All the major stakeholders should do more to contain the menace

The Director General of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Farouk Salim at the anniversary of World Standards Day last week spoke about the importation of fake and substandard goods that has become a major killer in the country. The activities of these economic saboteurs flourish at the detriment of the national economy and the ultimate victims are the local manufacturers who are unduly disadvantaged to compete with the imported inferior goods. Instructively, Salim’s warning came on the same day the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) alerted Nigerians that a falsified Augmentin 625mg tablets, an antibiotic medication used for the treatment of different types of bacterial infections, was in circulation.

Established in 1971, SON has for the past five decades waged a war against importers and manufacturers who opt for short-cuts to maximise profits. But Salim would need more than preachments to succeed in this war against inferior and substandard goods which are definitely killing the local industry in Nigeria. SON must embark on some house-cleaning exercise by identifying the fifth columnists within their own establishment who may be aiding the economic saboteurs, and bring them to book. But the lack of prosecutorial powers is definitely a handicap for SON as there is no effective deterrent against the importers and dealers of these inferior products.

Last year, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Niyi Adebayo decried the death of many Nigerians from this menace. Thousands of lives, according to Adebayo, had been cut short because of substandard products like steel and roofing sheets, adulterated lubricants, old and expired liquefied petroleum gas, substandard electric cables and rethreaded vehicular tyres. Adebayo used the occasion to urge SON to arrest, confiscate and prosecute offenders who violate the laws relating to standards of goods and services in Nigeria. But the challenges are more fundamental, and Adebayo cannot push all the responsibilities to SON.

Since the current direction of Nigeria’s external trade is mostly with countries where faking and adulteration have become established sub economies, there is need for a diplomatic reorientation that involves government at the highest level. The near absence of controls in those countries and at our end increases the challenge. Corruption at our ports of entry and in the regulatory agencies is a whole area of concern that has remained with us for so long. Rogue officials of NAFDAC, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigeria Customs Service, etc., all have developed a culture of complicity on nefarious trafficking in substandard products.

Meanwhile, original patents and formulations for drugs, medicaments and specifications of other end user items all belong in the domain of intellectual property. Foreign exchange approvals by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are usually made on the basis of pro forma invoices on standard products. Enforcement of intellectual property rights has therefore become imperative. Also, overdue now is an overhaul of agencies that oversee standards.

We support NAFDAC and SON for indicating commitment to regulatory compliance, but they must work with the Customs to prevent these fake and substandard pharmaceutical consignments from being cleared at the nation’s ports and borders. They must also work with other stakeholders to ensure that only safe and quality regulated products are available for distribution because there is a supply and demand dimension to the problem. Specifically, in the area of drugs and medicaments, the general poverty among the populace makes cheap adulterated drugs more affordable. Unscrupulous traders will import and sell what the market effectively demands. The absence of a national policy on Medicare and Medicaid has driven most Nigerians into the underground medicine market of fake products. And we must deal with this challenge.

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