By Esther Onyegbula

Leading pharmaceutical experts and industry stakeholders have demanded sweeping executive reforms and urgent policy implementation to end Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imported medicines, warning that the country’s healthcare security and industrial future remain under serious threat.

The call was made at the 29th Annual National Conference of the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria, where United States-based pharmaceutical scientist and quality strategist, Dr. Nonye Onyewuenyi, alongside former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Mazi Sam I.

Ohuabunwa, unveiled what they described as a practical roadmap for reversing Nigeria’s over 70 per cent drug import dependence.
The experts warned that without immediate and deliberate intervention, Nigeria could face worsening medicine insecurity, increased healthcare vulnerability, and prolonged industrial stagnation.

Their concerns come amid growing economic pressures confronting local pharmaceutical manufacturers, including foreign exchange instability, rising production costs, and increasing prices of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, APIs, which continue to undermine domestic manufacturing capacity.

Delivering the keynote address at the conference, Onyewuenyi lamented that despite Nigeria’s vast natural and human resources, weak policy implementation and poor execution have continued to cripple the country’s pharmaceutical ambitions.
“We have the raw materials and the ambition, but what we lack is a deliberate policy,” she said.

“It is unacceptable for a nation of over 200 million people with more than 200 registered pharmaceutical firms to still import over 70 per cent of its drugs.”
She stressed that strong political will and carefully designed regulatory frameworks were necessary to trigger a domestic pharmaceutical revolution capable of transforming Nigeria into a continental manufacturing hub.

According to her, the Federal Government must move beyond policy declarations and aggressively fund the implementation of the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain, PVAC, and the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Nigeria cannot continue to rely on foreign nations for medicines, vaccines, and essential medical products if it truly seeks sovereignty in healthcare delivery,” Onyewuenyi declared.

She further warned that many local pharmaceutical firms remain unable to meet international manufacturing standards because of poor infrastructure, weak scientific innovation systems, and decades of underinvestment in research and development.

“For a country blessed with abundant natural and human resources, it is a sheer waste to keep importing drugs that Nigeria could produce in abundance if only more effort was put into innovation and research,” she said.

The pharmaceutical scientist, who is the Chief Executive and Chief Executive Scientist Officer of Nolix Analytics, explained that her presentations at the conference focused on structural pre-formulation science and the practical application of Quality by Design, QbD, to help local manufacturers adopt internationally compliant production systems.

“Quality medicines do not reside only in other countries,” she said.
“In Nigeria, we have all the raw materials and incredible expertise, but if we are not trained on how to use them properly, we are not doing well.”

She cautioned that poor understanding of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient interactions and weak formulation processes could expose patients to dangerous health consequences.
“If drugs are poorly manufactured without understanding the precise interaction and characterization of APIs, the product will ultimately cause harm to patients,” she warned.

Onyewuenyi also advocated comprehensive industry-wide gap assessments covering human capital development, current Good Manufacturing Practice structures, and industrial infrastructure.
Drawing lessons from countries such as India and the United States, she called for aggressive government-backed incentives to stimulate local API production through tax incentives, pharmaceutical industrial parks, and long-term investment structures.

She also urged stronger collaboration among manufacturers, universities, and regulatory agencies, including the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development.

“We want pharmaceutical scientist research that the industries can accept and that will contribute to industrial standards,” she stated.
The expert further proposed the integration of Artificial Intelligence, AI, green chemistry, indigenous herbal medicine research, and computational pharmaceutical analysis into Nigeria’s industrial development roadmap.

Speaking during an Executive Training Session at the conference, Ohuabunwa charged pharmaceutical industry leaders to abandon outdated administrative systems and embrace data-driven operational leadership to survive current economic realities.
“Performance management is the heartbeat of corporate sustainability,” he said.

“It is not an HR yearly form; it is a daily commitment to ensuring our patients win and our business grows.”
The Managing Consultant of Starteam Consult and founding Chief Executive Officer of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc argued that traditional bureaucratic structures and ceremonial performance evaluations could no longer sustain modern pharmaceutical businesses operating in volatile economic conditions.
According to him, pharmaceutical managers must embrace measurable execution systems capable of bridging the gap between strategy and operational realities.

“We must stop seeing performance management as a seasonal event,” he said.
“It is the bridge between our strategic vision and the safe, quality medicines our patients deserve.”
Drawing from decades of experience in the sector, Ohuabunwa identified the development of high-performing personnel as critical to corporate sustainability, urging leaders to institutionalise consistent coaching, one-on-one engagement, and active supervision.

“Caring for an employee is not about keeping a poor performer,” he stated.
“True care is giving them the clarity, support, and deadlines to deliver excellence.”
He also challenged the leadership of NAIP under its National Chairman, Pharm. Bankole Ezebuiro, to institutionalise merit-based systems driven by competence and professionalism.

Both Onyewuenyi and Ohuabunwa strongly emphasised the importance of technical integrity in pharmaceutical manufacturing, warning that data falsification and operational compromise could have deadly consequences.

“In pharma, we deal with lives,” Ohuabunwa warned.
“You cannot ‘PIP’ your way out of falsified records or data integrity breaches.”
Reacting to the presentations, Ezebuiro commended the experts for what he described as practical and transformative ideas capable of repositioning Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector for sustainable growth.

He assured stakeholders that the association would pursue implementation of the recommendations presented during the conference.
As deliberations ended, both experts maintained that Nigeria’s pharmaceutical transformation would only succeed through disciplined execution, strategic investments, strong political commitment, and measurable accountability.

“It takes much more than rhetoric to achieve these lofty objectives,” Onyewuenyi said.
“Deliberate steps must be taken to put in place not just the right environment, but resources must also be strategically deployed to the relevant sectors and institutions.”
Echoing the same position, Ohuabunwa urged stakeholders not to allow the momentum generated by the conference to fade.

“Let us go back to our plants, our pharmacies, and our boardrooms with a renewed mindset,” he charged.
“Performance management is the last mile towards good governance and health security. Let us commit not just to ambition, but to daily, disciplined execution.”