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A delegation from KCHAqua Consortium, an indigenous construction, infrastructure and property development firm, recently visited the Registrar of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, at the council’s headquarters in Abuja.
Chief Executive Officer of KCHAqua Consortium, Chris Ukah, expressed the company’s excitement to discuss the Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC) project in Abia State with the PCN boss to ensure that it meets all necessary regulatory requirements and standards.
Ukah explained that his team visited to notify the council that KCHAqua Investment Limited has received approval in principle from Abia State Government to develop a CWC in Aba and present essential documents for regulatory guidance and approval. The documents included a copy of the survey plan containing 30.1 hectares of land from the Surveyor General of Abia State and a design layout of the CWC in the state.
The project aims to provide modern facilities for medicine dealers and improve the distribution of essential medicines in the region.
Ukah noted that Aba is a significant hub for medicine distribution in Nigeria, serving eight states in the South-South and South-Eastern parts of the country – Imo, Ebonyi, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa as well as neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome with a combined population of 31 million necessitating an expansive space to avoid squeezing the CWC out of modern fashion.
“The Abia State Government saw the need for a large expanse of land because of the significance of the hub and has allocated 30.1 hectares of land for the project, which will accommodate over 2,000 stores for medicine dealers and essential facilities such as standard car parks, standard warehouses; loading and off-loading bay; banking halls, restaurants, fire service station; Police Station; PCN Office; NAFDAC Office; NDLEA Office; a Clinic among others.
Ukah said his organisation has held fruitful meetings with the leadership of Aba Medicine Dealers Stakeholders Association and has offered the medicine dealers ownership of the stores, which they have accepted.
Babashehu welcomed the delegation and expressed his agency’s commitment to supporting the CWC project in Abia State and to ensure that all pharmaceutical projects in Nigeria meet the required standards.
Babashehu described sale of fake and substandard drugs as a major challenge in Nigeria, assuring that the agency in collaboration with stakeholders must work together to address the problem.
The Registrar said Enyimba Pharmaceuticals had previously submitted an application to the Council for the development of a CWC in Abia State.
The meeting was attended by other members of the KCHAqua Consortium team, including the former president of PSN, Ahmed Yakasai, former National Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Olugbenga Falabi, and Chairman of PSN Abia State, Emmanuel Okafor.
The CWC project is expected to improve the distribution and availability of essential medicines in Abia State and contribute to the overall development of the pharmaceutical sector in Nigeria.
