A quiet danger is spreading through Nigeria's meat, eggs and milk. The growing misuse of antibiotics in the country's livestock and fish farming has become a major public health concern, with experts warning that the uncontrolled practice is accelerating antimicrobial resistance and exposing millions of consumers to drug residues in everyday foods, according to Leadership.
Drugs Without Oversight
Across poultry farms, fish ponds and livestock pens, farmers routinely administer antibiotics without prescriptions, often guided by hearsay rather than veterinary advice, Leadership reported. Dr Sati Ngulukun, a director at the National Veterinary Research Institute in Vom, said farmers frequently buy antibiotics from markets or chemists and give them to animals without regard for dosage or the withdrawal period that should elapse before slaughter or sale, according to Leadership. He warned that consumers who eat those products ingest residues that can blunt the effectiveness of antibiotics when they later need them, and he noted that enforcement remains weak because drugs meant to be prescription-only are sold freely over the counter.
What the Studies Found
The concern is grounded in data. A study of 30 commercial layer farms that tested 900 eggs found that a third of the farms failed to follow proper drug-administration guidelines, 3.6 per cent of eggs contained antimicrobial residues and 0.1 per cent tested positive for tetracycline, according to Leadership. A 2026 peer-reviewed analysis of livestock in Lagos documented resistant Salmonella strains and flagged particularly high resistance in samples linked to suya, the popular open-air roasted meat, underscoring the direct route from farm to plate, according to a study in Frontiers in Microbiology.
A One Health Problem
Veterinarians frame this as bigger than any single farm. Marking World Veterinary Day 2026, the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association warned that the country faces a convergence of climate change, antimicrobial resistance and emerging zoonotic diseases that increasingly links animal, human and environmental health, according to The Guardian. The association raised the alarm over quackery and the misuse of veterinary drugs, warning that it could make common infections untreatable in both animals and people, the same report noted.
Why It Reaches Every Shopper
The stakes are high because livestock account for a large share of global antibiotic use, and researchers link resistant infections in people to resistant organisms in animals, according to a peer-reviewed analysis of Nigerian poultry systems published on bioRxiv. Better veterinary oversight, enforceable limits on non-therapeutic use and clearer labelling of withdrawal periods are the fixes experts keep recommending. Safe, affordable protein is central to any food-price story, and residues that erode trust in eggs, chicken and beef carry a cost of their own. FoodPrices Nigeria tracks verified retail prices for proteins and staples across Lagos markets, and sound food-safety practices are part of what gives those prices meaning for households. This is a sensitive public-health topic, and readers with specific health concerns should consult a qualified professional.