The Society of Testing Laboratory Analysts of Nigeria, SOTLAN, has raised the alarm over several challenges facing analytical laboratories in Nigeria, stating that except the sector gets intervention from the government, the nation will persist being the dumping ground for adulterated products.
Professor Olugbenga Ogunmoleya, SOTLAN President, while talking in Lagos at the 2022 Conference of Public Analysts, stated that the challenges range from poor infrastructures, like access to constant water supply and unstable electricity.
He further said that the prohibitive price of laboratory equipment and accessories, along with laboratory chemicals as well as reagents, in addition to the absence of local technical competence for supervision, among others, has undoubtedly made a contribution to the gradual growth of analytical laboratories in the nation.
He cited the 2019 report by Mordor Intelligence on the topic global testing market, which analysed that North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific together manage 91% of the global market share, while the rest of the world, particularly Africa and the Middle East, manages only 9% of the market.
Out of this, the majority of testing samples from Nigeria are either sent overseas for analysis or embarked by foreign operating with units in Nigeria because of a lack of local capacity.
Without local testing competence, quality guarantees can’t be assured, and the nation will persist in being a dumping ground for fake and adulterated products in the area of food, medical devices, drugs, petroleum, and industrial chemicals, among other products.
While talking on the topic, “Building Capacity for Global Competitiveness of Testing Laboratories”,
the Country Director of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, GAIN, Dr Michael Ojo, said that back in 2018, no single laboratory in the country was accredited to international standards for testing micronutrients in food.
“This prompted GAIN to source for funding with a project titled Expanding Nutrition Access by Building Capacity and Enhancing Policy which was funded by Gates Foundation. As part of this project, GAIN implemented three-level assessments on selected laboratories, both public and private.
