The governor of Yobe State, Ibrahim Gaidam, said the state government will partner the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, to achieve the agency’s mandate of countering substandard and counterfeit foods and drugs and other products regulated by the agency.
Speaking on Tuesday when the director-general of NAFDAC, Yetunde Oni, paid a courtesy call on him at the Government House Damaturu, the governor described as “paramount” the need to address the challenges of substandard and counterfeit drugs, given the question of difficult terrain and the porous borders that Yobe shares with Niger Republic.
The governor said the disastrous and unfortunate activities of Boko Haram insurgents witnessed in the state recently might have been influenced by the use of illicit drugs as some of the exhibits recovered from some of the insurgents by security agents seemed to suggest.
Mr. Gaidam called on NAFDAC to sensitize the public on the perils of patronizing drug hawkers and take decisive steps to address the problems of drug abuse and street hawking of drugs in the state.
The governor also called on NAFDAC to undertake more research and proffer ways to help farmers in the state preserve their farm produce.
In her remarks, Mrs. Oni said owing to how NAFDAC impacts on the life of every person living in the country, the agency will continue to take every step necessary to fight the problems of substandard and counterfeit drugs and all other items regulated by NAFDAC.
She asked for more support from the state government and called for the establishment of a state task force to work with all stakeholders at the grassroots level to address all concerns with regard to fake drugs and drug abuse, amongst others.
She also pledged to help train farmers in the state on how to store and preserve their farm produce and how to make sure that they use and sell them in a safe and clean way.
