Nollywood actress and filmmaker Ruth Kadiri has added her voice to growing public anger over counterfeit products in Nigeria, releasing a video in which she describes the crisis as "not just a business problem" but "a threat to human life." The video joins a wider wave of complaints from Nigerians online in recent weeks, as social media users have compared suspected fake and genuine versions of everyday items, from toothpaste and yoghurt to palm oil and bottled drinks.
In the video, Kadiri recounted her own experience with a suspected fake product, saying garlic she had blended turned green after she left it briefly unattended. She said the scale of the problem has left her anxious about everyday purchases, including packaged drinks for her children, and linked the crisis directly to rising cases of kidney failure among children, which she said are often traced back to contaminated or poorly produced goods.
Kadiri placed much of the responsibility on manufacturers operating within the country, saying many of these products are "created, produced in our country by our people," and called for Nigerians to speak up when they witness fake products being made, rather than stay silent. She also urged parents and guardians to check expiry dates and NAFDAC registration numbers before use, and called on the regulatory agency to tighten inspections of manufacturing and product companies, warning against officials accepting bribes to look away.
Her video adds a prominent entertainment-industry voice to a controversy that has put NAFDAC under sustained pressure in recent weeks. The agency has reported receiving 225 complaints over suspected counterfeit products in August alone, and said it removed over 7,000 fake and substandard products during nationwide surveillance between May and July. NAFDAC Director-General Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye drew backlash earlier in September after she laughed off a journalist's question about calls for her resignation over the crisis, a moment that went viral and fuelled further criticism of the agency's handling of the issue.
Kadiri closed her message with a direct warning to those involved in producing or distributing fake goods, saying anyone caught would be treated like a criminal, and appealed for collective action to end the practice. "Let us all put our voices together and see how we can fight this out of our country," she said. "It's already bad enough."
