Burdened by counterfeits

It has become more difficult to differentiate between original and counterfeit products in Nigeria. OSA VICTOR OBAYAGBONA examines how counterfeits affect the Nigerian people.

When Tunde Ogunlere asked for a pack of envelop at a shop just opposite the ultra-modern Tejuoso Market in Lagos, the shop attendant simply responded with a question – “Do you want made-in-Nigeria, China or original?”

That question, which many Nigerians are faced with daily, is a subtle reminder of a challenge that has not only weighed down on Nigeria’s economy but also on quality of life of its people: The problem of counterfeiting.

In Nigeria, counterfeiting is so pervasive that it affects the quality of clothing, computer software, books, shoes, food and even medicine in circulation, and Nigeria’s over 180 million people have to surmount the challenge of deciphering between what is real and what is fake daily.

“He is alive today because God decreed it,” Demola Matthews, a single mother who lives in Okota, Lagos, says, as she points to her three-year-old son. “We bought an antibiotic syrup for him from the chemist (drug store) near our home when he was ill a year ago and all hell broke loose when he took it.”

Her son began to stool and soon passed out because of weakness after taking the syrup. “It was a counterfeit version of a drug which was supposed to cure him of pneumonia,” Demola says, as she battled to hold back tears.

But Demola’s experience is not an isolated case. The history of fake drugs in the country dates back to the 1980s, and some examples of mass deaths resulting from fake medicines stand out.

In the two years between 1995 and 1996, fake meningitis vaccines obtained from Onitsha Market, the largest drug market in West Africa, killed children in thousands in Northern Nigeria. What is even more alarming is that the vaccine crossed to neighbouring Niger Republic.

Also, in the period between November 2008 and May 2013, at least 84 children died after taking a toxic chemical mixture inputted in a painkiller administered to children who are developing teeth.

Bell Ihua, chief operating officer of Nigeria’s major polling organisation, NOIPolls, notes that, “18 percent of Nigerians believe they have been a victim of fake pharmaceuticals. According to Ihua, “70 percent of people actually worry that a drug they are consuming could be fake.” NOI Polls research concludes that a large proportion of victims only know they have consumed fake drugs when they have an adverse reaction.

But the problem transcends drugs and medicine, just as Ogunlere’s visit to the bookshop shows. “It is a complete tragedy,” Emeka Ofo, a trader at the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos, says. Ofo, who is a trader from the Igbo speaking part of Nigeria, tells of how Nigerian traders go as far as China to order goods and products that are below nationally acceptable standards.

“Few weeks ago,” Ofo says, “a fire accident occurred at Yaba where some of my tribesmen have their business holdings, preliminary investigations indicted fake Chinese cables and electrical appliances as responsible for the fire outbreak.” Millions of naira was lost in the incident that even threatened the continuous existence of some of the businesses that were affected by the inferno. “Who knows what would have happened if the fire had happened in a residential area,” Ofo asks, “lives would probably have been lost,” he answers as his face darkened into a sad look.

Beyond small appliances, some big machines have also been known to have come down because counterfeit spare parts were sourced to fix them.

On Sunday afternoon, March 6, 2016, a tragedy occurred in Nigeria. A minister of the Federal Republic was killed in a vehicle accident that also led to the death of his wife and son. The FRSC, the government agency that regulates and promotes safety on Nigerian roads and highways, indicated that the vehicle was on top speed and that the tyre exploded. The initial reaction was to trace the fault to fake tyres, which is common in Nigeria.

This does not come as a surprise. At the close of 2016, Osita Anthony Aboloma, director-general, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), disclosed that the agency says it had an inventory of over N400 million worth of substandard tyres awaiting destruction in its warehouses.

Aboloma, who bemoaned the fact that some motorists still take the condition of tyres with levity, said this had resulted in a lot of avoidable road crashes leading to loss of lives and property.

Many Nigerian motorists also grapple with the problem of fake spare parts. Henry Onuigbo, a banker who drives a sports sedan tells of how his car had continued to howl after he changed the brake pads. “My mechanic said I needed new brake pads, I went to the market to purchase brake pads that have the American flag signage on it, but my mechanic said they were fake. They became noisy whenever I drive through water.”

Perhaps, the biggest counterfeiting ring in Nigeria concerns software and entertainment products – music and videos. Audio and video versions of music are indiscriminately reproduced in substandard compact discs, which contributes to the rapid deterioration of video players. Not to talk about the impact of such activity on intellectual property.

A survey conducted by BusinessDay’s Research and Intelligence Unit in 2014 indicates that for every single shop that offers original software in Nigeria biggest software market, there are five others that offer pirated copies, with some shops even selling both.

With the most frequently pirated software being Microsoft Office Suite (85%), Microsoft’s Operating System (91%), and various software used for editing pictures (40%).

It is also discovered that students are more likely to copy and share pirated software than any other class of software users in Nigeria. Though they have an assortment of software, they typically do not buy originals. Somehow, they are not convinced that counterfeited software is detrimental to the development of talent, original owners and the economy in general.

The general population is not much different; the minor difference lies in the fact that a number of working individuals get original software from their workplaces. The research also reveals that specialised, professional software, especially for fields like facility management, accounting and engineering are less likely to be pirated than general use software.

There are indications that agencies of government responsible for standards are making efforts.

“The agency under my watch reduced substandard consumer products from 85 percent to 30 percent,” Joseph Odumodu, immediate past director-general of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, had said while bowing out of office in February 2016.

But investigations have also shown that the fakers have taken business away from genuine manufacturers, therefore deepening the unemployment market. This is so as the faked products are far cheaper than the original.

Embarrassingly, the regulatory authorities are not doing enough to tame the tide, and public awareness is a major hindrance. High illiteracy and low exposure make it hard for the public to be on their guard.