The plan by NAFDAC to eliminate substandard and falsified medicines in Nigeria through partnership with pre-shipment agents in China and India and the suspension of planned nationwide strike for two weeks are the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
ThisDay reports that the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has announced the agency’s readiness to eliminate substandard and falsified medicines in the country through partnership with pre-shipment agents in China and India. In a statement issued yesterday, Adeyeye said the move was part of the agency’s efforts to take the war against importation of illicit drugs to the source countries. “Safeguarding the health of Nigeria means making sure that all regulated products that NAFDAC is in charge of have the expected quality. This means ensuring robust control of the manufacture, the distribution, the advertisement, the sale and the use of these products using international standards, in line with our mandate,” she said. Speaking on ‘’NAFDAC And Your Health,’’ in Abuja, against the background of Nigeria’s 60th Independence Anniversary, Adeyeye noted that 70 percent of the medicines used in Nigeria are imported while only 30 percent are produced locally, stressing that attention must be paid to both imported and locally made drugs by the agency. This followed an agreement reached with the Federal Government at a meeting which started at 8.30pm on Sunday and ended at 2:50am this morning. After exhaustive deliberations on the issues raised by the labour centres, the meeting agreed to suspend the application of the cost-reflective electricity tariff adjustments for two weeks. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, read the five-page communique signed by the representatives of the government and labour. The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba; and his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Quadri Olaleye, amongst others signed on behalf of Organised Labour while the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige; Minister of State Petroleum, Timipre Silva; Minister of State Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo; Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed; and the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and others, signed on behalf of the government. The newspaper reports that the Electricity generation in the country rose by 979.2 megawatts on Sunday to 4,312.1MW as 16 power plants saw an increase in their output. The number of idle plants dropped to nine as of 6am on Sunday from 11 at 6am on Saturday, when power generation stood at 3,332.9MW, according to data obtained from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator. The plants that did not generate any megawatts of electricity as of 6am on Sunday were Afam IV & V, Sapele II, Alaoji, Olorunsogo II, Ihovbor, Gbarain, Ibom Power, AES and ASCO. Sapele I and Omotosho II, which were idle as of 6am on Saturday, generated 36MW and 26.1MW on Sunday. Nigeria generates most of its electricity from gas-fired power plants, while output from hydropower plants makes up about 30 per cent of the total generation. Generation from Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro hydro plants, which stood at 182MW, 289MW and 412MW, respectively as of 6am on Saturday, rose to 305MW, 300MW and 450MW on Sunday. He said many governments had introduced massive tax reduction or elimination to spur activities in key sectors and rev up their economies during the coronavirus pandemic. Jamoh stated: “The maritime sector is critical in the growth and development of transportation and by extension, international trade in the country. Thus, the need for Federal Government-oriented programmes and stimulus packages to deliver a response that catalyses a sustainable economic development cannot be overemphasised.” The Guardian says that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has embarked on a large scale food production in some states, to ensure food security, especially during the dry season. Under the strategy, the apex bank said it has developed immediate, short and medium term plans with agriculture as the major focus for achieving growth, diversification, and job creation. The Director, Development Finance, Philip Yila Yusuf, said the CBN is working closely with respective states, and the private sector to grant long term facility to farmers within agricultural value-chains in a well-coordinated manner. He pointed out that with the disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the CBN has taken measures to ensure farmers have more to produce in the value chain to forestall a potential food crisis. He said: “We have started harvesting for some of our programmes. The activities of the middlemen will soon be a thing of the past. There will be availability of food, as we have started harvesting. “For rice, we are working with the state governments to get land, and with the private sector to get them a long term facility to unlock all the forests and land.
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