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Wellcare Pharmacy ? Closed and Customs on premises...

Started by sdanyaro, December 19, 2005, 10:30:24 PM

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sdanyaro

Assalamu alaikum;

Wellcare Pharmacy, Gashash Road, Off Hadeija Road ? Closed and Customs on premises.
If you leave in Kano you might know of Wellcare Pharmacy, Gashash Road, Off Hadeija Road. It is one of places you go to, to purchase your pharmaceutical supplies if you want to make sure that you get un-expired and non-faked supplies. Grant it that their prices are not cheap, but at least you know that you are getting the real thing? most doctors will send you there!

This morning, I went to the Pharmacy hoping to buy a small bottle of BAYER Aspirin. On reaching there, I found it to be closed and with about 3 Custom Vehicles and many uniformed Customs officers there. Does anybody know what is going on? Any other Alternatives?

kitkat

I reliably heard they went in with a video camera taking pictures with one of the wellcare girls actually showing them around, then another armed team came in and rouned up every one. They locked up the owner and five of his staff who were only released yesterday. I passed the place a day later and there were three customs pickups with god knows how many armed custom men looking like they were guarding heavens gate.

If only they were that serious at their port and border maybe the contraband wont have found its way to a supermarket over 1000 kms form apapa port in the 1st place.

i dont condone smuggling , but when a Government unilaterally reels out a list of banned items almost on a weekly basis, how does an importer plan his business, especially if the items are not produced locally and some like drugs are actually essential.
Its just cazy especially when its the same idiots that collect astromomical bribes at the ports and provide safe passage for the goods all the way to the supermarket shelf. Its just gonna create a black market and create underground commodity networks at exorbitant prices.

I had the misfortune of offering to help buy two chemotherapy drugs in Abuja sometime ago for a not too well off patient, and after a fruitless search, I finally got them at a chemist who got them from his house. Two vials of cemcitabine and a bottle of xeloda tabs for N188,000.00 take it or leave it.

Thats just two chemo sessions!!

Admin, next time youre in the States you may want to take more than a passing interest in your local CVS or Walgreens.  Stock up on more than just aspirins pls, you may save some lives!!

sdanyaro

Kitkat,

Thanks for your response to this thread. What you said here about Welcare is just unfortunate. Welcare, from what I am able to gather, got started not too long ago, and used to be the partner of Kafal Pharmacy (Now Alhassan Pharmacy Nigeria Ltd.)  Along Beirut Road. They grow very fast and actually started a US-Style Drug Store where they sell other items such as groceries and general merchandise. Also, I was told that the Customs went in there ? commando style just before closing, around 9:00 pm. They (Welcare staff), thought that it was Arm Robbers because of the way they all the workers and customers were handled.

QuoteIf only they were that serious at their port and border maybe the contraband wont have found its way to a supermarket over 1000 kms form apapa port in the 1st place.
Everybody has been complaining about just this. As a matter of fact the Customs were planning to enter Kantin Kwari Market in a similar manner but got the wind that the merchant would not take it laying down?

It is interesting to know how many how many such operations happened in Lagos and other Southern Towns. All we heard about the Wal-Mart Style Super Stores being opened in Lagos where you can purchase just about any item you want?

Isn?t it more effective to protect a manufacturing sector if you have a full functioning manufacturing sector?

QuoteAdmin, next time youre in the States you may want to take more than a passing interest in your local CVS or Walgreens. Stock up on more than just aspirins pls, you may save some lives!!
That is what I usually do but this time around, we run out of everything before I travel? but I just got Tylenol from Alhassan Pharmacy Nigeria Ltd ? 5 Beirut Road.

mallamt

It is really sad that this has happened to wellcare. I was fortunate to have visited the shop last year when I was in kano and I must say that I was really impressed especially with the range and quality of products.

I think this is another episode that shows our disorganization, lack of planning and respect for the rule of law in nigeria.  I think two important points/questions were raised in the earliar posts 1) why is this not happening in places like lagos where shops of all kinds are springing up on a regular basis and their shelves filled with imported goods, infact i was in some that sold their goods in dollars and pounds 2) why is the smuggling not attended to at the border posts or point of entry of these goods.

In addition to what has been raised one tends to wonder if this is not some kind of rivalry war.  Why do we ban imports and not set qoutas and higher taxes or duties for imported goods?  Is the govt saying it is incapable of monitoring volume of imports, consumption patterns, production capacity of industry in the country? If govt is really serious about buy nigeria or for nigerian manufacturers to be competitive they will strife to ensure that resources required for production are made available furthermore with importation of some finished goods industrialist will be put on their toes in terms of the quality of products they produce because they will have competition from imports.

Thes bannings are not the solutions nor will the raids solve anything either, instead it kills enterprise, creates unemployment, creates unneccesary scarcity etc

neozizo

i agree that this is an unfortunate development for the proprietors of wellcare,their staff and the small proportion of Kanawa's that can afford and are privillaged to shop there as wellcare is synanymous with quality and reliability.
I also agree that they stock essential and needed products that we locally have not the capability to produce,but they are at the same time guilty of selling banned goods that are being and are capable of being produced locally.this is the reason for the closure.
But haba people, you cant truly be of the view that this will not help the small bussinessman/manufacture?
local Manufacturers and producers cannot compete with foregn goods and will  be unable to do so in the next few years becos of foregn manufactures have a very large headstart compared to LM in areas of quality, technology and innovativeness.The point that local and foregn goods be made to compete simultaneously in the nigerian market will only serve to harm the nigerian manufacturing industry.
Quote from: "mallamt"Thes bannings are not the solutions nor will the raids solve anything either, instead it kills enterprise, creates unemployment, creates unneccesary scarcity etc
if the bannings wont work,what do you propose instead?
Lack of local industries and enterprises and support for them does more harm to our economy than the problems and scarcity caused by banning ogf imported goods that might easily have been produced locally.

It is alsoAgreed,also that customs officers have failed to stop sumguling and prolifiration of contraband goods into the country but this does not mean they should stop the little they are doing to check it.

kitkat

Banning goods that consumers demand and are willing to pay good money for will never work. What happens is that a black market is created and the same custom guys that are looking so fierce in front of well care will up their price to allow these goods through our ports. Banning also doesnt neccessarily help local manufacturing especially the way its done in this country.
You can ban all you like but without a conducive business atmosphere with steady power and aproppriate infrastructure industries will continue to close down at the rate we have seen over the last 6 years, especially in the North. Sharada is a ghost town now, but Ogba industrial estate is thriving owing to the Gas pipeline comissioned some 4 years ago which saw almost all the big players there switching to Gas and saying bye to Nepa and erratic diesel prices. There is a 147 Billion byepass being planned to link apapa and tin can ports to lagos ibadan express way, abeokuta/ogba, ikorodu road etc, as well as the Ogun cargo airport.

One solution is to apply a tariff regime that will balance out in the market place, so that the local manufacturers feel the competitive edge and either improve on their quality and compete with the more expensive imports , or play the lower end of the market, for example Nasco cornflakes and biscuits, whose quality has remained the same over the years with no attempt to improve. Compare for example the the fruit juice market where about 4 new entrants have made their way into the market in th last 2 years whose quality actually surpasses some of the imported brands, and they are priced appropriately too.

One must also queston the rationale behind banning any particular item, or unbanning it sometimes six months later. we all know that this is a country where one big business man with access to the powers can cause an item to be banned ( because he wants to start local manufacture), unbanned temporarily, (because he's sourced the item  cheap somewhere and wants a quick deal) or can have the tariff adjusted to suit his market situation. This is only about the only country where the banned items list changes almost on a monthly basis making it impossible for any serious importer to have a medium term business outlook on anything.

Perharps the most important thing is why wellcare??  The same week wellcare was shut down, Shoprite and Game, two south african supermarket chains landed in lagos with two huge malls of about 6,000 m2 apiece, selling everything under the sun, banned or not, and they were opened with fanfare, heralded as another example of this government's success in attracting foreign direct investment.

Kantin kwari was raided some months back, and when they threatened not to allow a a repeat, custom checkpoints were set up at all exit points out of kano to kaduna, maiduguri etc to intercept wholesale traders buying from kano. on kano bauchi and kano kaduna there are more than 6 customs checkpoints each, all in a bid to discourage trading with kantin kwari, yet there have not been any raids on tejuosho market or ariaria in Aba, two markets that sell more imported textiles in a day  than kwantin kwari can manage in a good month.

With the kano industrial scene more dead than alive, if you kill the commerce in kano there will be nothing left but bumburutu and bangar siyasa.

kanawa gareku!!

sdanyaro

zizo

Quotewe locally have not the capability to produce,but they are at the same time guilty of selling banned goods that are being and are capable of being produced locally.this is the reason for the closure.
Capable and I underline that word. Capable but not being produced. We have a lot of things that can be in this country, but have not been.
QuoteBut haba people, you cant truly be of the view that this will not help the small bussinessman/manufacture?
How can his help the small business man when no manufacturing infrastructure such as Constant and Clean Electric Power exist in Kano. Please let us know how.

Well, why not apply justice equally through out the country? You see we are aware of the fact that quite a few Mega Super Markets have been opened in Lagos and other places. Do you really and truly think that all the items in those stores and Shopping centers are all manufactured in this country? For God sake even the Fuel we put in our cars and Electric Generators is mostly imported to this country. Aren't we capable of producing and refining all of our fuel need?

 
Quotelocal Manufacturers and producers cannot compete with foreign goods
Local Manufacturers and producers cannot compete with foreign goods because we do not have the basic intracustraure (such as Constant and clean Electric Power) to produce and compete with any foreign good.


kitkat
You are right on the money on this one. I agree with everything you said here. In addition, I just found out why wellcare? it is all politics? it is just so happens that the proprietor of wellcare barks or is perceived to bark the wrong tree? just look out for this kind of BS to intensify as we approach 2007!

HUSNAA

Doesnt Wellcare Pharmacy belong to some Lebanese ppl? Frankly speaking, I think I am one of those ppl who will bite my nose to spite my face ( i think that is how the saying goes) as far as the Lebanese community in Kano or anywhere in Nigeria is concerned. Iam not a racist but I cant think of any benefit we derive from the Lebanese as the dominant coinhabitants of Kano or Nigeria and therefore I cant care less about the current woes of Wellcare even if it affects me indirectly. We have a parasitic relationship between the Lebanese community and the rest of us Nigerians and believe me we are not the parasites.
Ghafurallahi lana wa lakum

neozizo

Oga sdanyaro,i was fully aware of the meaning of capable when i used it in my post.It is due to problems just like aforementioned, that we have alot of "things that can be in this country, but have not been".
Quote from: "sdanyaro"
QuoteBut haba people, you cant truly be of the view that this will not help the small bussinessman/manufacture?  
How can his help the small business man when no manufacturing infrastructure such as Constant and Clean Electric Power exist in Kano. Please let us know how.
The problem of inadequte power supply,as well as other infrastuctural deficiencies, is parralel to the problem of lack of sufficient markets for local goods.You seem to imply that one causes the other.
The point im trying to make is that the move to regulate imports by government to the advantage of local bussiness is a right one.....as against that idea that local industry should be made to compete,unnecesarily,in my view, with foreign superior and not-so-superior goods.

To me the fact that Nigeria, a major producer/exporter of crude oil is importing refined produts for its domestic consumption is as stupid as importing asprins,toothpastes or toothpicks when she is very well CAPABLE of producing these things localy.

MKI wholeheartedly agree with you that govt and its policies are as unpredictable and unstable as power supply in Nigeria-yet another problem faced by local industry,and will eventually result in the ineffectiveness of the current import policy
It is unfortunate that the actions of the authorities is characterised by selective justice,politics or whatever you want to call it,and in the event of the eventual failure of this policy,it should be noted that method of implementation rather than suitability of the policy is to blame.

The success of local fruit juice producers was brought about by govts decision to ban imports so as to encourage producers.The producers had one less element of marketing to worry about(namely strong competition).

i also want to say here that although the short-term effectsof banning  importation of certain goods seem unneccessary and unbearable the long term effects of not going this route is worse

mlbash

THAT'S TRUE, BUT THE FACTS IS THAT, FED. GOVT UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF MRS. DORA AKUNYILI, THE NAFDAC BOSS IS TRYING TO SANITISE THE DRUG MARKET AND AT THE SAME TIME TO GIVE PROTECTION TO SMALL SCALE (INDEGINIOUS) PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES BY THIS KIND GESTURE, THEREBY BOOSTING OUR OWN ECONOMY,AND AT THE SAME TIME, ENSURING THE QUALITY OF THE MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS.
t is my intention to make the neglected aspect of our societies viable

bakangizo

Quote from: "HUSNAA"We have a parasitic relationship between the Lebanese community and the rest of us Nigerians and believe me we are not the parasites.
Be that as it may, I would put the blame squarely where it belongs; at the doorstep of 'us' Nigerians or Kanawa. The Lebanese have ingeniously exploited our laziness, unresourcefulness and corruption. If they have dominated certain section of our economy then it is bcos we failed to fill those gaps. In as much as I would want it to be the other way round, i don't begrudge them their success and I believe one way or the other, they are contributing to the economic growth of Kano/Nigeria.

Lest I forget, I have noticed that the Wellcare Pharmacy had been re-opened. Good.

HUSNAA

I wish I can feel as optimistic as u. I  dont think that they contribute much to our economy. Its an input- process-output effect. The input and processing takes place in Nigeria, the output goes out of the country.
what gets my goat with them is  they are so arrogant.
Ghafurallahi lana wa lakum

mlbash

Quote from: "HUSNAA"I wish I can feel as optimistic as u. I  dont think that they contribute much to our economy. Its an input- process-output effect. The input and processing takes place in Nigeria, the output goes out of the country.
what gets my goat with them is  they are so arrogant.

YOU CAN'T PUT IT BETTER THAN THAT! I WAS TOLD THAT THEY DON'T EVEN KEEP THEIR ACCOUNT HERE, THE MOMENT THEY FINISHED THEIR TRANSACTIONS, THEY TRANSFER THE MONEY TO LEBENON!
t is my intention to make the neglected aspect of our societies viable

bakangizo

Amma ai sai bango ya tsage...

HUSNAA wrote:
QuoteI wish I can feel as optimistic as u. I dont think that they contribute much to our economy. Its an input- process-output effect. The input and processing takes place in Nigeria, the output goes out of the country.
what gets my goat with them is they are so arrogant.

In the course of the "input & processing" in Nigeria a lot happens. Jobs are created, people are employed, goods/services are produced. So no  how matter you look at it, they do actually contribute.

ummita

Quote from: "Bakan~Gizo"Amma ai sai bango ya tsage...
In the course of the "input & processing" in Nigeria a lot happens. Jobs are created, people are employed, goods/services are produced.
And how QUALITATIVE are SOME of our the goods?

Quote from: "sdanyaro"As a matter of fact the Customs were planning to enter Kantin Kwari Market in a similar manner but got the wind that the merchant would not take it laying down?
These Customs are always taking action after a film has finished rolling. Why wont they carry out their duties right at ports? Thats exactly what happened in Lagos after threats was being made for the demolition of  China Town shopping mall not meeting the states building laws which might  be understandable. In that particular broadcast........what I found illogical is why were customs seizing plenty goods off shelves after they have already been made available for the public? I can agree if the purpose is because they are not of satisfactory quality or goods not matching their description or they breach the statute regulating sales & supply of goods. Apart from that I cant seem to justify their reasons....If goods are seized because they are not manufatured in 9ja, then I think to some extent its wrong. The importation & exportation of goods have long been practised in 9ja. For customs to go about banning everything....which I consider a restraint to trading it will have a drastic effect to our economy. What I would liek to know is what is the real motive behind it all for shutting down the phamarcy:?

(*signs*)As long as there is business opportunities, I do not see any wrong in trading with Lebanese as long they are not unjustly enriching from us. Business trading with people from different countries reigns since time immemorial.
Kai?..our people sef?..which kine wahala is this? We worry too much over petty issues!
Despite ur slammin, am still jammin!!!