Lagos, Nigeria — Nollywood actress and filmmaker Ruth Kadiri has raised a strong alarm over the circulation of fake and harmful products in Nigeria, warning that counterfeit medicines and contaminated goods are leaving sick people worse and contributing to serious health crises, including organ failures in children.
In a video posted on her Instagram page, Kadiri addressed the nation with what she described as a heavy heart. She said everyday purchases of food, drinks, medicines, cosmetics and household items often prove to be poorly produced, contaminated or completely fake.
“Dear Nigerians, I’m speaking to you today with a heavy heart and deep concern about the circulation of fake products in our country,” she said. “Every day, people buy food, drinks, medicine, cosmetics, and household products believing that they are safe, but sadly, some are poorly produced, contaminated, harmful and mostly fake. This is not just a business problem; it’s a threat to human life.”
Kadiri specifically highlighted the impact on the sick and on children. “A sick person goes to the pharmacy to get medication, hoping to get better, but gets worse,” she stated. She went further to draw attention to the vulnerability of young ones: “Imagine little children battling kidney failure due to fake product.”
In her remarks, the actress framed the rise of such cases as a direct consequence of the widespread availability of unsafe and counterfeit products, urging the public to recognise the human cost. She stressed that many children are already dealing with kidney failure and other serious conditions that she linked to the consumption of fake or harmful items circulating in the market.
Sharing a personal experience that intensified her fears, Kadiri recounted buying garlic, blending it, leaving briefly and returning to find that its colour had changed. The incident, she said, has made her reluctant to buy packaged drinks for her own children. “I’m literally afraid of buying already packed drinks for my kids because I am scared of what the outcome of that drink will be,” she added.
Kadiri described the problem as collective rather than individual. “It’s not just a buying problem, it is a we problem. Most of these products are produced in our country by our people, destroying the lives and health of our people, regardless of what they have to lose as long as they make money,” she said.
She called on Nigerians who know of the production or sale of fake products in their communities to speak up, noting that silence could cost a child their kidneys, their heart, or a family its breadwinner. “You might be saving a child from kidney failure. You might be saving a child from heart failure… Never say it can never be you.”
Directing her appeal to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), she pleaded for greater urgency. “NAFDAC, please pay attention to the lives of Nigerians.
“Lots and lots of people are sick and are not getting better because the cost of fake product, the cost of fake medicine is much more than we can ever ask or think,” Kadiri said. She also advised parents and guardians to carefully check expiry dates and NAFDAC registration numbers before buying any product.
Her comments have reignited public discussion about the long-standing challenge of counterfeit medicines and substandard goods in Nigeria.
Health experts and regulators have for years warned that falsified drugs and contaminated products can cause severe organ damage, including acute kidney failure, particularly in children. Kadiri’s high-profile intervention adds celebrity weight to calls for stricter enforcement and greater public vigilance.
As of Monday, NAFDAC had not issued an immediate public response to the actress’s specific video. The agency has previously conducted large-scale seizures and destructions of fake and expired products and continues to urge consumers to report suspicious items.
Kadiri’s message ends on a call for collective responsibility: that speaking up and demanding accountability could prevent more children from developing life-threatening organ failures linked to the products meant to heal or nourish them.
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