Okowa charges NAFDAC on food, drugs adulteration

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, on Friday charged the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to apply tougher measures to curb adulteration of goods and drugs in the country.

Okowa gave the advice when the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, visited him in Government House, Asaba.

The governor, who represented by his deputy, Mr Kingsley Otuaro, said that NAFDAC was doing well in the discharge of its mandate, but stressed the need for improvement in the area of food and drugs that were still being adulterated.

He commended the management of the agency for establishing an investigative centre in Asaba, adding that it would help to check the prevalence of fake goods and drugs in the state.

According to Okowa, the centre will help the state in tackling fake and adulterated products because more than 50 per cent of products, including alcoholic beverages, that come into the state through the state’s eastern neighbours, are completely adulterated.

“Having an investigative centre in Asaba will truly be a welcome development and your organisation is assured of the partnership and collaboration of the state government going forward so that the agency can achieve its purpose.

“Be courageous, be bold, because God is with you and God will keep you as you fight to make the society safe. As a government, we believe that governance is all about providing for the people and securing their lives and property.

“The phenomenon of protecting lives is inexplicably woven with the health of the people you are protecting, and that speaks volume of the relevance of NAFDAC,” the governor said.

Okowa said further: “We are happy with your performance thus far, and that speaks volumes of the partnership and collaboration alluded to the government of Delta State.

“I want to use this opportunity to reiterate that as a government, we acknowledge the importance of NAFDAC as an agency and what it stands for, and we will continually deepen our collaboration and partnership with the agency”.

Earlier, Adeyeye thanked the governor for the huge support his administration was giving NAFDAC.

She said her team was in the state to launch the Investigative and Enforcement Office of the agency, and also to seek further ways of partnering with the state government.

The NAFDAC boss noted that the agency’s vision was to ensure that there was quality management in the agency and also to ensure that it was more customer-focused, value-driven and country-dedicated.

She explained that the presence of the agency at the ports in the country had led to the seizure of fake products worth billions of Naira.

She assured the government that with Asaba as the hub of enforcement, the influx of fake products into the state and its neighbours would be minimised.

Adeyeye also used the occasion to request for a land from the state government to enable it construct its office to meet global standard.

She said such office would also house a warehouse to accommodate fake goods that might be seized in the zone.