NAFDAC Raises Alarm, Says 2,000 Workers Can’t Regulate Products for 240 Million Nigerians

• NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, says the agency is severely understaffed, revealing it has only 2,000 workers regulating products consumed by over 240 million Nigerians and urgently needs at least 5,000 additional personnel.

The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has raised concerns over the agency’s severe manpower shortage, saying it lacks enough personnel to effectively regulate products consumed by Nigeria’s more than 240 million people.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, Adeyeye disclosed that NAFDAC currently operates with only about 2,000 staff, a figure she described as grossly inadequate for the agency’s nationwide responsibilities.

According to her, the staffing gap becomes more evident when compared with countries such as Indonesia, which has a population of about 280 million people but employs roughly 20,000 regulatory workers.

“We have been chronically short of staff in NAFDAC.

“We are 240 million people and we have 2,000 staff. A comparable country in Indonesia that has about 280 million people, they have 20,000 staff. That is the gap that we have been discussing in terms of closing,” she said.

Adeyeye stressed that the agency was not requesting a workforce comparable to Indonesia’s but urgently needed at least 5,000 additional employees to strengthen its operations across the country.

“We are not asking for 20,000. We need at least 5,000 more. At least 5,000 more staff,” she added.

The NAFDAC boss said the shortage had placed enormous pressure on the agency, making it impossible for officials to monitor activities in every part of the country.

“Because, like you said, we cannot be everywhere. We are stretched thin. We are doing the very best we can do,” she stated.

Adeyeye also appealed for increased funding for the Federal Task Force established to support NAFDAC’s enforcement activities.

She revealed that although the Federal Task Force C34 Bill was enacted in 2004, it had never received financial support from the government.

“Another is our support. The Federal Task Force C34 bill was enacted in 2004. That bill was never supported with one naira,” she said.

Despite the challenges, the NAFDAC Director-General expressed optimism that the Federal Government would address the agency’s staffing and funding concerns following discussions with the Minister of Finance.

According to her, the Federal Task Force works alongside task forces in all 36 states to strengthen enforcement against counterfeit, substandard and unsafe products nationwide.

“The Federal Government is listening that we need a lot of staff and we need support. And I believe they’re going to do that,” she added.