FAKE FOOD AND DRUGS: ACTRESS MARY NJOKU AND OTHERS CHALLENGE NAFDAC BOSS AS NIGERIANS DEMAND STRONGER PROTECTION

 

A fresh controversy over food and drug safety has erupted between Nollywood actress Mary Remmy Njoku and NAFDAC Director-General Professor Mojisola Adeyeye after the regulator said Nigerians are often ignorant of food-safety issues. While Adeyeye stressed consumer awareness and the different responsibilities of government agencies, Njoku argued that Nigerians should not have to “read their way out” of weak regulation and enforcement.

 

“STOP DEFLECTING AND PROTECT THE PEOPLE” ACTRESS MARY NJOKU

Nollywood actress and filmmaker Mary Remmy Njoku has challenged the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, over her comments on Nigerians’ understanding of food safety.

Njoku’s reaction came on October 6, 2026, after Adeyeye’s comments during an interview generated widespread discussion about who should be held responsible when unsafe or improperly handled food products enter the Nigerian market.

Responding to the NAFDAC boss, Njoku wrote: “Madam NAFDAC!! Stop shifting the burden to consumers. We cannot READ our way out of weak inspection, inadequate testing and poor enforcement. Are you effectively regulating processed and semi-processed foods? Are you? ARE YOU?”

She continued: “This isn’t about whether Nigerians READ labels. This is about whether the regulator is REGULATING. This is public health. Please, STOP DEFLECTING!!!!! Protect the public! Hear the cry of the people you have been called to serve!”

Njoku’s message quickly turned the discussion from consumer responsibility to the wider question of whether Nigeria’s regulatory system is doing enough to protect citizens.

Her central argument was simple: consumers have responsibilities, but regulators also have a duty to make sure dangerous products do not reach them in the first place.

 

WHAT NAIFDAC DG MOJISOLA ADEYEYE SAID

The controversy followed comments by NAFDAC Director-General Professor Mojisola Adeyeye during an interview with BusinessDay TV.

Adeyeye spoke about the responsibilities of NAFDAC and other government institutions in ensuring food safety in Nigeria.

While explaining some of the challenges confronting the country’s food-safety system, she said: “First of all, we are ignorant in this country. We are very ignorant. We don’t read. We don’t understand.”

She also referred to Nigeria’s literacy situation, saying: “We have about 56 percent illiteracy.”

Adeyeye’s point was particularly connected to the use of agricultural chemicals and pesticides.

She explained that some farmers may not properly understand instructions on chemical products, creating another food-safety challenge.

According to her: “Sometimes our people don’t understand, and they think the more you put, the better.”

She added that NAFDAC has a role in educating farmers because it regulates pesticides, but stressed that the agency cannot personally reach every farmer in Nigeria.

“We cannot go to one million farmers in Nigeria, I don’t know how many millions we have. NAFDAC cannot do that.”

The NAFDAC boss further explained that food safety involves several government institutions and should not be treated as the responsibility of one agency alone.

“There are many organizations. There are many agencies that are involved from farm to fork.”

 

ADEYEYE EXPLAINS WHAT NAFDAC REGULATES

One of the most important parts of Adeyeye’s explanation was her distinction between fresh agricultural produce and processed food.

She said: “NAFDAC mandate is for processed or semi-processed foods. So the oranges you buy in the market, we don’t control the oranges you buy in the market.”

The explanation was intended to clarify NAFDAC’s regulatory boundaries.

In practical terms, the agency does not have sole responsibility for everything that eventually appears on a Nigerian dinner table.

Food passes through several stages: farming, processing, transportation, storage, distribution and retail and different government institutions have responsibilities at different points.

That distinction is important because public anger over unsafe food can sometimes be directed at NAFDAC even where another agency has primary responsibility.

However, that explanation has not completely settled the controversy.

Critics, including Njoku, argue that clarifying jurisdiction should not become a reason for consumers to feel that government agencies are passing responsibility from one institution to another.

 

WHY ACTRESS MARY NJOKU PUSHED BACK

Njoku’s criticism centred on what she considers the limits of consumer responsibility.

A consumer can read a label, check an expiry date or look for a registration number.

But an ordinary consumer cannot ordinarily conduct laboratory testing to determine whether a product contains dangerous substances.

Neither can a consumer easily determine whether a seemingly genuine product has been adulterated somewhere along the supply chain.

That is where Njoku’s argument becomes significant.

Her question is essentially this:

If consumers are expected to protect themselves by reading labels, who protects consumers from products that are deliberately falsified, adulterated or improperly produced?

This is the tension at the heart of the controversy.

 

THE DANGER GOES BEYOND FOOD

The debate becomes even more serious when it extends to medicines.

A counterfeit medicine is not simply a poor-quality commercial product. Depending on what it contains, it can result in treatment failure, complications and potentially death.

This explains why the issue of counterfeit medicines has continued to attract serious attention from Nigerian authorities.

In cases where people deliberately manufacture or distribute fake medicines, the motive is often financial.

That is why a statement attributed to veteran actress Ngozi Ezeonu has also circulated in connection with concerns about fake drugs.

The statement reads: “Stop making fake drugs. People are dying. You can’t be making money at the detriment of innocent lives.”

The sentiment reflects the seriousness of the problem: profit should never be placed above human life.

However, there is an important editorial caution here. As of October 6, 2026, the exact original source and date of this Ngozi Ezeonu quotation could not be independently verified from a sufficiently reliable publication. It should therefore not be presented as a confirmed response to Adeyeye’s interview unless the original video, post or interview is produced.

 

PROFILE OF NAFDAC BOSS PROFESSOR MOJISOLA ADEYEYE

Professor Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye is a pharmacist, academic and the Director-General of NAFDAC.

She was appointed Director-General of the agency in 2017.

Her professional background is in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, and she has had a long academic career.

As NAFDAC boss, Adeyeye oversees an agency whose responsibilities include regulating products such as medicines, food, medical devices, cosmetics and chemicals that fall within its statutory mandate.

Her position places her at the centre of Nigeria’s efforts to combat counterfeit and substandard regulated products.

Consequently, public criticism of unsafe food and drugs frequently raises questions about the effectiveness of NAFDAC’s inspection, registration, testing and enforcement activities.

 

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ACTRESS MARY REMMY NJOKU

Mary Remmy Njoku is a Nigerian actress, filmmaker, producer and entrepreneur.

She is widely known as the founder and chief executive of ROK, a Nigerian entertainment company associated with Nollywood film and television production.

Over the years, Njoku has become increasingly outspoken on social and public-interest issues.

Her comments on the NAFDAC controversy fit into that wider pattern of using her public platform to raise questions about issues affecting ordinary Nigerians.

However, her position should also be viewed in context: she is a public commentator, not a food-safety regulator or laboratory scientist.

Her questions can contribute to public discussion, but claims about whether a particular product is contaminated or counterfeit still require scientific evidence and regulatory investigation.

 

NIGERIANS WHO AGREE WITH MARY NJOKU REACTED

Some Nigerians strongly supported Njoku’s criticism.

One commenter said:

“One actress that always speaks up But again nothing will be done.”

Another wrote: “At this point I don’t Even think NAFDAC is still functioning.”

A different commenter questioned the fairness of placing too much responsibility on consumers:

“So if you can’t read, you don’t deserve to be protected or even be alive?”

Another supporter wrote:

“This is exactly what I said when i saw her feedback, It’s must for her to do her job properly.”

These reactions reflect a broader frustration among some members of the public who believe government regulators should take a more proactive approach to preventing dangerous products from reaching consumers.

 

THOSE WHO DEFEND NAFDAC’S POSITION

There is, however, another side to the argument.

Supporters of Adeyeye’s position point out that consumers are not completely powerless.

People can check product information, examine expiry dates, avoid suspiciously cheap products and purchase medicines from legitimate outlets.

They also argue that it is unfair to blame NAFDAC whenever an unsafe product is discovered because food safety involves several government institutions.

Adeyeye’s explanation about fresh agricultural produce illustrates this point.

If an issue concerns a particular stage of agricultural production that falls under another agency, blaming NAFDAC alone does not solve the problem.

The bigger challenge, therefore, is how these agencies coordinate their responsibilities.

 

THOSE CRITICISING THE NAFDAC DG

Critics of Adeyeye’s comments have focused particularly on her description of Nigerians as “ignorant.”

For some Nigerians, the statement sounded as though consumers were being blamed for a problem that government regulators are supposed to help prevent.

Their argument is that even an educated consumer may not be able to identify a sophisticated counterfeit product.

A fake product may have convincing packaging, labels and even apparently valid registration information.

Consumers cannot be expected to perform laboratory tests in their homes.

That is why Njoku’s argument about inspection, testing and enforcement has attracted attention.

 

A MORE BALANCED VIEW: CONSUMERS AND REGULATORS BOTH HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES

A neutral assessment suggests that the disagreement should not necessarily be reduced to Mary Njoku versus NAFDAC.

Both sides are talking about genuine aspects of food safety.

Adeyeye is right that consumers have a role to play and that NAFDAC is not the only institution responsible for food safety in Nigeria.

Njoku is also raising a legitimate public-health concern when she asks whether consumers can reasonably be expected to protect themselves from products that regulators have failed to detect. The two responsibilities can exist simultaneously.

Consumers must be careful.

Manufacturers must comply with regulations. Farmers must use agricultural chemicals properly.

Distributors and retailers must not sell counterfeit products. Regulatory agencies must inspect, test and enforce the law.

No single part of the system can solve the problem alone.

 

In summary, the he dispute between Mary Remmy Njoku and Professor Mojisola Adeyeye has exposed a much deeper problem in Nigeria’s food-safety conversation. Adeyeye wants Nigerians to understand that food safety involves several agencies and that consumers also have responsibilities.

Njoku wants regulators to remember that the ultimate purpose of regulation is to protect the public, particularly from dangers that ordinary consumers cannot reasonably detect for themselves.

Both points deserve consideration; The real solution is not for regulators and citizens to blame one another.

It is for government agencies to clearly define their responsibilities, work together, strengthen inspection and testing, educate the public and enforce the law against those who deliberately put unsafe products into circulation.

And for manufacturers and dealers involved in counterfeit medicines or dangerous food products, the message should be clear: Making money must never come at the cost of innocent lives.

The most important measure of any food and drug regulatory system is not how loudly it responds to criticism. It is how effectively it protects the people it was created to serve.

 

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