Oak-Faith Pharma Boss Tasks FG on Boosting Local Manufacturers’ Capacity

pharmacy

For the Year 2019 to be a prosperous one for the Nigerian Pharmaceutical Industry, the government needs to encourage indigenous manufacturers by providing the necessary facilities and putting infrastructure in place, to enhance maximum production of medicines locally, the Managing Director, Oak-Faith Pharmaceutical Resources Ltd., Pharm. Chris Ojeabulu has said.

Pharm. Ojeabulu, who spoke with Pharmanews at his new factory, situated at Mowe, in Ogun State, narrated the ordeals of indigenous pharma manufacturers in the country, while calling the government to urgently look into their conditions, in order for the New Year to be a better year for the pharma industry.

His words:” Presently, the roads are not there for distribution, the interest rates are so high that you cannot access anything, and even before you get them it takes a lot.

“The importation of goods at the port is bad, the dues and levies and whatever you pay are not encouraging. The inconsistency in government policies is not helping in that area as well. So, these are some of the inconsistencies that make the business swing up and down and it’s like the growth you expect, you don’t get it”, he decried.

Going forward, he urged the government to dwell more on exporting of products, saying any country that does not export is not growing.  “I believe that if the government should focus on petro- chemical industry here, some of the raw materials that we are bringing in could be sourced locally and we have such petrochemical industry not developed which is a big source of raw material for the pharma industry”.

He has also advised those at the helm of affairs to formulate policies that are manufacturers-friendly, while guarding against policy summersault, which is not a good one for the country.

“Our government should watch against  policy summersault, because in the past, when they bring out a policy, saying these are the products on prohibition list, and then unannounced, behind the scene you will see those products coming in again, people are bringing them from outside the country, and those policies are broken”, he warned.