Former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has commended Nigerian pharmacists for their efforts and contributions towards the development of the country’s health sector.

He, however, urged them to do more towards achieving self-sufficiency in sourcing the raw materials required in their industry and also in the production of drugs required in the country.

Obi was speaking on the theme, “Weathering the Storm of Economic Downturn: Now and Beyond” at the 2017 Annual Dinner of the Board of Fellows of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria held recently in Abuja.

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Reviewing the ups and downs of the industry, Obi submitted that a lot still needed to be done. He said it was not cheering that countries like India and China that were at a time at par with Nigeria in the development of the pharmaceutical sector have  all recorded phenomenal growth, while Nigeria has not made appreciable progress.

He urged the nation’s pharmaceutical industry to strive towards attaining at least one per cent status of the country’s GDP, which would amount to about four billion dollars. 

Obi lamented that Nigeria is today the biggest country in the world that still import vaccines outside her territory, saying: “Nigeria owned a vaccine production laboratory way back in 1948, which produced small pox, yellow fever and anti-rabies vaccines. It was shut down in 1980 for upgrade and increased capacity. Unfortunately, owing to successive governments’ policy changes, this never materialised even after millions of U.S. dollars were spent to bring in some sophisticated automatic freeze drying equipment.  “One of such equipment procured in 1995 for the sum of one million dollars is still in a crate on the ground of the Federal Vaccines Production Laboratory in Yaba.”