Segun Babatunde, Bauchi
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has organised a one- day media and other stakeholders engagement to develop an influencing strategy in the campaign against the menace of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with carbide.
The media sensitisation workshop on the Dangers of Drug Hawking and Ripening of Fruits with Calcium Carbide organised by the North-East Zone of the Agency held in Bauchi yesterday was aimed at ending artificial ripening of fruits with calcium carbide stressing that such practices are dangerous and harmful to human health.
In her remarks at the occasion,the Director General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye warned Nigerians to be wary of taking Fruits ripened with Calcium Carbide pointing out that the agency takes stringent regulatory actions to stem the dangerous tide of Drug hawking and ripening of Fruits with Calcium Carbide across the country.
She said people should stop buying drugs from hawkers as well as patronising the sellers of fruits ripened through the use of Calcium Carbide due to the danger it poses to their health.
The Director General represented by the Director, Chemical Evaluation and Research of the Agency, Dr. Leonard Omokpariola said the dangerous practice by some unscrupulous persons is killing unsuspecting members of the public, hence the need to bring journalists in to the matter with a view to creating awareness for members of the public to be aware and abstain from patronizing them.
According to her, there have been clarion calls by well-meaning Nigerians on the need to take stringent regulatory actions to stem the dangerous tide of Drug Hawking and Ripening of Fruits with Calcium Carbide.
She said that there have also been several concerns on the looming danger and health implication of these two nefarious activities by certain unpatriotic and unscrupulous citizens in our country.
According to the her, “Since 2019, we immediately took some decisive steps such as sensitization of the public through different media outlets, enforcement through intelligence and raids in fruit markets that have resulted in seizures and destruction of violative products”,
The workshop , she said is been held in fulfilment of the agency’s promise to sustain and strengthen NAFDAC’s existing collaboration journalists towards mobilizing, educating, sensitizing, and conscientizing members of the public on the dangerous practice.
Professor Adeyeye added “we are doing it for Nigerian Journalists to play frontline role in our concerted efforts to eradicate the menace of Drug Hawking and Ripening of Fruits with Calcium Carbide in Nigeria”,
According to the DG, the bulk industrial food or food ingredients that includes cereals (Cornflakes, Oat, Milk, and Beverages)are issued import permits for end-users in the manufacturing industry.
NAFDAC she added has observed that bulk industrial food or ingredients that are not in the retail pack are being sold illegally in our markets saying that , “these bulk items are openly displayed and measured to unassuming buyers with little or no care from contamination”.
The agency is currently addressing such market practice through monitoring of the utilization rate and capacity (installed) of end-users to block the gas/leakage of the non-retailed packaged product from being sold in our markets, the DG said.
Earlier in his address, Director, Public Affairs of the Agency,Dr Abubakar Jimoh described the media as a tool for behavioral change and development
Jimoh who said that the training became paramount to safeguard public health and safe lives of the people, pointed out that disseminating accurate and quality information would bridge the gap on public ignorance around issues of sub – standard goods and use of harmful chemicals.
said the media were important tools in the campaign against the menace of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with carbides.
“People die needlessly because of lack of knowledge and ignorance. We urge the media to join us in this crusade to conscientise and educate the Nigerians.
“It is a moral burden on all of us. We need to take the campaign to the nooks and crannies of the country to win the war against these two hydra-headed public health menaces,” Jimoh said.
