NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed these at a news conference on Wednesday, in Abuja following the agency’s elevation by the global health body to a Maturity Level 3 status.

With the development, Adeyeye said Nigeria’s made products would be trading globally.

The elevation of NAFDAC, Prof. Adeyeye explained, showed that the agency had raised its standards in not just administration and marketing but also in post-marketing, production registration and many others.

Adeyeye said the development equally indicated that NAFDAC had raised its bar in clinical trials, guidelines and procedures, regulatory inspection, laboratory listings, market control, and other regulators, among others.

She attributed the success of her agency to the dedication and commitment of staff to improving the standard.

Açcording to her, the road to success began a few weeks after she assumed duty in 2018, following her appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari to take over the affairs of the agency as director-general.

She said, “We started this journey in January 2018, five weeks after my resumption as NAFDAC Director-General. It was a torturous, tasking and highly demanding journey, but I went through it with the support of my Directors, governing council and other staff who made different kinds of sacrifices towards the realisation of the goal.”

She explained that, “When we started, WHO listed 868 recommendations which we must meet before we get to maturity level three status. Initially, it sounded impossible, but my Directors stood by me all the way, in addition to many others who did all forms of sacrifices to ensure we achieve the feat.”

She spoke further: “In June 2019, WHO officials visited NAFDAC headquarters in Abuja to commence the benchmarking process. Out of the 868 recommendations they listed, we were able to meet over 600 of them and were left with 147 items which were the most difficult ones at that time.

“We started working at it. We organised town hall meetings and retreats for everyone involved along the chain. We made sure that NAFDAC is on the quality system, and that helped us greatly to achieve the feat. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic came and interrupted our programmes. It took a year out of our scheduled time.

“After the COVID-19 fever, we picked up from where we stopped in 2020. We revisited the 147 recommendations and commenced work on them. In July 2021, WHO met with our officials, virtually, and confirmed that we have reduced the 147 recommendations to 33 which were the most difficult ones including regulations.

“We met all the recommendations in October, 2021. In February 2022, WHO officials returned for final inspection and were glad that all items we submitted and claimed to have were intact.

“That was when they told us that we are successful and had met the criteria for maturity level three regulatory agency status. But they asked us not to announce it until we see the letter conveying the message. The much-awaited letter came around 1 am on Wednesday.”

Executive Director, NNNGO, Oyebisi Oluseyi, made the assertion during a news conference on Friday in Lagos.

NNNGO made the call in collaboration with the Global Call to Action Against Poverty and the People’s Vaccine Alliance.

March 11 marks the beginning of the third year since the World Health Organisation formally declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

Oluseyi said that world leaders have the power to remove the monopoly of big pharmaceuticals on vaccines, tests and treatment and allow countries to produce life-saving medicines needed by their citizens.

According to him, there are over 100 facilities globally that can produce more vaccine doses if the monopoly of pharmaceuticals on these technologies was temporarily lifted and the recipes shared.

“Heading into our third year of the pandemic, billions of people worldwide still don’t have access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatment.

“Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies are recording profits of over one million dollars per hour.

“The lack of strong government action in the face of pharmaceutical monopoly greed is causing thousands of needless deaths each day,” he said.

He called on governments to deliver on long-awaited intellectual property waiver, compel pharmaceutical companies to share vaccine making know-how, and fund the production of regional vaccine and treatment production hubs.

Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus, who announced this said they were selected as the first recipients of technology from the organisation’s global mRNA vaccine hub, in a push to ensure the African continent can make its own jabs to fight COVID and other diseases.

“Today I’m delighted to announce the first six African countries that will receive technology from the hub to produce their own mRNA vaccines: Egypt, Kenya Nigeria, Senegal South Africa, and Tunisia.”

“I was honoured to visit the Hub last week. And it’s already producing results, with Afrigen’s announcement that it has produced its own mRNA vaccine, based on publicly-available information about the composition of an existing vaccine,” Ghebreyesus said.

“We expect clinical trials to start in the 4th quarter of this year, with approval expected in 2024. We expect the benefits of this initiative will extend far beyond #COVID19, by creating a platform for vaccines against other diseases including malaria and tuberculosis”.

“WHO will work with the companies and the government in each country to develop a roadmap for training and production, based on their needs and capacities.

“Thank you all, and we look forward to working with all of you to make this project a success, for the healthier, safer and fairer Africa”.

WTO’s Director-General, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala  disclosed this while speaking virtually at the annual National Diaspora Day celebration in Abuja on Sunday.

According to the WTO chief, manufacture of vaccines on the continent will reduce vaccination inequality, made more stark by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite rising cases in Africa, many countries have struggled to secure vaccines for their population.

According to the World Health Organisation, only about 1.5% of the population on the continent is fully vaccinated. In countries like the US, the number is well over 50 percent.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala, who used to sit on the board of Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, said attempts have been made to bring the CEOS of “major manufacturing companies from Moderna to Pfizer to AstraZeneca, J&J” to the table.

The WTO boss, however called for the implementation of Diaspora voting in future Nigerian elections.