Drug adulteration remains a plague in Nigeria. The Divisional Manager, North and West, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Mr. Rotimi Afolaogun, in this interview with OKECHUKWU NNODIM, says the menace needs a drastic solution
From your experience as a salesman, how would you describe the dynamics of pharmaceutical products sales in Nigeria?
Selling pharmaceutical products in Nigeria has actually changed overtime. The strategy used in selling before now was different from what is obtainable in today’s market. Before now, all you needed to do was to have your scientific facts on the product, meet the key opinion leaders, mainly doctors, and the next thing would be to start generating demands from them. The strategy one employs is also dependent on the products one is selling. If you are selling ethical products, you cannot do without the hospitals and doctors, which constitute the demand generating system.
Do you see the boom in the Onitsha, Idumota and Kano markets as a challenge or channels for unhealthy competition in the industry?
Not really. As we speak now, the Kano market is shut. Anambra State Government also recently announced the closure of the Overhead Bridge Market in Onitsha. This goes a long way to curtail the influx of fake and adulterated drugs into the pharmaceutical market. So, it is important to shut down stores that adulterate drugs. And I know that all the relevant agencies are making concerted efforts to ensure that the channels of distribution of these pharmaceutical products are strictly controlled.
What will you say about government’s action as regards the handling of illicit pharmaceutical products sales in Nigeria?
I think the Nigerian government, through the appropriate agencies, is taking steps in the right direction. I believe we should commend some of these agencies, like the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. They have done so much work and the situation is not the way it used to be. Before now, anybody could just go to India, give specifications that were substandard; he would bring them in and start selling to people because the controls were not there. But now, things have changed; you can’t just go to anywhere and bring in anything. The NAFDAC numbers on the products are not just there for fun. There are controls that the agency has put in place, with several tests on the products, its dissolution rate and also carry out several analyses on the products before they certify it.
What are the common challenges of a pharmaceutical salesperson?
There are so many companies that are into pharmaceutical product marketing and sales now. Everyone wants to have its products and sell, even when it doesn’t have the structure. So, with the way things are going, I foresee an unhealthy competition because everybody wants to market a product at all cost. But from the angle of a salesperson, most of the things that I would say are challenges to me have been solved, especially because I work with Fidson. For instance in Fidson Healthcare Plc, we don’t just come out with a product to the market, there is always a cutting-edge. As a salesman, you don’t just sell because you can sweet-talk anybody, you have to sell based on facts and things that make your product of better value.
Over the years, there has been much influx of foreign brands into the Nigerian market. How has this affected the country’s pharmaceutical industry?
Many of these brands have always been there, but some of them left the market at some points. The operational procedures of multi-nationals are totally different. But for Fidson, which is 100 per cent owned by Nigerians, this is our country and we know where the shoe pinches and we know what to tell our fellow countrymen that will make us acceptable. Beyond that, multi-nationals cannot play where the locals will play. They have policies and stringent procedures that they might not be able to bend. That was why some of them left the market when the local brands started gaining ground in the market. Now that they are coming back. I am sure they are coming back more prepared, having realised what they lost.
Looking at the challenge of insecurity in the northern part of Nigeria, how has this affected the sales of pharmaceutical products?
Looking at it generally, you will want to ask where the sales are coming from. Basically, sales are coming from the wholesalers. These are the people that buy products in bulk. So, if you look at the North, there is insecurity and the industry cannot survive without human beings. So, the mass exodus of people from this region really reduced the sales of products in the market. But of course, in Fidson, failure is not an option. All we had to do was to re-strategise. I believe that you don’t win a war because you are the smartest or the most intelligent; you win a war because you are empowered by the power that is behind you and motivating you. In Fidson, yes we felt it a little, but we had to re-strategise and turn our challenges to opportunities. Today, we can smile about the fact that we even did better than when the crisis was not there.
How were you able to pull through despite the crisis in the region?
I see myself as a troop commander; and as a general, you have no power when your troops are not equal to the task ahead of you. I work with some intelligent young people, very smart and aggressive. That was just what we keyed into. We made them to understand the opportunity of remaining in the market where others are running away; and because they are smart and knowledgeable, they went into action and the whole story changed. The first two months was tough because some of the distributors where actually relocating.
Then, we also made use of social networking platforms for sharing information on insecurity alerts through online groups. We just tried to move away from those extreme crisis-prone areas and enhance our strengths in other secure areas, just to keep sales unhindered.
What is your expectation for the pharmaceutical market in 2013?
I wouldn’t expect too much change from what happened in the last two years. I see that the generality of people trying to import this product or that product into the market will continue. I would just implore the agencies to step up their control and achieve more than what we have seen on the Overhead Bridge Market in Onitsha, in Kano market and all that. If they can achieve more control, then you will see the big players dictating the pace in the industry, while you see the small players falling apart. I see a more fruitful and rewarding market in 2013. I also foresee a healthier competition because where there is no competition you cannot get the best of performance. Healthy competition actually makes you get better; so we will welcome it. What we will not welcome is unhealthy competition. So when the controls are there, then the rightful market players will come in and play the right way.
You were recently awarded the ACE for Leadership Excellence. How do you feel about this and what are the lessons from the award?
Let me start by saying that the candle that lights another one only makes itself more visible. It is important to state here that leadership is not just about you. You gain more power by giving out power. So, rather than saying I won an award, why don’t we say my colleagues gave me an award? Probably because they enjoy my company, they enjoy the way we interact and do the work together. They are the boss, I just follow suit and ensure that I enhance their capability. I also make sure that the human development areas of my team members are not taken for granted in anyway. Honestly, when you develop your human capacity, every problem is already solved because your intelligence and mental ability are enhanced to think through a solution to whatever problem that arises.