By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The Federal Government has come under scrutiny over local production of drugs.
Stakeholders, who include traditional rulers, healthcare providers, and industrial leaders, at a stakeholders Conference, enjoined the federal government to ensure the goal of achieving 70 per cent local production of drugs by 2030.
Reflecting on the 2026 Economic Outlook of the National Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria, with the theme, “Reimagining Nigeria’s Health Security: Local Production, Economic Sovereignty And Strategic Partnership,” the stakehodlers declared support for the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria to transform the nation’s drug security.
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, in his Keynote address, revealed that 70 per cent of the drugs used in Nigeria are imported, with 82 per cent of the imports originating from a single source, India. He described such concentration as bad news for national security.
Also, the Chairman of the occasion and the Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, called for urgent political engagement to establish local plants, aiming to ensure the Pharmaceutical Industry in Nigeria becomes self-sufficient to boost the domestic supply chain.
A former Minister of Health, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, emphasized the need for the independence of the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria.
The President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, Pharm. Ayuba Tanko Ibrahim, commended the organizers for the initiative.
