NECESSITIES OF FOOD SAFETY THROUGH NAFDAC COMMITMENT TO THE MANDATE OF CONTROL AND ADMINISTRATION OF FOOD INTER-ALIA IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The agency assigned with the responsibility for the control and administration of food and drug in Nigeria is the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, widely known by its short-title as NAFDAC. The mandate of the agency includes addressing food safety in Nigeria. This paper examines the extent the agency has travelled in fulfilling its mandate on food control and administration. The neglect by the agency to extend its mandate to food control in Nigeria leaves a huge gap in the exercise of an important aspect of its legal framework. This neglect to assume responsibility for the control of food in Nigeria has resulted in both food insecurity and unsafe food for human consumption in Nigeria. This paper adopts a comparative assessment of what obtains in some foreign jurisdictions through the vehicle of desktop review of relevant literature, in order to assess the commitment or otherwise of NAFDAC to food administration and control in Nigeria. The paper has four segments: first is on introduction and conceptual, theoretical frameworks of food safety and security; part two cites examples of food safety control measures from other jurisdictions as templates for NAFDAC implementation; part three gives examples of neglect by NAFDAC in food control and administration; part four concludes and that if Nigeria will be ready to walk the talk of “food safety and security” it must ensure that NAFDAC steps up its performances in this direction.