Abuja, Jan. 15, 2025 – Jumoke Oduwole, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, says her ministry is partnering the ministry of health and social welfare to check irregularities in Nigerian food export processes.
She said the collaboration was to unlock and transform the healthcare value chain for more effectiveness.
Oduwole said these in Abuja on Wednesday while receiving Dr. Muhammad Pate, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, who paid a courtesy visit to her office.
Also at the meeting was Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The two ministries met to address some issues on irregularities in the exportation of food, areas on unlocking healthcare, among others.
Oduwole said that both ministries would start working on areas of unlocking the healthcare value chain.
She said that the issues were very vital and required effective measures to be tackled.
“I was briefed about the draft policy and medical devices of syringe and needles manufacturing in Nigeria.
“We have to identify the areas and resolutions, and to identify areas of the ministry’s concern on the draft policy document and were we supposed to emit in further meeting with my ministry.
“The meeting is to discuss how to deliberate on the merit and demerit of the policy, as well as the issues of manufacturing. They are indeed under the eight-point agenda of Mr. President,” she said.
Earlier, Pate had said that the issues had been lingering between the two ministries and needed to be tackled effectively.
He said that the issues were important to support President Bola Tinubu in his agenda towards transforming the country.
“This meeting is bringing two sectors that are ordinarily not closely connected.
“But there are specific things that have prompted me to reach out, which has to do with the exportation of food and its regulation.
“The second element is the role of the regulatory body, NAFDAC in constraining or enabling the trade that we have across various borders.
“The third issue is the regulatory function links to our efforts to unlock the healthcare value chain. These are issues that have been lingering, and I thought we should use this opportunity to come together since we are all on the same team,” he said.
The NAFDAC Director-General said that Nigerians needed to change their mindsets in the area of the exportation of goods, adding that the regulatory agencies should regulate effectively.
She said the efforts would help to avoid the embarrassment of rejection of Nigerian food exports.
