A professor at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Joshua Ojo, has called on the Federal Government to strengthen food safety regulation in Nigeria, warning that inadequate oversight of unbranded food products could expose consumers to serious public health risks.
Ojo, a Professor of Health, Physics and Environment and President of the LivingScience Foundation, made the call on Wednesday at the 11th National Conference on Environment and Health, held at Osun State University, Osogbo.
The conference, themed “Safe Foods, Healthy Nation: Safeguarding Food Systems in Nigeria from Farm to Fork,” brought attention to the importance of protecting food quality at every stage, from production and processing to distribution, marketing and consumption.
The don expressed concern over what he described as a regulatory gap affecting unbranded food products commonly sold in traditional markets, roadside stalls and other informal outlets across the country.
According to Ojo, statistics indicate that approximately 70 per cent of food consumed by Nigerians is unbranded and, in his assessment, not adequately covered by existing regulatory arrangements.
He argued that the situation raises questions about the effectiveness of consumer protection when large quantities of food are sold without the branding and packaging commonly associated with products subject to formal regulatory procedures.
“What we have currently is that we depend on foreign NGOs to give direction and leadership on environment and health issues. This is suicidal and totally unacceptable,” Ojo said.
He also criticised the perceived limitations in the regulatory coverage of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), arguing that the agency should have a broader mandate to protect Nigerians against unsafe food, regardless of whether products are branded.
“Let us look at NAFDAC; its DG stated that the agency’s mandate only covers branded food products. This is totally unacceptable. Because 70 per cent of our food consumption, according to statistics, is not branded. So that means we don’t have any agency taking care of 70 per cent of what we eat. This is outrageous,” he said.
Ojo urged the Federal Government to expand NAFDAC’s regulatory responsibilities and provide the agency with adequate funding to improve its capacity to monitor food products across the country.
He maintained that Nigeria possesses the professional expertise needed to develop and implement effective health and environmental policies, cautioning against excessive dependence on foreign organisations and external protocols for direction in these areas.
His remarks come amid renewed public concern about the safety of everyday food items, including palm oil, fufu and other staple foods sold in open markets.
In September, NAFDAC Director-General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, clarified that the agency does not have direct regulatory oversight over certain unbranded palm oil, fufu and other traditionally packaged staple foods sold in open markets. She explained that the agency’s principal food regulatory responsibilities focus on processed and packaged products, while state and local authorities also have responsibilities for monitoring food safety within their jurisdictions. <Cite refs={[“turn703277search0″,”turn703277search1”]}/>
The clarification has intensified discussion about how regulatory agencies and subnational governments can coordinate their responsibilities to protect consumers who depend on informal markets for everyday food supplies.
NAFDAC has also raised concerns about reported cases of palm oil adulteration involving hazardous dyes and allegations that harmful chemicals are used in the production of some staple foods. Such reports require appropriate sampling, laboratory analysis and investigation before specific products or producers can be conclusively identified as unsafe. <Cite refs={[“turn703277search1″,”turn703277search2”]}/>
The regulatory challenge, therefore, extends beyond whether food products carry labels. Effective food safety protection also requires hygiene standards, monitoring of production and processing practices, inspection of markets, appropriate laboratory testing, consumer education and enforcement against established violations.
Ojo further emphasised the importance of strengthening Environmental Health Officers, whom he described as essential to preventing diseases through improved sanitation and environmental health management.
He argued that prevention should receive greater attention within Nigeria’s public health system, particularly through the enforcement of sanitation standards and the identification of environmental conditions that contribute to disease.
“Vaccines are important, but we should not overrate them. The major determinant of disease is sanitation. Reports from all over the world show that when sanitation improves, health improves,” he said.
“Vaccines have their place, but preventing disease in the first place is primary. That is why we must strengthen and encourage Environmental Health Officers. They are not doing their job very well at the moment,” he added.
The professor’s remarks point to the need for a stronger environmental health workforce capable of conducting inspections, identifying unhygienic practices, educating food handlers and working with relevant authorities to address food safety concerns.
For Nigeria’s universities, the issue also presents opportunities for research into food contamination, environmental health, food processing, consumer protection and public health policy. Institutions with expertise in health sciences, environmental studies, food technology and related disciplines could contribute evidence to guide regulatory reforms and improve public awareness.
However, effective intervention will require clear responsibilities among federal regulators, state governments, local councils and environmental health authorities, alongside adequate funding, trained personnel and reliable systems for reporting suspected violations.
The estimate cited by Ojo that about 70 per cent of food consumed in Nigeria is unbranded was not independently established in the conference report. Nevertheless, his call highlights a wider policy question: how can food safety oversight effectively reach the informal markets and traditional food-processing systems on which many Nigerians rely?
As concerns over food quality continue to attract public attention, the challenge for policymakers is to ensure that consumer protection extends across the food supply chain while regulatory decisions are supported by scientific evidence, coordinated enforcement and accessible channels for reporting suspected unsafe products.
