The House in the Rain: NAFDAC, Medicine Verification and the Consumer

In a heavy rain, a man holding a container runs towards a beautiful building, built specifically to shelter people from rain. However, the door to this building is closed, leaving the man drenched by the endless rain. The fate of this man is that of millions of Nigerians. The beautiful building is the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), while the rain is that of falsified and substandard medicines.

In Nigerian everyday speech, words can sometimes acquire meanings broader than their formal definitions. A term may often be used as the sole representative of others.

Such is the fate of the words "fake medicine" or "fake drug."

In everyday Nigerian parlance, "fake medicine" becomes an umbrella term which houses almost any medicine that seems problematic. This act of collapsing falsified, substandard, counterfeit and unregistered medicines into "fake" is incomplete. These terms are interrelated but not the same. The misuse of these terminologies might be an indicator that we have a medicine-language problem.

Falsified medicines, according to WHO, are medical products that deliberately or fraudulently misrepresent their identity, composition or source. They are products of intentional deception and deliberate misrepresentation. For example, a tablet labelled amoxicillin but containing no amoxicillin.

While substandard medicines are authorised medical products that fail to meet either their quality standards or their specifications, or both. They may not involve deliberate fraud; however, they are unfit because they fail to tick all the boxes on the "standards checklist."

WHO's current terminology does not use "counterfeit" as the preferred public-health classification. The term, however, remains widely used in everyday contexts to describe products intentionally made to imitate genuine medicines. Counterfeiters may produce medicines using the name, packaging and branding of an established pharmaceutical company without authorisation. WHO now uses “substandard and falsified” medical products instead of counterfeit.

Over the years, NAFDAC has built several mechanisms to prevent and curb these problematic medicines. However, their beautiful building that houses these tools remains closed.

Not enough Nigerians know about the existence of the Mobile Authentication Service (MAS), an SMS-based service through which individual packs of medicines can be authenticated by consumers. There is also the NAFDAC Greenbook, through which a product's registration status can be checked, whether it is registered or not. There are also NAFDAC's alerts and recalls, which warn the public about problematic products, including medicines that have been warned against, withdrawn or recalled.

The Suspected Substandard/Falsified (SF) Product Reporting Portal is a platform specifically designed for reporting suspected falsified, substandard or unregistered products. And there are consumer complaint channels.

To some, this may sound new and unbelievable that there are avenues for them to verify their products.

A 2026 study of 431 pharmacy customers in Enugu found that 401 (93.0%) were aware of NAFDAC's Mobile Authentication Service. However, among those aware of MAS, only 21.0% demonstrated good knowledge of how to use it. Only 40.4% had ever used MAS, while 59.6% had never used it.

In another study conducted among 400 medicine users in Lagos in 2019, 91% reported awareness of MAS, but only 53% of those who were aware had used it before purchasing medicines. The study also identified the unreliable nature of MAS as one of the barriers to its use.

The problem is multilayered.

Some do not know these systems exist. Many are aware of them. Yet awareness does not necessarily become knowledge, and knowledge does not necessarily become behaviour.

This is interesting because NAFDAC's Guidelines for Procurement and the Management of the Mobile Authentication Service (MAS) Scheme in Nigeria, published in 2018, included public enlightenment campaigns as part of the scheme. On page 10, Section 9.1 states: "Adverts and Public enlightenment campaigns shall be undertaken and financed by MAS providers under the supervision and ultimate approval of the Agency." Savanté is one of the service providers listed under NAFDAC's MAS scheme.

There is provision for awareness. But awareness has failed to become common knowledge; and common knowledge, for many, has failed to become behaviour.

The house exists. The door exists. People may even know the house exists. But most are not getting through the door.

But why does the door remain closed? Because the contents of the beautiful building are not enough.

Counterfeiters have turned into Achebe's Eneke the bird, who has learnt to fly without perching because men (NAFDAC) have mastered the art of shooting without missing. Falsified medicines can be deliberately made to resemble genuine products, sometimes making them extremely difficult to distinguish visually.

In a video shared earlier this month, Somto Okonkwo compared genuine Oral-B toothpaste with suspected counterfeit products, highlighting differences in packaging, seals, texture, taste and translucency. This leaves me wondering whether an individual in urgent need of getting toothpaste from a nearby store would be willing to undergo these comparison tests.

Like many technologies, NAFDAC's verification mechanisms have limitations that can affect their reliability. They keep the door closed, but leave the roof porous. I know this from experience, as well as from accounts of individuals who managed to gain access.

I tried the Greenbook, both the website and the application, to verify Clearcold Syrup, a 7 mL sachet labelled as produced by MarleyShree Pharmaceutical Company, with A4-2491 as its registration number. Neither platform returned a matching record. I cannot say with certainty what this absence means: whether the product is unregistered, whether the record is missing from the database, or whether it is listed under different details. Although the packaging identifies MarleyShree as the manufacturer, I could not independently confirm this association through the Greenbook. But for a consumer standing in a pharmacy with no way to resolve that uncertainty on the spot, the distinction does little to answer the question that matters. To the consumer, the verification tool failed to provide an answer, and that failure is itself worrisome.

A peer-reviewed study published in 2024 examined 260 medicine samples; 46 carried MAS scratch PINs. Of the 45 PINs investigated under approved MAS providers, 43 generated SMS responses. In three cases, the responses were incorrect: products containing cefuroxime, metformin and fluconazole were identified as Triclav Syrup. In another case, the SMS response gave a holder name different from the one on the product label. Of 16 MAS PINs that were sent a second time, only eight correctly returned the expected "PIN used" response; four returned the previous response claiming the product was genuine, while four produced no response within five minutes. This shows that the presence of a MAS scratch PIN does not always guarantee a reliable authentication experience.

In a July 28 report published by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Savanté, one of the service providers under NAFDAC's Mobile Authentication Service, was reported to have asked a user to provide some personal information (name, age, sex, location) before completing the verification process on a packet of Lonart. Aside from raising questions under Section 24(1)(c) of Nigeria's Data Protection Act 2023, which states that data should be "adequate, relevant and limited to the minimum necessary for the purposes for which the personal data was collected or further processed," it also raises questions about a system that turns a basic drug-authentication process into data collection.

These limitations weaken the reliability of the verification process. They keep the door closed and the roof porous.

In the famous Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe showed me the interconnectedness of fingers and how it extends to the counterfeit-drugs industry. He said, "if one finger brought oil it soiled the others." If we decide to allot all blame to that single finger that brought oil, and that finger only, what about the remaining fingers that make themselves available to be part of the mess? Should they be exempted? I don't think so. Because they are also players in this team of fingers. Just like a finger does not make a team, they earn their share.

In a sane community, the media is a major player. Its roles transcend mere reporting and information dissemination. The media serves as an educator, communicator, fact-checker, societal police and accountability institution. The fight against counterfeit products can only be won through collective efforts of NAFDAC and other players, which include the media.

However, on this subject, they have been performing, yet underperforming. While much focus is on seizures, raids and counterfeit alerts, comprehensive guides on step-by-step product authentication are few. The issue is often treated like a crime story and rarely as a public health communication issue. Even most of these verification guides are found mainly in health blogs, and not often in major newspapers.

In a country like Nigeria, where important public information can quickly disappear beneath newer conversations, mainstream media outlets should not engage in selective reporting. There should be more of The Guardian's "Postinor-2: How to know if you are buying fake drugs," where detailed, easy-to-understand and consistent stepwise verification guides are published. Such reports will fuel NAFDAC's low-burning fire.

Another soiled finger that needs to be addressed is that of healthcare professionals, especially doctors and pharmacists. These two are the closest to the people, and this proximity, if well utilised, could be a game changer in this fight against counterfeit drugs, yet it remains under-milked.

Patient education and counselling are important roles of a community pharmacist. While such sessions dwell more on appropriate drug use, side effects and the patient's overall well-being, medication authentication is often underemphasised. And this is as important as the others, if not more so. Because if falsified or substandard medicine is purchased and used by a patient, it may contain an incorrect, insufficient or absent active ingredient and may result in treatment failure or other harm. In such circumstances, the pharmacist's work may also be undermined. In this fight, doctors' prescriptions and pharmacists' counselling could incorporate medication verification guidance.

In this counterfeit chain, consumers are both victim and player. They are involved in this catastrophic process while they are the ones at the receiving end. The Yorubas will say, "ẹní wàfà, wòfò"—whoever seeks cheapness, seeks calamity. Some Nigerian consumers prefer buying medicines from chemist stores to pharmacies because of price. I have heard some say that pharmacy products cost more because of the pharmacy itself, that most of the "high costs" are used in the pharmacy's maintenance and appearance.

However, when 1,214 medicines purchased from more than 1,200 retail pharmacies across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones were considered in a study, a sub-sample of 246 medicines was tested for quality. Of the medicines in the lowest price category, 51.6% failed the laboratory quality test. Yet 33.9% of medicines in the highest price category also failed. This does not mean high price is equivalent to high quality. Nor does it mean that every cheap medicine is counterfeit. Rather, the study found that very low prices were associated with a higher proportion of medicines failing the laboratory quality test, while high prices did not guarantee quality.

It would be unwise to overlook affordability, which is a key factor that influences consumer purchasing behaviour. High medicine costs can push people towards cheaper alternatives, which may be of questionable quality. Medicines, especially those with unusually low prices, should call for verification. May we not pay with our lives where we could have paid for maintenance.

We, as people, should embrace the culture of verification. Social validation should not replace verification. What we put inside us should be a priority and treated with utmost care. Follow NAFDAC's updates as you follow your favourite celebrity's page. Watch videos, read articles on verification guides, and not only trending tweets. Our part in this game must be played, and played well.

Dr. Lasisi Olagunju, in his column written on May 12, 2014 (which he later reproduced on September 6, 2021), described Nigerians in our full pose and from proper view. He said, "Nigerians don't cry for long over anything, let alone grieve over spilt milk. It is a nation of solid shock absorbers. The damper in their system is beyond human comprehension. It confounds as it riles. They don't get blinded by events that pluck other people's eyes."

It seems this impaction has no effect on our system but on our staff of reasoning, which appears to be broken.

Epidemics of counterfeit products may be the trending subject, but should not be treated like one which comes and goes. It is a matter that affects us and should not end online where it started. It is a call to reasoning, to action, to change. NAFDAC must fix its beautiful house's roof and change its door, while the man should find an umbrella and keys to open the door easily. And the media should provide signposts containing the building's plan and rooms. The rain may continue to fall, but we must play our part to avoid being drenched or drowned.

References

1. 1. World Health Organization. Definitions of substandard and falsified medical products.

2. 2. Gabel, J., Lächele, M., Sander, K., Gnegel, G., Sunny-Abarikwu, N., Ohazulike, R. E., Ngene, J., Chioke, J. F., Häfele-Abah, C., & Heide, L. (2024). Quality of essential medicines from different sources in Enugu and Anambra, Nigeria. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.23-0837

3. 3. Fund for Investigative Journalism. (2026). Ignoring data minimisation law, NAFDAC’s Savanté asks for age, location, sex just to verify drugs safety.

4. 4. World Health Organization. (2022). The role of media in supporting health.

5. 5. Montás, M. C., Anyakora, C., & Maffioli, E. M. (2025). Is price associated with the quality of medicines? Evidence from active pharmaceutical ingredient testing in Nigeria. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0338739

6. 6.https://guardian.ng/life/life-features/postinor-2-how-to-know-if-you-are-buying-fake-drugs/

7. 7. Achebe, C. (1958). Things Fall Apart. Heinemann, pp. 100, 162.

8. 8. Olagunju, L. (2021, September 6). Yesterday was better than today. Tribune Online.

9. 9. Frank-Ebikefe, A. (2025, August 27). Postinor-2: How to know if you are buying fake drugs. The Guardian Nigeria.

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About the Author

Muhammad Oladipupo Salaudeen is a penultimate-year Bachelor of Pharmacy student at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and a health communicator whose writing sits at the intersection of pharmaceutical science, public health, and storytelling. His work has been published in TheCable Nigeria and Pharmanews, covering topics ranging from HIV prevention and antimicrobial resistance to pharmacy education and community health. He previously served as Assistant Chairperson of the PANS ABU Public Health Team, where he co-led public health campaigns reaching over 2,000 students and community members, and coordinated AMR awareness campaigns across two Northwestern states through the 100 AMR Stewards Initiative. He writes at medium.com/@muhammadsalau98.