in manufacturers, retailers, distribution networks and the regulatory system is weakened.
Legitimate manufacturers also suffer. Their investments in research, product development, quality assurance and brand reputation can be undermined by unscrupulous operators who profit from imitation and deception. Such unfair competition discourages investment and rewards criminal enterprise over responsible business.
Today’s counterfeiters, however, appear more sophisticated and diversified.
Occasional raids and destruction of confiscated products are important, but they cannot replace sustained intelligence-led investigations, effective prosecution, market surveillance and stronger border controls.
The Federal Government must strengthen collaboration among NAFDAC, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, the Nigeria Customs Service, the police, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the judiciary.
Illegal manufacturing facilities must be dismantled, distribution networks investigated and offenders prosecuted. Regulatory agencies require adequate funding, modern laboratories, trained personnel, quick response, and technology capable of monitoring increasingly complex supply chains.
Manufacturers also have responsibilities. Product authentication systems, security seals, scannable QR codes, scratch-to-reveal verification numbers and improved packaging technologies can help consumers identify genuine products.
Consumers must also guard themselves by purchasing medicines from registered pharmacies and authorised outlets, inspecting packaging and expiry dates, verifying NAFDAC registration details through official platforms, and reporting suspicious products.
But consumer vigilance must not become an excuse for regulatory failure.
The government has the primary responsibility to guarantee a reasonably safe marketplace.
Ultimately, the battle against fake foods and drugs is a collective responsibility, but government must provide the leadership.
If the scourge has become a community-level risk, fighting it must be with a more coordinated approach.
Recruiting advocacy champions and volunteers against counterfeiters to serve as whistleblowers may be helpful to keep eyes on locations where it is difficult for NAFDAC to reach. Involving market leaders in the fight will also be helpful.
Consistent advocacy and awareness by the three tiers of governments will also help in driving consciousness to average Nigerians about the health crises that foods adulteration and drugs counterfeiting can cause.
The time has come for Nigeria to declare an uncompromising war against the merchants of death. We cannot continue to talk about economic transformation and national development while allowing criminal operators to undermine the health and productive capacity of its population.
It is high time Nigeria tinkered with the idea of introducing capital punishment for cases of fake and adulterated goods that cause death, instead of the existing legal framework that relies on prison terms and fines rather than capital punishment. A country like Burkina Faso reinstated the death penalty in its penal code, primarily targeting terrorism and the importation of fake goods.
For many Nigerians, the present situation evokes memories of the determined campaign waged by the late Professor Dora Akunyili, former Director-General of NAFDAC.
Nigeria must rediscover the determination that characterised the Akunyili era while adopting enforcement strategies suited to contemporary criminal networks.
Her tenure became synonymous with an aggressive battle against counterfeit medicines and unsafe consumer products. She confronted powerful interests, strengthened public awareness and brought national attention to a menace that had threatened confidence in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical and consumer markets.
Her campaign was not without resistance, but her determination demonstrated what purposeful leadership and regulatory courage could achieve.
Prof. Adeyeye is no doubt rekindling the fond memory of her predecessor, Professor Akunyili, who demonstrated that the battle against fake products can be fought with courage and determination. But it must not depend on the courage of one individual. It requires sustained national commitment and political will.
How many more innocent Nigerians must be buried before we stop allowing death to be packaged, labelled, displayed, and sold on our streets as food and medicine?
A nation cannot secure its future by allowing its people to be poisoned in the marketplace.
MOSHOOD IS A LAGOS-BASED PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR AND PR CONSULTANT
