By Opeyemi Adelakun
The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has raised concerns over severe manpower shortages, warning that the agency’s workforce is too small to effectively regulate food, medicines and other products consumed by more than 240 million Nigerians.
Speaking during an interview on Thursday, Adeyeye said NAFDAC currently operates with about 2,000 staff, a figure she described as grossly inadequate for the agency’s nationwide regulatory responsibilities.
She compared Nigeria’s situation with Indonesia, noting that the Asian country, with a population of about 280 million people, has roughly 20,000 regulatory personnel.
“We have been chronically short of staff in NAFDAC. We are 240 million people and we have 2,000 staff. A comparable country like Indonesia, with about 280 million people, has 20,000 staff,” she said.
Adeyeye stressed that the agency was not seeking a workforce comparable to Indonesia’s but required at least 5,000 additional personnel to strengthen its operations and improve regulatory oversight across the country.
According to her, the shortage has overstretched the agency’s capacity, making it impossible for officials to maintain an effective presence in every part of Nigeria.
The NAFDAC boss also called for increased funding to support the Federal Task Force established to strengthen enforcement activities, revealing that the Federal Task Force C34 Bill, enacted in 2004, has never received dedicated government funding since its passage.
She expressed optimism that the Federal Government would address both the manpower and funding challenges, saying discussions with the Minister of Finance had given the agency hope that additional support would soon be provided.
Adeyeye added that the Federal Task Force works alongside 36 state task forces to improve enforcement and protect Nigerians from unsafe and substandard regulated products nationwide.
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