Anambra State Government has called for tough enforcement against dealers of fake and adulterated foods and drugs, insisting that perpetrators should be treated as murderers.
The Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr. Law Mefor made the call on Friday, September 18, 2026, at a stakeholders’ meeting on protection of the public from fake and adulterated foods and drugs, organised by the Ministry of Health in Awka.
Dr. Mefor said the campaign against counterfeit products aligns with the extended mandate of his ministry, which now focuses on value reformation and reorganising the thoughts of Ndi Anambra.
He lamented the get-rich-quick mentality, saying that drug faking and food adulteration are products of eroded values, particularly the abandonment of the Igbo ethos of “Aka aja aja na-ebute onu mmanu mmanu.”
“Almost everything is faked in Anambra. Very sensitive and life-saving prescription drugs are faked. People are placed on those drugs and within one, two, three weeks, their health becomes more complicated. It would have been better they never took the drugs at all.”
Mefor insisted that the fight must be enforcement-driven, not just talk. “It is not the much said, it is the much done. Whatever is being done here should be enforcement-based. Those who are doing this know the evil they are perpetrating and its consequences,” he said.
He noted that Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo is working on establishing a drug distribution hub at Oba to regulate drug production, distribution and consumption, but that decisive action is needed before the hub comes on stream.
“The laws are there already. We need to get some people and make very clear examples of them. Look at palm oil — you use dye and chemicals that are injurious to health. If I am to drive enforcement, I will not treat you as a mere offender. I will treat you as a murderer, because you know that what you are doing will lead to death,” Mefor stated.
He said a properly constituted task force should be one phone call away and ready for action, and assured the Ministry of Health of his ministry’s partnership, noting that both ministries now share the same Permanent Secretary, which will enhance synergy, even as he commended the Commissioner for Health for his passion and leadership.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, disclosed that the state is working to take stronger steps to stop fake drugs, unsafe food and other harmful products from being sold in the state, which was the essence of the meeting.
He called for quick action against people who produce or sell fake drugs, make unsafe food products or engage in other activities that can put people’s health at risk, while calling for more public education across the 21 local government areas so that people can understand the dangers and know how to buy safe and approved products.
Others at the meeting, including the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Ben Odoemena, Permanent Secretary of Health and Information Ministries, Dr Obiageli Uchebo, representatives of NOA, NAFDAC, SON and WHO, among others pledged their commitment to the partnership to ensure that Anambra becomes the safest state in Nigeria.
