Ruth Kadiri
NIGERIAN ACTRESS, screenwriter and film producer, Ruth Kadiri, has raised an alarm over the increasing circulation of fake products in her country, calling on authorities to take stringent action.
In a video shared on social media, the actress said it was time for well-meaning Nigerians to speak up against the menace.
She said: “Dear Nigerians, every day, people buy food, drinks, medicine, cosmetics, household products, believing that they are safe. But sadly, they are poorly produced, contaminated, harmful, and mostly fake. This is not just a business problem; it’s a threat to human life.”
Ruth Kadiri lamented that many people fall ill after consuming fake drugs, linking it to the rising cases of kidney and heart-related ailments among children.
“A sick person goes to the pharmacy to get medication, hoping to get better, but gets worse. Sometimes we see lots of children dealing with kidney failures, and we ask ourselves, where is this increasing problem coming from? Fake products,” she stated.
Recounting her personal experience, she said: “I bought garlic, blended it, went upstairs, and came back. My garlic had turned green. I’m literally afraid of buying already packed drinks for my kids because I’m scared what the outcome might be.”
The actress noted that most of the fake products are produced locally by Nigerians, at the expense of lives.
“Most of those products are created, produced in our country by our people, destroying lives and health of our people, regardless of what they have to lose, as long as they make money,” she disclosed.
She urged citizens living in communities where fake products are manufactured to speak up, warning that silence could cost lives.
Ruth Kadiri also advised parents and guardians to always check expiry dates and NAFDAC registration numbers before purchasing products.
She made a call for collective action: “Let us be our brother’s keeper in this time. Let us all put our voices together to this cause, and let us all fight fakeness out of our system. It’s already bad enough.”
By Prince Fiifi Yorke