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 manpower shortage, saying its current workforce is inadequate to regulate a country with Nigeria’s population size.
Adeyeye said Nigeria, with about 240 million people, has only 2,000 NAFDAC staff, compared with Indonesia, which has a similar population size but employs about 20,000 regulatory personnel.
“We are 240 million people and we have 2,000 staff. Indonesia with 280 million people has 20,000 staff,” she said.
The NAFDAC boss said the shortage of personnel affects the agency’s ability to effectively carry out inspections, monitor food and drug products, and tackle the circulation of fake and substandard items across the country.
She stressed that increased recruitment and investment in regulatory capacity are necessary to strengthen consumer protection and ensure safer medicines and food products for Nigerians.
