Nigeria’s dependence on foreign medicines was a major focus at the 29th Annual Conference of the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria, where industry leaders pushed for decisive action to build local capacity. Pharmaceutical scientist Dr. Nonye Onyewuenyi and former PSN President Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa laid out a plan to tackle the country’s reliance on imports, which make up more than 70% of drugs consumed locally. They warned that without quick intervention, Nigeria faces greater medicine insecurity, weaker healthcare resilience, and stalled industrial growth, worsened by forex swings and rising costs of raw materials.
Onyewuenyi argued that Nigeria has the natural resources and expertise to produce its own medicines but is held back by poor policy execution. She urged the government to move beyond announcements and fully fund the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain and the Renewed Hope Agenda, saying true healthcare sovereignty can’t be achieved with rhetoric alone. Ohuabunwa stressed that pharmaceutical leaders must abandon outdated management styles for disciplined, data-driven performance systems, including weekly reviews and real-time monitoring, to turn strategy into results.
Both experts pointed to technical gaps such as weak infrastructure and underinvestment in research as barriers to meeting global standards. Onyewuenyi called for targeted incentives for local API production, stronger collaboration between industry, universities, and regulators, and adoption of AI and green chemistry. NAIP Chairman Pharm. Bankole Ezebuiro said the association would work to implement the recommendations, with the speakers concluding that disciplined execution and accountability are essential if Nigeria is to become Africa’s leading pharmaceutical manufacturing hub.
