The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has called for more personnel to strengthen the agency’s enforcement activities as NAFDAC intensifies its crackdown on the production and sale of banned sachet alcohol and other small-volume alcoholic drinks.
Speaking during a Channels Television interview, Adeyeye highlighted the agency’s manpower shortage, saying NAFDAC currently has about 2,000 staff serving a population of roughly 240 million people. She contrasted this with Indonesia, which she said has about 20,000 regulatory personnel for a population of approximately 280 million.
Adeyeye said the agency needs thousands of additional personnel to effectively carry out its responsibilities, particularly as it works to enforce the ban on alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and containers below 200ml. Full enforcement of the ban began in January 2026 after several previous extensions.
She said the enforcement drive is largely motivated by concerns over children’s exposure to alcohol, warning that some children begin drinking at extremely young ages. According to her, protecting children from early alcohol consumption is essential to preserving Nigeria’s future workforce.
The agency has recently stepped up enforcement against manufacturers accused of ignoring the ban. In Ogun State, NAFDAC sealed three facilities after discovering continued production of sachet alcoholic drinks. At one facility, officials found sachet alcohol being produced alongside large quantities of PET bottles, while another allegedly resumed production despite earlier regulatory action.
Adeyeye also explained that some companies continued producing banned products after earlier warnings because NAFDAC had initially stopped short of shutting their facilities. The latest operations therefore reflect a tougher approach to repeat violations.
NAFDAC has maintained that enforcement of the ban remains in force and has previously rejected claims that the Federal Government ordered it to suspend the crackdown.
