Daniel Adaji
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it is stepping up collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development to halt the spread of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) across the country’s human and animal health sectors.
Speaking recently in Lagos during the 2025 World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW), the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, represented by her Special Assistant, Dr. Gbenga Fajemirokun, emphasised that tackling AMR requires coordinated action across the human–animal–environment interface. She described AMR as “one of the most urgent and silent public health threats of our time.”
Adeyeye warned that misuse of antimicrobials has accelerated the rise of resistant pathogens, posing grave risks to health systems and food production. She noted that in agriculture, “the indiscriminate use of antimicrobials for growth promotion, routine disease prevention, or unregulated application in aquaculture and crop farming has created a breeding ground for resistant pathogens,” which can spread to humans through food, water, and direct contact. “In effect, resistance anywhere is a threat everywhere,” she said.
To curb the trend, she said the agency is strengthening joint efforts with the livestock ministry and veterinary community to regulate antimicrobial use in animals. “We are working closely with the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development and the veterinary community to promote safer alternatives and ensure best practices,” she stated.
Adeyeye stressed that antimicrobials for animals must be used strictly under veterinary supervision and only for treatment. She said NAFDAC is committed to preventing their use for growth promotion or as substitutes for good farm management. She added that the agency is also “regulating the use of antimicrobials in medicated feeds to prevent non-therapeutic use.”
She highlighted NAFDAC’s broader One Health approach, noting that the agency is intensifying oversight to “curb the circulation of substandard and falsified veterinary drugs, enforce compliance with quality standards, and strengthen pharmacovigilance and post-marketing surveillance systems.”
Beyond regulation, she said NAFDAC is partnering with farmers, feed producers, veterinarians, and industry players to expand awareness and promote alternatives such as vaccines, biosecurity measures, and improved farm practices. Through nationwide campaigns, she said the agency continues to stress that “responsible antimicrobial use is everyone’s responsibility. Protecting animals means protecting people and preserving the power of antimicrobials for the future.”
She urged farmers and livestock producers to adopt good animal husbandry, hygiene, and vaccination practices to reduce reliance on antibiotics, while urging pharmacists to dispense antimicrobials only with valid prescriptions. She encouraged Nigerians to “avoid self-medication, seek professional care, and demand responsibly produced food,” calling on the media to keep amplifying AMR awareness because “the story of AMR is one that must be told, clearly, urgently, and repeatedly.”
Echoing her concerns, the Director of NAFDAC’s Veterinary Medicine and Allied Products Directorate, Mrs. Temitayo Stephanie Adeoye, said AMR “threatens the very foundation of modern medicine and food security.” She warned that without urgent action, the country could return to a time “when minor infections could once again become fatal.”
Adeoye said the agency, through its directorates, is leading inter-agency work on AMR surveillance in the veterinary sector, promoting rational antimicrobial use and “integrating stewardship principles across the livestock and aquaculture value chains.” She added that NAFDAC also works with One Health partners “to harmonize data, enhance AMU/AMC reporting, and enhance laboratory capacities for AMR testing.”
NAFDAC reaffirmed its commitment to working closely with the livestock ministry and all stakeholders to protect public health and ensure coordinated, science-based interventions against the spread of resistant pathogens
