N50 for Thirst, or Typhoid? Inside Nigeria’s Sachet Water Gamble

By Emmanuel Adeniran

For the average Nigerian, water is no longer just water. It is a gamble.

In Lagos traffic, on the streets of Ado-Ekiti, in motor parks and classrooms, a N50 sachet of “pure water” or a N200 bottle is often the thin line between quenching thirst and risking typhoid.

Yet that sachet — embossed with a NAFDAC registration number — is increasingly suspect. Some taste of chlorine one day and plastic the next. Some leak at the seams. Others have visible particles when held up to the sun.

And Nigerians are asking a pointed question: What is NAFDAC doing?

The Paradox of Regulation

It is not a personal attack on Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of NAFDAC since 2017. It is a question of regulation.

NAFDAC remains the most trusted food and drug regulatory agency in Nigeria’s history — a reputation built under the late Prof. Dora Akunyili. Under Prof. Adeyeye, the agency has been vocal. But being vocal is not the same as being visible on the streets.

According to NAFDAC, there are over 16,000 registered packaged water producers in Nigeria. That figure explains both a booming industry and a failing system.

The paradox is clear: while NAFDAC expresses concern, the number of substandard products keeps rising. At a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, Prof. Adeyeye herself lamented that many producers lower their standards shortly after obtaining registration, producing water under poor conditions that endanger public health.

The agency has vowed to shut down facilities that fail Good Manufacturing Practice requirements. If it knows this is happening, why is the product still everywhere?

On The Streets: The Real Laboratory

Talk to Mrs. Bose, who sells sachet water at Oja Oba in Ado-Ekiti. She buys from three different factories, depending on who delivers first in the morning.

“One get NAFDAC number, two get number wey dey fade if you rub am. Na the one wey cold we dey buy. Customer no dey check NAFDAC number, na cold water dem want,” she says.

In Lagos, the trade is more sophisticated. Premium-looking bottled water is reportedly refilled in backyards in Alimosho and Ojo. Sachet water machines operate in uncompleted buildings without tiles, let alone water treatment plants.

Medical experts have raised the alarm. Dr. Victor Otubo recently described the quality of sachet water in circulation as worrisome, blaming corruption and a lack of consequences for the boom in illegal production.

This is no longer about ignorance. It is about enforcement.

What NAFDAC Says It Is Doing

To be fair, NAFDAC under Adeyeye has not been silent.

The Director-General has repeatedly warned that “poor quality water kills faster than imagined.” On World Water Day, she admonished producers to adhere strictly to GMP to safeguard consumers.

There have been enforcement actions. In the FCT alone, over 40 illegal water factories were shut down in a recent sweep led by FCT Director, Mr. Kenneth Azikiwe, following what he described as a direct order from Prof. Adeyeye.

The agency has also threatened sanctions and promised closer collaboration with water producers’ associations to sanitise the sector.

But 40 factories in Abuja is a drop in the ocean in a country where almost every street has its own water factory. What about the thousands of unregistered factories across Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Lagos and Kano that never applied for a NAFDAC number in the first place?

The Dora Akunyili Standard

The reason Nigerians mention Prof. Adeyeye by name is because they remember Dora Akunyili. Akunyili took NAFDAC to the factories, to the markets, to the streets. Her enforcement was televised, confrontational and physical.

That is why critics like Dr. Otubo have called on the current leadership to adopt Akunyili’s style.

Today, NAFDAC regulation often feels virtual. Warnings are issued at virtual stakeholder meetings while contaminated water is sold at physical bus stops.

The Way Forward

This is not a problem NAFDAC can solve alone, but it is one NAFDAC must lead.

1. From Registration to Monitoring: Registration should not be the end. Many producers pass inspection to get a number, then cut corners. NAFDAC needs unannounced quarterly re-inspections and a public, regularly updated blacklist of failed brands.

2. Decentralise Enforcement: 40 closures in Abuja makes news. 40 closures in each state every month would make impact. State offices need mobile laboratories and powers to prosecute on the spot.

3. Make NAFDAC Numbers Verifiable: In 2026, an ink-printed number means nothing. Nigerians should be able to scan a QR code on a sachet to verify if the factory’s certification is still valid.

4. Work With Nigerians, Not Just Associations: Water sellers know the fake factories. Consumers know which water gives them stomach upset. NAFDAC needs a dedicated, toll-free whistleblower channel for water.

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye is a renowned professor of pharmaceutical manufacturing and a global health expert. Her pedigree is not in doubt. What is in doubt is whether that pedigree is translating into safe water in the sachet a schoolchild in Ado-Ekiti will drink today.

NAFDAC’s job is not to issue numbers. It is to ensure that when a Nigerian pays N50 for pure water, it is indeed pure. Until that happens, the question will remain.