BySolaOgundipe

GOVERNOR Babatunde Fashola of  Lagos State  been urged to consolidate the gains of the recent closure of the Idumota open drug market by not relenting in dislodging all  existing operational bases and distribution networks of fake drugs merchants in the State.

The call, which came as one of the highpoints of the of the opening ceremony of the 83rd annual national conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) which took place in Jalingo, taraba State last week, further admonished the State government to be wary of pressures from concerned parties.

PSN President, Pharm Azubike Okwor who spoke at the event observed that: “It must be said that the Idumota Drug Market is the most strategic of the plethora of drug markets in Nigeria because of the major seaports and airport which are the ports of entry are located in Lagos State.

This is why the network of distribution through the cartel in the Idumota drug market to other barons in the various drug markets in other Nigerian cities is always a smooth process.

“In the light of this scenario, if the Lagos State Government hopefully smashes the vestiges of the remains of operators in the Idumota drug market, the incidence of fake drugs in Nigeria will drastically reduce by over 50 percent.

He recalled that “In 2007 during the unfortunate re-opening of the Onitsha drug market as a result of tremendous local pressure brought to bare on NAFDAC, all strata of promises were made as to how the Onitsha bridgehead market would be sanitised by the Anambra State Government, Onitsha Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers Union (OPPMDU) and other interested parties.”

Okwor said four years down the line none of those promises have been fulfilled and the Onitsha Drug Market remains a thriving bedrock of fake drug distribution.

His words: “The PSN will continue to draw the attention of government and society to the need to take certain painful decisions in the live of our nation especially when such decisions have the backings of the law.

As  important stakeholders in the manufacture, storages, distribution and rational use of drugs, we are aware that our position is that Nigerians must learn to respect the law of the land.”