The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has called on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, to conduct random laboratory tests on drugs, food, drinks and packaged water sold around tertiary institutions over concerns about potential health risks.
The association also urged the regulatory agency to strengthen surveillance of markets and shops around university campuses and student residential areas, as well as issue public alerts and recall unsafe products when necessary.
NANS made the demands in a letter addressed to NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, signed by its Director of Health, Augustine Onovughegor, on Friday, October 16, 2026.
The students’ body said reports from campus health centres, teaching hospitals and student communities had raised concerns about the safety of products consumed by young Nigerians.
It listed kidney and liver complications, seizure disorders, gastrointestinal infections, foodborne illnesses and suspected chemical poisoning among the health problems reportedly affecting young people.
According to the association, some of these cases could be linked to exposure to substandard or falsified medicines, contaminated food, unregulated additives and toxic substances.
NANS criticised what it described as the regulator’s inadequate visible response, arguing that resource constraints should not prevent urgent intervention when public health is at risk.
“When the regulator is absent, the market becomes a laboratory of harm, and our students become the experimental subjects,” the letter stated.
The association outlined six key areas for action, including risk-based inspections around campuses, random product testing, public warnings, product recalls and the prosecution of manufacturers or distributors found to have supplied substandard or falsified products.
It also called on NAFDAC to collaborate with its health directorate and campus clinics to improve the reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions and foodborne illnesses.
Other recommendations included creating a publicly accessible database of registered products, improving batch-verification systems, providing consumer education materials and sustaining campus awareness campaigns to help students identify counterfeit medicines and unsafe food products.
NANS stressed that protecting students required coordinated action by regulatory agencies and health institutions.
“The blood of Nigerian students is not a statistic. Protect our market. Protect our food. Protect our drugs. Protect our future,” the association stated.