By: Manoah Kikekon
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| Osita Chidoka |
ILORIN, NIGERIA – Former Minister of Aviation and Chancellor of the Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership, Osita Chidoka, has delivered a fierce wake-up call to Nigeria’s pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Speaking at the 29th Yearly National Conference and Training of the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP) in Ilorin, Kwara State, Chidoka charged the sector to abandon its “alibi culture” of excuses and radically pursue global quality standards.
The high-level conference brought together regulators, top policymakers, and pharmaceutical titans to deliberate on national health security and industrial growth amidst crushing economic realities.
Painting a grim picture of the country's economic burden, Chidoka highlighted how the collapse of the Naira's purchasing power has turned basic healthcare into a luxury. He cited that a simple purchase of four common over-the-counter items—Creatine, Magnesium Glycinate, Vicks Sinex, and a pain relief ointment—costs a staggering ₦130,520 in Nigeria.
While the international value of these products sits at around $88, Chidoka pointed out that a minimum-wage worker in the United States spends barely 1% of their monthly earnings on them, whereas a Nigerian worker would need up to 15% of their monthly income—or nearly two months' salary in some brackets—for the exact same items.
"This is more than a currency challenge," Chidoka argued. "It reflects a structural failure driven largely by the industry’s heavy dependence on imported Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), which currently stands between 70 and 80 percent."
To survive the current economic climate and tap into the lucrative African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Chidoka insisted manufacturers must adopt an “Agency Culture”—a mindset of taking total responsibility for outcomes regardless of infrastructural or economic hurdles.
He noted that relying solely on meeting the minimum requirements of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is no longer enough to build a resilient industry.
“The regulator’s weakness is not your permission to be weak,” Chidoka declared. “You are not building for NAFDAC alone; you are building for the WHO, AfCFTA, and the Nigerian consumer. The future will not reward those who merely work harder in the same direction. It will reward those who are willing to work differently with a long-term vision.”
Echoing Chidoka’s call for an internal culture of excellence, the National Chairman of NAIP, Bankole Ezebuilo, urged manufacturers to look beyond basic compliance and implement rigorous internal performance metrics.
“Excellence in pharmaceutical manufacturing must go beyond basic compliance," Ezebuilo stated. "We must take full ownership of product quality and institutional performance, utilizing modern tools like Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and continuous feedback mechanisms."
The training segment of the conference featured globally renowned US-based pharmaceutical executive Henrietta N. Ukwu, who provided practical insights on steering local manufacturing toward international best practices.
The conference saw a heavy turnout of elite stakeholders, including the Registrar of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, and former Presidents of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) including Sam Ohuabunwa and Mohammed Yaro Budah.
The Kwara State Government also signaled its strong backing for local pharma growth, with top cabinet members, including Commissioner for Finance Hauwa Nuru and Commissioner for Communication Bolanle Olukoju, actively participating in the sessions.
Chidoka concluded by introducing "Mekaria" an African operational philosophy focused on continuous improvement through his M²I framework (Measure, Monitor, and Improve). He maintained that treating quality as a strategic competitive advantage, rather than a regulatory burden, is the only way Nigerian pharma can safeguard the nation's health security and dominate the continental market.