… Seek life jail for fake drug offenders, tougher anti-drug abuse laws
By Chioma Obinna
The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, (ACPN), on Tuesday raised fresh concerns over the growing exodus of pharmacists from the country, revealing that about 9,850 professionals have left Nigeria in the last five years in search of better opportunities abroad.
Speaking at the opening of the 45th Annual National Scientific Conference of the ACPN at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Scientific Conference Centre in Abuja, the National Chairman of the association, Pharm. Ambrose Ezeh, described the trend as a major threat to Nigeria’s healthcare system and pharmaceutical industry.
Ezeh said records at the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, National Secretariat showed that about 9,000 pharmacists exited Nigeria in the four and a half years preceding December 2026, while over 850 more obtained letters of good standing from the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, PCN, in the first six months of 2026 alone.
“The fortunes of the profession continue to plummet rather dangerously in recent years,” he said. “Data at the PSN National Secretariat confirm the exit of about 9,000 pharmacists in the four and a half years preceding December 2026. The first six months of 2026 have not been significantly better, as over 850 pharmacists have collected letters of good standing from the PCN and moved on to countries like Canada, the UK, Australia and, to a much lesser extent, the USA and some Asian territories.”
He attributed the development to poor remuneration, weak workforce development plans and the failure to fully enforce the National Drug Distribution Guidelines introduced in 2015. According to him, the absence of a clearly defined public drug procurement policy has continued to undermine the profession and compromise patient safety.
“Some of the glaring challenges are the not-too-impressive reward system and the poor drug distribution system, which impinges on the image of the profession,” Igwekamma stated.
The ACPN chairman called on the Federal Government to urgently sponsor executive bills aimed at repositioning the pharmaceutical sector for national development. He identified three priority areas: amendment of the Fake Drug Act, establishment of a federal Drug Management Agency or Drug Revolving Fund agency, and creation of a National Postgraduate College of Pharmacy.
On counterfeit medicines, Igwekamma said the existing sanctions were too weak to deter offenders and were discouraging investors in the pharmaceutical industry.
“The activities of charlatans are not encouraging pharma investors because of the extremely feeble sanction culture the Fake Drug Act offers,” he said. “In alignment with PSN proposals, the ACPN calls for 20 years’ imprisonment for first offenders and life imprisonment, as well as outright forfeiture of all known assets, for subsequent offenders.”
He also urged the government to institutionalise the Drug Revolving Fund system through legislation that would streamline public procurement and distribution of medicines through a central pool.
According to him, the National Council on Health had in December 2024 resolved that all public procurement of drugs should be carried out through the DRF mechanism, but implementation remained weak because of institutional gaps.
Ezeh further advocated the establishment of a National Postgraduate College of Pharmacy to train specialist pharmacists in manufacturing, clinical pharmacy, community pharmacy, public health pharmacy and other critical areas.
He argued that Nigeria was currently bearing more than 95 per cent of the funding burden of the West Africa Postgraduate College of Pharmacists after several member countries, including Ghana, established their own national colleges.
“Only Nigeria funds the subsidy gap of over 95 per cent to nurture the sub-regional college in forex. This should be a cause for concern for Nigerian authorities,” he said.
Beyond workforce challenges, the ACPN warned that drug abuse had become a national emergency. Citing the 2018 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, survey, Igwekamma said more than 21.2 million Nigerians were abusing one form of psychoactive substance or another.
He listed cannabis, opioids, codeine-based cough syrups, sedatives, ecstasy, solvents, inhalants and cocaine among the commonly abused substances.
“We currently have 21,213,000 people who abuse various substances. This confirms the fact that drug abuse is a cankerworm eating really deep into the fibre of Nigerian society,” he said.
The ACPN identified dysfunctional family systems, youth unemployment, poverty, peer pressure, weak prescription control, porous borders, social media influence and corruption at ports as major drivers of the crisis.
To address the problem, the association called for stricter enforcement of drug laws, severe punishment for peddlers and unlicensed dispensers of controlled substances, improved regulation of prescription medicines and the establishment of more rehabilitation centres across the country.
Ezeh urged the Federal Government to strengthen collaboration with professional bodies such as the PSN and ACPN in nationwide advocacy campaigns against substance abuse.
“Government must ensure that law enforcement agents like NDLEA, PCN, NAFDAC, Police and Judiciary are provided with adequate tools to work and rewarded for the good work they do,” he said. “On the other hand, officers who engage in drug use should be severely punished and dismissed from service to serve as a deterrent.”
He expressed hope that the conference would mark the beginning of a stronger and more sustainable partnership between the pharmaceutical profession and government in tackling Nigeria’s healthcare and drug distribution challenges.
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