By JKNewsMedia
DIRECTOR-GENERAL and Chief Executive Officer (DG/CEO) of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NDLEA), Professor Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, has received the Special African Leadership Commendation Award at the 16th African Business Leadership Awards held at the Cholmondeley Room and Terrace, House of Lords, Palace of Westminster, London.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that the recognition was presented on 3 July 2026 by the Global Advisory Board of the African Leadership Organisation, publisher of African Leadership Magazine, following what it described as a rigorous, merit based screening and vetting process spanning several years during which Prof. Adeyeye’s leadership trajectory and institutional impact were independently tracked and assessed by an international panel.
In a release, NAFDAC stated that when Prof. Adeyeye assumed office on 30 November 2017, the agency had an inherited debt of more than N3.2 billion.
It also stated that between 70 and 80 percent of equipment across its seven laboratories was non-functional, the agency had no inspection vehicles, staff morale had declined following repeated industrial strikes, no director had a NAFDAC issued laptop, digitisation was absent and was rated below the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Benchmarking Maturity Level 1.
The release also added that within her first year, Prof. Adeyeye cleared more than N3.1 billion of the inherited debt after discovering that N200million of it was fictitious and added that she procured more than 150 utility vehicles, invested more than N7 billion in laboratory equipment, equipped more than half of the agency’s workforce of over 2,000 with laptops and desktop computers, digitised 90 percent of regulatory processes and introduced standard operating procedures across all functions.
It adds that NAFDAC achieved ISO 9001 certification in 2019 and has maintained it through recertification.
According to the release, NAFDAC attained WHO Global Benchmarking Maturity Level 3 in March 2022 and was successfully rebenchmarked in June 2025.
It also stated that the Central Drug Laboratory in Lagos achieved WHO Prequalification in September 2023, Nigeria attained Pre-Accession Pre Applicant status in the Pharmaceutical Inspection and Cooperation Scheme and became the 24th member of the International Council for Harmonisation in 2025.
The release said the Five Plus Five regulatory directive reduced the importation of pharmaceuticals already manufactured in Nigeria by 70 percent and that international pharmaceutical companies that left Nigeria in 2017 are now investing and reinvesting in the country.
The two-day awards programme, themed From Vision to Velocity: Driving Africa’s Next Wave of Growth and Leadership, opened at the GMT Suite, Hilton London Metropole, where Prof. Adeyeye delivered a keynote address on The African University of the Future: Innovation, Relevance, and Global Competitiveness.
The awards ceremony at the House of Lords was hosted by Baroness Sandy Verma, with Lord Dolar Popat and Baroness Lindsay Northover attending as special guests.
The African Leadership Organisation International Advisory Council, chaired by former Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, was represented by former Liberian Vice President Chief Dr. Jewel Howard Taylor, Gen. William Kip Ward, Hon. Nomvula Mokonyane and Dr. Victor Oladokun, among others.
Speaking after receiving the award, Prof. Adeyeye said: “I accept this honour not for myself alone, but on behalf of the dedicated men and women of NAFDAC whose tireless work makes every achievement attributed to my leadership possible.
“When I assumed office in November 2017, NAFDAC was rated below the first rung of the WHO Global Benchmarking ladder.
“Today, we stand at Maturity Level 3, successfully rebenchmarked in June 2025, a distinction held by only 35 per cent of regulatory agencies worldwide. This recognition belongs to every member of the NAFDAC family.”
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