CWC LAGOS: A HOPELESS REALITY

 

The federal government's vision to establish a well-coordinated and regulated drug distribution system across Nigeria is one of the most vital reforms in our healthcare sector. 

Designed to eliminate the chaos of open drug markets and improve public health outcomes, the Coordinated Wholesale Center (CWC) project was meant to bring order, safety, and accountability into the pharmaceutical supply chain.

CWCs are designated hubs where pharmaceutical wholesalers can operate under strict regulation, ensuring the quality and safety of drugs sold to the Nigerian public. 

In 2012, the federal government approved four pilot locations for the CWC project: Sabongari drug market in Kano, Idumota in Lagos, Headbridge in Onitsha, and Ariaria market in Aba.

Today, Sabongari in Kano has successfully relocated and is operational. Onitsha and Aba have made significant progress. But Lagos, the commercial nerve center of Nigeria, has become the tragic exception.

In Lagos, about 902 Idumota drug market operators pooled resources to purchase land for relocation in 2012. Receipts were issued, contributions made in good faith, and hopes were high. 

However, powerful interests have now hijacked this noble initiative. Big importers, manufacturers, government officials, and their allies within relevant ministries have allegedly carved out the land and project space for themselves. Each of them is reported to have cornered multiple trading spaces, including utility spaces, leaving the original Idumota traders with barely 5% access to the project intended for them.

This blatant sabotage undermines the federal government’s genuine efforts and endangers the lives of millions who depend on a safe drug distribution system. If the government does not act swiftly, the entire plan risks collapse and the result could be an influx of 5,000 displaced businesses into unemployment and insecurity, a situation that could worsen the nation's already fragile state.

The role of importers and manufacturers should be to support the relocation process and not to exploit it for selfish gain. These are already well-established players in the industry, not the small traders who have struggled for decades in an unsafe and unregulated environment.

For concerned members of the Lagos State Medicine Dealers Association (Island Zone), they have been making a passionate appeal to the Federal Ministry of Health asking for an immediate investigation into the CWC project situated on Ojora land in Orile Iganmu. Their demand includes that the land, purchased by Idumota traders through their leaders between 2012 and 2014 , be returned to its rightful contributors.

All efforts by the traders to peacefully engage with those who have hijacked this project have been met with resistance. The federal government must step in now, while something can still be salvaged. Otherwise, the resistance from displaced traders may become inevitable.

Let this not be another case of public good stolen for private gain. The future of over 5,000 livelihoods and the integrity of our drug distribution system hang in the balance.

Concerned Members, Lagos State Medicine Dealers Association (Island Zone)