Is NAFDAC Doing Enough Against Fake Drugs? The Evidence Raises Difficult Questions

The answer, in my assessment, is no.

That is not a conclusion reached lightly, nor is it intended to diminish the considerable work being done by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) under Professor Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye. NAFDAC has carried out raids, seized suspected counterfeit products, shut down facilities and secured convictions.

But the persistence and scale of Nigeria’s fake-drug crisis raise a more uncomfortable question: if these enforcement measures are working, why does the counterfeit medicine trade remain so deeply entrenched?

This is not merely a regulatory question. It is a public-health emergency with consequences measured in human lives.

A Personal Encounter With a National Crisis

For me, the issue is not abstract.

My sick child, Anjolaoluwa, was diagnosed with malaria and typhoid at Ajegunle General Hospital, Orege. A prescription was filled partly at the hospital and partly at a nearby pharmacy. What followed was a deterioration in my child’s condition and the frightening realization that something within the treatment chain might have gone fundamentally wrong.

That experience reflects a vulnerability shared by millions of Nigerian families. Patients generally assume that when they obtain medicine from a hospital, pharmacy or patent medicine store, the product has passed through a system capable of guaranteeing its authenticity and safety.

When counterfeit or substandard medicines penetrate legitimate distribution channels, that trust is shattered.

The problem then goes beyond individual criminals selling fake drugs. It becomes a failure across an entire supply chain manufacturing, importation, distribution, regulation, retail and consumption.

The Human Cost of Counterfeit Medicines

The scale of the problem is difficult to ignore.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has estimated that as many as 500,000 people die annually from counterfeit medicines in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria drugs and antibiotics are particularly concerning because ineffective treatment can turn otherwise manageable illnesses into life threatening conditions.

The economic consequences are equally serious. Millions of dollars are spent treating complications associated with counterfeit and substandard medicines, while families bear additional costs when ineffective treatment prolongs illness.

Behind every statistic, however, is an individual.

A child who does not recover.

A parent who spends money repeatedly on treatment.

A worker whose illness keeps them away from work.

A family that loses a loved one to a condition that could have been treated.

These are the real consequences of a medicine system that fails to guarantee authenticity.

Nigeria’s Supply Chain Problem

Nigeria’s vulnerability is compounded by its dependence on imported pharmaceutical products and raw materials.

The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria has raised concerns about the proportion of medicines in circulation that may be fake, while the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria has highlighted the country’s substantial dependence on pharmaceutical imports.

The World Health Organization has also warned that a significant proportion of medical products in low- and middle-income countries are substandard or falsified, with parts of Central and West Africa particularly vulnerable.

This creates an uncomfortable paradox.

Nigeria has a large pharmaceutical market and a growing demand for medicines, yet significant weaknesses remain within the supply chain. Where genuine medicines are unavailable or unaffordable, an opportunity emerges for counterfeiters.

The result is a parallel market that can thrive alongside the legitimate pharmaceutical industry.

NAFDAC Is Acting but Is It Enough?

To NAFDAC’s credit, the agency has not remained passive.

Between May and July 2026, NAFDAC conducted nationwide surveillance across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The exercise reportedly covered 6,233 facilities and resulted in 7,210 products being removed from circulation.

Of those products, 2,459 were drugs and herbal products, while 2,084 facilities within that category were visited.

The agency also secured 64 convictions for counterfeiting, with prison sentences ranging from one to seven years without the option of a fine.

Some of the cases involved fake antibiotics, falsified antimalarials and codeine-containing cough syrups.

In February 2026, more than 10 million doses of suspected counterfeit malaria medicines and cosmetics valued at about ?3 billion were reportedly seized in Lagos, with four suspects arrested.

Then, in July, the Nigeria Customs Service handed over nine containers containing seized narcotics and unregistered pharmaceutical products valued at ?53.39 billion to NAFDAC and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

These figures are significant.

But they also expose the scale of the challenge.

If billions of naira worth of suspected illegal pharmaceutical products can move through Nigeria’s ports and markets, the question should not stop at how much is being seized.

How much gets through?

The Markets Where Counterfeiters Thrive

The continued existence of large open pharmaceutical markets is another part of the puzzle.

Markets such as Idumota in Lagos, Bridge Head in Onitsha and Ariaria in Aba have long been associated with large scale pharmaceutical trading. Where legitimate and illicit products exist within the same commercial ecosystem, identifying and eliminating counterfeit medicines becomes considerably more difficult.

These markets do not operate in isolation.

Products can move from major distribution centres to pharmacies, hospitals, patent medicine stores and retailers across the country.

That means a counterfeit product seized at one location may represent only one visible point in a much larger distribution network.

The challenge for regulators, therefore, is not simply to confiscate products.

It is to identify who manufactured them, who financed them, who imported them, who transported them, who distributed them and who ultimately profited from their sale.

Without dismantling those networks, seizures can become a recurring exercise rather than a permanent solution.

Self-Medication: A Symptom of a Broken System?

Another factor is Nigeria’s widespread culture of self-medication.

Studies have reported high levels of Nigerians purchasing medicines directly from pharmacies and patent medicine stores rather than consulting medical professionals. Estimates of self-medication prevalence vary widely, but the pattern is sufficiently widespread to warrant serious concern.

This behaviour cannot simply be dismissed as irresponsibility.

For many Nigerians, it is a response to an expensive and often inaccessible healthcare system.

When a patient cannot afford a hospital consultation, faces long waiting times or needs immediate treatment for a familiar illness, the neighbourhood pharmacy or patent medicine store becomes the first point of contact.

That creates another vulnerability.

Consumers who cannot distinguish genuine medicines from falsified products become dependent on the integrity of the seller and the supply chain behind that seller.

Enforcement Must Go Beyond Seizures

This is where the limits of the current enforcement model become apparent.

Raids, seizures and convictions are necessary. But they are largely reactive.

A stronger strategy would require NAFDAC to move further upstream and develop a more intelligence driven system capable of tracking pharmaceutical products from manufacture or importation to the final point of sale.

Information sharing between NAFDAC, the Nigeria Customs Service, NDLEA, the police and other relevant agencies should be continuous rather than dependent on individual operations.

Community based surveillance could also play a greater role.

Pharmacists, healthcare workers, civil society organisations, market associations, community development groups and consumer advocates could provide an additional layer of intelligence by reporting suspicious products and sellers.

Technology must also become central to the response.

Consumers need simple and reliable ways to verify medicines before taking them, while regulators need systems capable of identifying suspicious movements within the pharmaceutical supply chain.

The Economics of Fake Drugs

But even the strongest enforcement system will struggle if the economic conditions driving the market remain unchanged.

The rising cost of pharmaceutical raw materials, pressure on local manufacturers, dependence on imports and the increasing price of essential medicines all create conditions in which counterfeit products can flourish.

A genuine medicine that is beyond the reach of a struggling family creates a market for a cheaper alternative.

That is where criminal networks step in.

Nigeria therefore needs more than stronger raids. It needs a pharmaceutical policy that makes genuine medicines available, affordable and accessible.

Strengthening domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing, reducing unnecessary import dependence, improving access to finance and supporting local production are all part of the long-term solution.

The Question NAFDAC Must Answer

The central issue is not whether NAFDAC is working.

Clearly, it is.

The agency has demonstrated that it can identify illegal products, shut down operations and secure convictions.

The harder question is whether those interventions are sufficient to keep pace with a counterfeit medicine industry that appears capable of adapting, reorganising and finding new routes into the market.

The answer, at present, appears to be no.

And that is not necessarily an indictment of NAFDAC alone.

The fake-drug crisis is bigger than one agency. It is a problem involving healthcare access, pharmaceutical manufacturing, border control, poverty, consumer behaviour, enforcement and governance.

Ultimately, the victims are not statistics.

They are children like Anjolaoluwa.

They are parents, workers, students and elderly Nigerians whose illnesses should have been treatable.

Every counterfeit medicine that reaches a patient represents more than a regulatory failure. It represents a potential life lost, a family devastated and a public trust betrayed.

So the question Nigerians should continue asking is not simply, “Is NAFDAC doing something?”

It is:

“Are the measures being taken enough to stop the counterfeit medicine networks before their products reach our hospitals, pharmacies and homes?”

Until that question can be answered convincingly, Nigeria’s fight against fake drugs remains unfinished.