The facts and fictions about qualification for NAFDAC DG

published in one of the national dailies, has caught the attention of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). From the beginning to the end of the article, the writer could not conceal his diatribe, venom, sinister plot and the usual Nigerian Pull-Him-Down syndrome. It smacks of an old script written […]

published in one of the national dailies, has caught the attention of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). From the beginning to the end of the article, the writer could not conceal his diatribe, venom, sinister plot and the usual Nigerian Pull-Him-Down syndrome. It smacks of an old script written at the inception of Dr. Paul Orhii’s appointment as Director- General of NAFDAC. The temptation was for me to dismiss the puerile write-up as an old broken record that failed to impress Nigerians when it was first introduced to the market four and a half years ago, but decided otherwise to debunk the misinformation and falsehood so that discerning Nigerians can see through his tissue of lies. The tune is very familiar and characteristic of the author and it reads thus, “Dr. Orhii is not qualified to head NAFDAC because he is not a pharmacist”.
In a bid to confuse the public and give legal connotation to his hatchet job, Mr. Onubogu fraudulently and mischievously quoted Section 9(1) of the NAFDAC Act Cap N1 LFN 2004, which states: “there shall be appointed for the Agency by the President, Commander –In-Chief of the Armed Forces on the recommendation of the Minister, a Director-General who shall be a person with good knowledge of pharmacy, food and drugs”. This was the same argument canvassed by Onubogu’s paymasters in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/250/09 at the Federal High Court, Abuja which was struck out by the Court in April 2012 for lack of merit. In order to put the records straight, it is pertinent to restate the facts of the matter:
Firstly, the NAFDAC Act does not stipulate that the Director-General of the Agency must be a qualified pharmacist, food scientist or/and druggist (including core drug-related discipline).
Secondly, that due to the enormous challenges faced by the Food and Drug Administration Department of the Federal Ministry of Health in the implementation of the Food and Drugs Act of 1974 (now Act CAP F32 LFN 2004) the Federal Government decided to establish a corporate body (NAFDAC), fashioned after the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), a parastatal of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, widely acknowledged as the foremost and leading food and drug regulatory authority in the world.
Just like the USFDA, NAFDAC is a multidisciplinary body consisting of chemists, microbiologists, pharmacologists, food scientist, pharmacists, medical doctors, nurses, medical laboratory scientists, veterinarians, engineers, statisticians, lawyers and others in its employ. All the professionals are involved in the regulation and control of foods, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled water and chemicals with no profession playing any predominant role. All the referred professions and professionals thereof are important in the realization of the mandate of NAFDAC.
Thirdly, it is instructive to note that since its inception as a full-fledged food and drug regulatory authority in 1906, the USFDA has been headed by 21 Food and Drug Commissioners. Out of the number, 13 are medical doctors who have headed the organization, including the current commissioner, Margret Hamburg. Similarly, a veterinarian, 5 scientists, a lawyer and only one pharmacist so far have headed the body at various times, since its inception. Even our sister Ghana Food and Drug Board is headed by Dr. Stephen Opuni, a medical doctor, while Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) in Japan is headed by Tatsuya Kondo, also a medical doctor. At the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Lembit Rago, who is the coordinator of Quality and Safety Medicines unit in Geneva, is also a medical doctor.
A close scrutiny of the world’s top 20 elite Medicines Regulatory Agencies in which NAFDAC belongs has shown that the head of a Medicine and Food Regulatory Authority is not necessarily a pharmacist. In fact, not more than four out of the 20 are pharmacists.
It is evident and crystal clear from the foregoing that the federal government never erred in the appointment of Dr. Paul Orhii as the chief executive of NAFDAC. A correct interpretation of the NAFDAC enabling law shows that not only is a medical doctor in the genre of Dr. Orhii eminently qualified to lead NAFDAC, a degree holder in Food Science and Nutrition is equally fit to administer the agency.
Mr. Onubogu’s insinuation of membership of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) as a pre-requisite for the office of DG (NAFDAC) is not tenable. If one pursues this line of argument, the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) could have raised eyebrows on why the former Directors-General of NAFDAC who were pharmacists were allowed to head NAFDAC since knowledge of food is included in the NAFDAC law.
Dr. Orhii’s groundbreaking achievements as a global leader in the fight against drug counterfeiting through his deployment of innovative cutting-edge technologies has proved bookmakers wrong and reaffirmed government position that he is the best man for the NAFDAC job. Dr.Orhii has a rare and intimidating academic qualification which suitably qualifies him as DG (NAFDAC). Dr Orhii is a trained medical doctor and a lawyer and holds a PhD. in Neuropsychopharmacology. He is also a Biomedical Scientist with vast experience in drug testing and experimental medicine, having conducted cutting-edge biomedical research into new medicines in Russia with more than 10 years biomedical research experience at the University of Texas Health Science Centre at San Antonio, Texas.
He made Nigeria proud recently when he was elected to the coveted and exalted Chair of the WHO’s newly established Member State Mechanism (MSM) on Spurious, Substandard, Falsified, Falsely-Labelled, Counterfeit (SSFFC) medical products, a 193-member nation created to fight drug counterfeiting worldwide
Beyond the shores of Nigeria, he has received international awards, honour and recognitions for the monumental successes recorded by the Agency. The most recent of such awards were the US Special Congressional recognition, Honourary Citizen and key to the City of Maryland and the US Senate resolution commending his work.
One can go on and on these countless achievements. My advice to disgruntled mischief-makers like Onubogu is that they should seek elsewhere to launch their campaign of calumny, falsehood and join the growing rank of well-meaning Nigerians and members of the international community who believe that Dr. Orhii is an achiever par excellence, selfless public servant, an apostle of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation Agenda and a trailblazer in food and drug regulation worldwide.
Jimoh, Director Special Duties (NAFDAC) contributes this piece from Abuja