Fadekemi Ajakaiye
Brains and Hammers Limited, one of Africa’s leading indigenous construction, infrastructure and development companies, has partnered with the Kano State Government to bring to reality the Federal Government’s quest to put an end to wholesale drugs in an unregulated environment across the country.
Desirous of curbing the incidence of fake, adulterated and counterfeit drugs, the Federal Government in 2003 muted the idea of a Coordinated Warehouse Centre (CWC) for pharmaceuticals to stop the chaotic and dangerous trade in drugs in the open markets at Ariaria in Abia State, Idumota in Lagos State, Onitsha Head Bridge in Anambra State and Sabon Gari in Kano State. For years, federal regulatory agencies, particularly the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had engaged perpetrators of this unwholesome trade in a costly battle.
The journey to the CWC which reached an epoch with the commissioning of the Kanawa Pharmaceutical Coordinated Wholesale Centre also known as Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje Pharmaceutical Centre in Kano recently, may not be an end in itself, but serve as a wake-up call for quick implementation of the project in the remaining states.
Working under a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) arrangement between Brains and Hammers Limited and the Kano State Government, the multi-billion-Naira CWC is situated within the larger 117-acre Kano Economic City (KEC), a brainchild of the Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje administration has been formally opened to mark completion of Phase 1 of the KEC.
Chairman of the KEC, Alhaji Mohammed Aliyu Chiroma described the Coordinated Pharmaceutical Wholesale Centre as a complex of 2100 shops with warehouses, that will house businesses of all pharmaceutical products in Kano under the control of regulatory bodies such as Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and NAFDAC.
At the recent commissioning of the Phase One of the KEC, Chiroma spoke glowingly of the efforts put in by the tripartite pact executed by
Brains and Hammers Limited, developer of the groundbreaking trade hub in West Africa, Kano State Government and Jaiz Bank Plc. He discussed some of the features inside the sprawling 117 hectares architectural masterpiece .
The Kano Economic City is unlike anything that Brains and Hammers had done in the past. It required meticulous handling. It is first-of-its-kind in the West Africa sub-region. Initially projected to cost N78 Billion, it was reviewed upwards to N150 Billion.
For this level of solid financial support, Chiroma showered encomium on the management of Jaiz Bank for believing in the project from the beginning and staying the course.
In their goodwill messages, Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire and Prof. Mojisola Adeleye, Director General, NAFDAC praised Governor Ganduje for becoming a model for other states. Ehanire said, “History will be kind to your administration for relocating all the stakeholders to a regulated drug facility;” while Adeyeye said, the Kano CWC will make our job easier. This is going to be a one-stop spot for us.”
Messages of support and encouragement from the Minister of Trade and Investment, Registrar, Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, Kano Pharmaceutical Partners and Director General, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) among others were also rendered at the event which attracted the presence of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, a major stakeholder and financier of the project, Jaiz Bank whose serving Managing Director, Dr. Sirajo Salisu along with his predecessor and members of the Kano State Executive Council.
Brains and Hammer’s reputation is built on over 15 solid years of insight and expertise. The company has become a partner of choice for affordable, premium, and luxury houses for the public and private sectors and Nigerians at home and in the diaspora. Brains and Hammers’ hospitality, residential, commercial, and infrastructural portfolio covers thousands of acres of land in urban, suburban, and satellite communities in Abuja, Kano, Oyo and Lagos in Nigeria.
