After a BBC Africa Eye documentary exposed Nigeria’s codeine cough syrup crisis in April 2018, the government banned the import and production of the opioid-containing mixture.
But this will only have short-term benefits, according to Dr Lolu Ojo, chair of the Nigerian Academy of Pharmacy’s committee on drug and substance abuse.
“Right now, there are so many products that are being abused,” Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper quoted Ojo as saying in June 2019. “Are we going to ban all of them?”
Ojo said in the interview that “about 14.4 million Nigerians are currently on drugs and 25% of them are women”.
Are his figures on point?
Claim
“About 14.4 million Nigerians are currently on drugs”
Verdict
mostly-correct
More on Drugs
The opioid epidemic you haven’t heard about
Opioid use, drug-related disorders on the rise: UN report
*The views of the above article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Africa Speaks 4 Africa or its editorial team.