BusinessDay 22 Oct 2017

Sunday 22 October 2017
C002D5556
SUNDAY
BD
11
Feature
L-R: Simidele Onabajo; deputy director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Kingsley Ejiofor, director, Investigation and Enforcement, and Abubakar Jimoh, director, Special Duties, all
of NAFDAC, displaying ‘GLUCOZEAID ENERGY DRINK’, an imitation drink produced by Tasty Time Nigeria Limited at the NAFDAC Head Office in Lagos.
Sustaining efforts at tackling the scourge
of counterfeit products in Nigeria
OBINNA EMELIKE
Stanley, a stock-broker
in his early thirties,
is no stranger to the
Lagos lifestyle. It is
the fifth year since he
relocated from Benue State and
his strong desire to succeed in
Lagos has firmly integrated
him into the regular hustle
that makes the city bustle. Unlike
everyone else, Stanley has
found a way to remain calm in
traffic congestion that Lagosians
are regularly subjected to;
thanks to the access to bottled
water and cold beverages displayed
by roadside vendors.
Unfortunately, obeying his
thirst while in traffic almost
got Stanley into trouble one of
those days. It was thirty minutes
after gulping a cold bottle
of his preferred beverage drink,
that he realized it was not ‘the
real thing’, and possibly a counterfeit
product. His reaction
after taking the drink required
immediate medical attention.
The truth is, not everyone
will be as fortunate as Stanley
who had an immediate access
to medical attention and to be
attentive to connect the product
with his symptoms. This
raises grave concerns about the
damaging effect of counterfeit
products in our society.
It was thus another breakthrough
when the Investigation
& Enforcement team of
the National Agency for Food
and Drug Administration and
Control (NAFDAC) busted mobs
of counterfeiters and paraded
their unregistered products
at a press briefing held penultimate
week at the agency’s
head office.
Of major interest at the
briefing was the revelation of
GLUCOZEAID Energy Drink,
an imitation (or pass off) of the
popular energy drink, Lucozade,
originally produced by
Suntory Beverage and Foods
Nigeria Limited. The drink was
produced with a fake NAFDAC
Registration number NRN: 01-
2474L by Tasty Time Ltd. The
suspect and owner of the company
identified as Kola Isaac,
clandestinely copied the label
and artwork of Lucozade and
inserted an expired NAFDAC
registration number of one of
their products.
Revealing the imitated and
unregistered products, Kingsley
Ejiofor, director of investigation
and enforcement,
NAFDAC, expressed concern
over the affront at the law by
the counterfeiters. According
to him, “the brazen imitation of
the popular drink is very sad.
NAFDAC has always endeavoured
to carry out its functions
as diligently as possible but
these unscrupulous elements
are always bent on carrying out
their nefarious acts”.
A first look at the product
would deceive an unsuspecting
consumer who may be willing
to quickly quench their thirst,
not aware of the danger lurking
within the imitated product.
“NAFDAC’s duty is to safeguard
public health by ensuring
that the right quality food,
drugs and other regulated
products are manufactured,
exported, imported, advertised,
sold and used by the public.
So, we are fully committed to
saving the lives of Nigerians
by arresting and prosecuting
those involved in these illegal
activities” Ejiofor said.
Apart from parading 17
other unregistered products
found in the company’s warehouse,
Ejiofor stated that the
Management of Tasty Time
Nigeria Ltd, at first resisted
arrest despite the glaring evidences.
The arrest was also
made successful largely due to
the intelligent activities of the
agency’s Pharmacovigilance
and Post-Marketing Surveillance
Directorate. As part of
their drive to eliminate this
scourge, NAFDAC is taking
steps to address the situation
through renewed enforcement
and post registration/market
surveillance.
In addition, two other cases
of counterfeit products were
presented. One was the unauthorised
production of herbal
medicine with a forged of NAF-
DAC number and the other
involved the illegal distribution
and sale of counterfeit
insecticides and hair relaxer in
Edo State.
“The agency has over 60
cases at various stages of prosecution
at the courts. I thank
everyone for supporting NAF-
DAC regulated products and
our determination to safeguard
the health of the nation” Ejiofor
said.
When contacted on the
development, Ola Ehinmoro,
Human Resources & Corporate
Affairs Director, Suntory Beverage
and Food Nigeria Ltd,
expressed his appreciation to
NAFDAC for living up to its
mandate. He reiterated that
Nigerians, like other citizens
anywhere in the world, have
a right to quality, safe and
wholesome regulated products.
He urged everyone to support
NAFDAC and other regulatory
agencies to expose the activities
of the undesirable elements
who are bent on reaping from
illegality to the detriment of
innocent and law-abiding citizens.
The menace of counterfeit
products is endemic in Nigeria.
It is a form of corruption that is
causing great damage and loss
of many lives. Not many will
forget the news about certain
plastic rice, imported from Asia
during the latter part of 2016
by some unscrupulous Nigerians.
The news created panic
and tension during the festive
season when the consumption
of rice was supposed to be on
the increase.
It is an undeniable fact that
counterfeiters want to project
Nigeria’s image in bad light,
making the country a haven
of adulterated and counterfeit
products to their sole advantage
and the detriment of the
public. These counterfeiters
could be individuals or corporate
bodies who cheat the system
by producing substandard
goods and fake commodities to
increase their profit margins.
It is against this backdrop that
three government agencies
were established to standardize
and regulate products and
services in Nigeria. These are
the Standards Organisation
of Nigeria (SON), the National
Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control
(NAFDAC) and the Consumer
Protection Council (CPC). These
agencies individually and collectively,
have the duty to standardise,
regulate, enforce or
sanction erring manufacturers
and producers of sub-standard
goods and services.
As NAFDAC steps up enforcement
activities to rid
Nigeria of counterfeited
products, the dragnet has
been thrown across the
country to catch the enemies
of the Nigerian society,
who flourish by producing
poison as products. It is
therefore in the interest of
everyone to be on the alert
and understand that it is no
longer business as usual for
counterfeiters. It is time
to support these agencies
in safeguarding the health
and well-being of Nigerians.
Nigerians all need to wake
up to their responsibility
by exposing the activities
of these unscrupulous individuals
and not patronise or
buy counterfeited products.