https://porpulace.com.ng/nafdac-nafdac-dg/

The complete list of all NAFDAC Director Generals since the Agency was established till today is as follows:

1) Professor Gabriel Ediale Osuide

Professor Gabriel Osuide became the first NAFDAC Director-General (NAFDAC DG) in 1994. He was in charge at NAFDAC till 2000.

A respected academician with so many scholarly works, Gabriel Osuide is 87 years old, having been born on 15th March 1935. He attended the University of London where he graduated with First Class Honours in Pharmacology in 1963.

He thereafter had his PhD in Pharmacology at the same University of London

Gabriel Osuide was pivotal to the setting up of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Kaduna State.

He also held many administrative roles in the institution.


Before NAFDAC was officially born, a similar parastatal was the Food and Drugs Administration and Control (FDAC) Department, Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH). Gabriel Osuide was the first Director of this Department

When NAFDAC kicked off operations, Gabriel Osuide then became its first Director-General.

2. Professor Dora Akunyili


Dora Akunyili took over the mantle as the 2nd NAFDAC DG in 2001. She held this position till 2008

Dora Akunyili is a name that needs no introduction in the Nigerian and international space, both online and offline.


She was born on 14th July 1954 in Makurdi, Benue State, the then Middle Belt region of Central Nigeria. Her parents were Chief and Mrs. Paul Edemobi and that was the surname she had before she got married.

After her primary and secondary education, Dora proceeded to University of Nigeria Nsukka where she studied Pharmacology and graduated in 1978. She would later bag a PhD in EthnoPharmacology in 1985.


She worked in various capacities until she was appointed the NAFDAC DG in 2001.

This was during the time of Olusegun Obasanjo as Nigeria’s democratically elected President.


Dora Akunyili wasted no time and swung into action. She presided over a very turbulent period in NAFDAC history. During her tenure, NAFDAC became a household name in Nigeria.

She exposed a lot of rot and corruption in the drug market structure in Nigeria. She also survived an assassination attempt on 26th December 2003, while still in office.

She would later become Minister of Information and Communications, a post she held till 16th December 2010.

Dora Akunyili died at the age of 59 years on 7th June 2014.

3. Dr. Paul Botwev Orhii


A medical doctor and the 3rd NAFDAC DG, Paul Orhii was born in Benue State. He also grew up there.

He was said to have attended St. Fancis College, Otukpo Benue State and had his West African School Certificate Examination in 1980.


After his secondary education, he proceeded to the University of Jos to study Medicine. He would later get a scholarship to study Medicine in Russia, an opportunity which he took in 1982.

Paul Orhii proceeded to Stavropol State Medical Institute, Russia where he obtained his Medical degree in 1989. He also had his Ph.D in Medicine from the same school.


Paul Orhii took over the baton of leadership from Dora Akunyili in 2009.

During his tenure as NAFDAC DG some innovations were introduced to fight drug counterfeiting. This include TruScan, Mobile Authentication Services (MAS) which is a way to confirm by SMS whether a drug is genuine or not.

He was reappointed for a second term on 13th January 2014.

During his time in office, NAFDAC was credited to have achieved a reduction in counterfeit antimalarial drugs from 19.6% in 2012 to 3.6% in 2015.

Dr. Orhii was at some point accused of financial misappropriation.

Dr. Orhii’s second tenure as NAFDAC DG came to an abrupt end on 15th February 2016. He thereafter handed over to Mrs. Yetunde Oni, who was at that time the Director of Administration and Human Resources at the Agency.


4. Mrs. Yetunde Oni (Acting DG)

Yetunde Oni was the Acting Director of NAFDAC from February 17th 2016 to 21st September 2017 when she retired.


During her tenure as Acting DG, NAFDAC obtained international certification for the NAFDAC laboratories at Agulu, Kaduna as well as WHO Pre-Qualification of the Central Laboratory in Yaba, Lagos State.


Her leadership was also noted to have reduced the cost of registration of NAFDAC regulated products under Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises’ (SMME) Clinic by 50%, among others.

5. Mr. Ademola Andrew Magbojuri (Acting DG)

When Yetunde Oni stepped down from her role and retired, Mr. Magbojuri, being the most senior Director in the agency at that time, took over as the Acting DG of NAFDAC

This was the role he held from 28th September 2017 until November 2017 when a substantive DG was finally appointed.

6. Professor Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye


Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye was appointed as the NAFDAC Director General with effect from 3rd November 2017. This was under the leadership of Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s President. Her tenure lasted for one cycle, which is five years.

Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye is a seasoned academician, Moji Adeyeye obtained her bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutics from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1976.

She went on to get her Masters and PhD degrees outside the shores of Nigeria, specifically University of Georgia, USA in 1985 and 1988 respectively.

She became a Professor of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology in 2003.


She is married to Prof. Olusola Adeyeye who is a former Senator representing Osun Central.


Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye has received so many awards and has many published works to her credit.

Some of her achievements as NAFDAC DG include:

* Paying off accumulated debt of ₦3.01 billion which she met when she took over as NAFDAC boss.

* Digitalization of regulatory and registration process. Clients can now register and do most of their documentations online without having to go to and fro to NAFDAC physical offices.


* NAFDAC registered more than 1530 packaged water factories from January to August 2021.

7. Dr. Monica Eimunjeze (Acting DG)

After Professor Mojisola Adeyeye’s tenure elapsed, a new DG has been appointed for the Agency by name Monica Hemben Eimunjeze.

Dr. Eimunjeze holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

She also has a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree as well as an MSc in Biotechnology, Innovation and Regulatory Science. She is also a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN).

Dr. Eimunjeze worked with GlaxoSmithKline, an internationally acclaimed phamaceutical company, from 1989 to 1996. GlaxoSmithKline is now known as GSK plc.

Dr. Eimunjeze has worked with NAFDAC in various capacities. She has served as Technical Assistant to the Director General of NAFDAC, as well as the Director, Drug Evaluation and Research.

Before her appointment as the Acting NAFDAC boss, she was the Director of Registration and Regulatory Affairs of NAFDAC.

Her appointment takes effect from 12th November 2022.

Source: https://porpulace.com.ng/nafdac-nafdac-dg/

Nice compilation.
A lot of other DGs did some really great work but ask anyone about nafdac and the first name they will mention is Dora Akunyili

thesicilian:
Nice compilation.
A lot of other DGs did some really great work but ask anyone about nafdac and the first name they will mention is Dora Akunyili

Yes, she worked with all her heart. These are the kind of people needed to turn Nigeria around.