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ABUJA – Concerned by Nigeria’s worsening dependence on imported medicines, pharmaceutical experts and industry leaders have demanded bold executive reforms and aggressive policy implementation to end what they described as the country’s dangerous overreliance on foreign drugs.
The experts, led by Nonye Onyewuenyi and Sam I. Ohuabunwa, warned that Nigeria risks deeper healthcare insecurity and industrial collapse if urgent steps are not taken to revive local pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Speaking at the 29th Annual National Conference of the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria, the stakeholders lamented that despite having over 200 pharmaceutical companies and abundant natural resources, Nigeria still imports more than 70 percent of the drugs consumed locally.
Dr. Onyewuenyi blamed weak implementation of government policies and lack of political will for the country’s pharmaceutical crisis.
“We have the raw materials and the ambition, but what we lack is a deliberate policy,” she declared. “It is unacceptable for a nation of over 200 million people with more than 200 registered pharmaceutical firms to still import over 70 percent of its drugs.”
She urged the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu to move beyond policy pronouncements and ensure proper funding and implementation of the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain and other healthcare reforms.
“Nigeria cannot continue to rely on foreign nations for medicines, vaccines and essential medical products if it truly seeks sovereignty in healthcare delivery,” she stated.
The pharmaceutical expert further warned that local drug manufacturers are being crippled by foreign exchange instability, rising production costs and the increasing prices of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).
She insisted that Nigeria has the capacity to become Africa’s pharmaceutical powerhouse if government creates the right environment and invests heavily in research, innovation and industrial infrastructure.
Onyewuenyi also raised concerns over the inability of many local firms to meet international manufacturing standards because of weak laboratory systems, poor research funding and obsolete production facilities.
“For a country blessed with abundant natural and human resources, it is a sheer waste to keep importing drugs that Nigeria could produce in abundance if only more effort was put into innovation and research,” she lamented.
The Chief Executive and Chief Executive Scientist Officer of Nolix Analytics explained that her presentations at the conference focused on structural pre-formulation science and Quality by Design (QbD), aimed at helping Nigerian manufacturers adopt globally compliant production systems.
“Quality medicines do not reside only in other countries. In Nigeria, we have all the raw materials and incredible expertise, but if we are not trained on how to use them properly, we are not doing well,” she added.
According to her, poorly manufactured medicines resulting from weak scientific processes pose serious dangers to patients.
“If drugs are poorly manufactured without understanding the precise interaction and characterisation of APIs, the product will ultimately cause harm to patients,” she cautioned.
She also advocated stronger collaboration between pharmaceutical companies, universities, regulators and research institutions including the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development.
On his part, Ohuabunwa challenged pharmaceutical executives to abandon outdated management culture and embrace performance-driven leadership capable of surviving harsh economic realities.
“Performance management is the heartbeat of corporate sustainability,” Ohuabunwa declared. “It is not an HR yearly form; it is a daily commitment to ensuring our patients win and our business grows.”
The former PSN president stressed that pharmaceutical firms must adopt measurable execution systems, continuous performance reviews and strict operational monitoring to bridge the gap between planning and results.
“We must stop seeing performance management as a seasonal event,” he said. “It is the bridge between our strategic vision and the safe, quality medicines our patients deserve.”
Ohuabunwa further warned against compromise and falsification within the pharmaceutical industry, stressing that lives are at stake.
“In pharma, we deal with lives. You cannot ‘PIP’ your way out of falsified records or data integrity breaches,” he warned.
He also urged the leadership of NAIP under Bankole Ezebuiro to institutionalise merit-based systems rooted in competence and professionalism.
Reacting to the presentations, Ezebuiro described the contributions of both experts as practical roadmaps capable of repositioning Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry for sustainable growth.
He assured participants that the association would work towards implementing the recommendations emerging from the conference.
The experts maintained that Nigeria’s pharmaceutical future depends largely on disciplined execution, political commitment, strategic investments and accountability.
“It takes much more than rhetoric to achieve these lofty objectives,” Onyewuenyi stressed. “Deliberate steps must be taken to put in place not just the right environment, but resources must also be strategically deployed to the relevant sectors and institutions.”
Ohuabunwa echoed the same position, charging stakeholders not to allow the momentum generated by the conference to die.
“Let us go back to our plants, our pharmacies and our boardrooms with a renewed mindset,” he said. “Performance management is the last mile towards good governance and health security.”
Onyewuenyi expressed confidence that Nigeria could emerge as Africa’s leading pharmaceutical manufacturing hub if the recommendations from the conference are fully implemented.
“The Nigerian pharmaceutical industry inherently possesses the structural and intellectual capacity to become an absolute giant in the manufacturing, distribution and sale of pharmaceutical products across the African continent,” she concluded.
