Kano’s Drug Market Revolution: Over N1.3 Billion Worth of Fake Drugs and Contaminated Food Seized in Crackdown

The action is a pointer to an ongoing campaign by health authorities to advance quality control, implement regulatory powers, and break cartels involved in circulation of counterfeit drugs.

Superintendent Pharmacist Furera Ado, who revealed this in a press conference, said the seized commodities included highly sought-after medicines like antimalarials, antibiotics, and analgesics.

The shocking bit was that laboratory analysis proved more than 40 percent of pharmaceutical samples analyzed failed the Active Ingredient Content test—meaning they were not of good quality and could not produce desired therapeutic outcomes.

If these drugs had been released to the public, they would have caused massive treatment failures, compounded health conditions, and even death. Some of those impounded have already been turned over to the state’s drug abuse committee for their destruction.

Apart from interception, the centre is also striving to deepen its regulation. All professional services within the centre are regulated by registered pharmacists as stipulated by the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria’s guidelines for regulation.

The centre is holding interviews for additional staff aimed at firming up its regulatory mandate and ensuring transparency in operations.

Aside from being a regulatory success, the KPP-CWC has also strategically invested in infrastructure, a World Health Organization-qualified cold room for temperature-sensitive drug storage being among them.

Fueled by 24-hour solar power, the cold room offers +2 and +8 degrees Celsius storage with the capability of dipping below zero for vaccine storage.

This prolongs the life of drugs such as vaccines and insulin, particularly in Nigeria’s environment where drugs of this nature are stored badly and become ineffective.

The KPP-CWC is not an independent initiative. It was initiated by Kanawa Pharmaceutical Partners Limited (KPP), a special purpose vehicle that was created under the federal regulation and the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria Act.

The centre is a product of the Presidential Committee on Pharmaceutical Sector Reform created in 2003 to reorganize Nigeria’s disorganized open drug markets.

Operating within the National Drug Distribution Guidelines, the centre is a next-generation wholesaling of drugs that provides a controlled, centralized setting in which vendors are organized and accountable.

Its establishment is a milestone for Kano and possibly the nation, providing a model that is sustainable in the fight against counterfeit drugs, public health protection, and access to safe medicine in Nigeria.

This shift in Kano reflects a broader national drift away from free-market drug sales and towards an organized system of pharmaceutical distribution geared to highlight safety, transparency, and accountability.