The Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, FAS, has been honoured with the Special African Leadership Commendation Award at the 16th African Business Leadership Awards (ABLA), held at the historic Cholmondeley Room and Terrace, House of Lords, Palace of Westminster, London.
According to an official statement, the award was presented on 3 July 2026 by the Global Advisory Board of the African Leadership Organisation (ALO), publishers of African Leadership Magazine, following a rigorous merit-based assessment of Prof. Adeyeye’s leadership and institutional achievements over several years.
The recognition highlights the remarkable transformation of NAFDAC under Prof. Adeyeye’s leadership since she assumed office on 30 November 2017. At the time, the agency was burdened with debts exceeding ₦3.2 billion, had largely non-functional laboratory equipment, inadequate inspection vehicles, poor staff welfare, minimal digital infrastructure, and was rated below Level One on the World Health Organisation’s Global Benchmarking scale.
The statement noted that within her first year in office, Prof. Adeyeye cleared over ₦3.1 billion of the inherited debt after uncovering ₦200 million in fictitious liabilities. She also spearheaded extensive institutional reforms, including the procurement of more than 150 utility vehicles, investment of over ₦7 billion in modern laboratory equipment, and the provision of laptops and desktop computers to more than half of the agency’s workforce.
Under her leadership, about 90 per cent of NAFDAC’s regulatory processes have been digitised, standard operating procedures introduced across the agency, and ISO 9001 Quality Management System certification achieved in 2019 and sustained through subsequent recertifications.
The reforms have also elevated Nigeria’s global regulatory standing. NAFDAC attained the World Health Organisation’s Global Benchmarking Maturity Level 3 in March 2022 and successfully retained the status following re-benchmarking in June 2025. The agency’s Central Drug Laboratory in Lagos also secured WHO Prequalification in September 2023.
The statement further disclosed that Nigeria has attained Pre-Accession Pre-Applicant status in the Pharmaceutical Inspection and Cooperation Scheme (PIC/S), while in 2025 it became the 24th member of the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH), strengthening the country’s integration into the global pharmaceutical regulatory system.
It added that the implementation of NAFDAC’s Five Plus Five Regulatory Directive has resulted in a 70 per cent reduction in the importation of pharmaceuticals already being manufactured locally, encouraging increased investment by international pharmaceutical companies and boosting domestic production.
NAFDAC is now pursuing WHO Maturity Level 4 and World Listed Authority status, milestones expected to position Nigeria as a leading pharmaceutical manufacturing and export hub within Africa and beyond.
The two-day African Business Leadership Awards programme, themed “From Vision to Velocity: Driving Africa’s Next Wave of Growth and Leadership,” featured a keynote address by Prof. Adeyeye at the Hilton London Metropole on “The African University of the Future: Innovation, Relevance, and Global Competitiveness.” She urged African universities to align their curricula with global regulatory standards and embrace digital transformation across academic disciplines.
The awards ceremony at the House of Lords was hosted by Baroness Sandy Verma, with Lord Dolar Popat and Baroness Lindsay Northover among the distinguished guests. The event attracted former African Heads of State, senior government officials, business leaders and members of the African Leadership Organisation’s International Advisory Council.
Speaking after receiving the award, Prof. Adeyeye dedicated the recognition to the entire NAFDAC workforce.
“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 re-benchmarked 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,” she said.
