LAPTOP Scholar Nkoli Nnamonu talks about the particular challenges of supply chain work in north-eastern Nigeria
A 12-year conflict in northeast Nigeria has caused, directly and indirectly, the deaths of more than 350,000 people in the region. In a location where conflict disrupts daily life, there is little certainty for ground transport for any commodities, security escorts need to ensure safe passage, and it is difficult to pre-position critical items like pharmaceuticals because warehouses are prime targets for theft.
As a supply chain advisor working in Nigeria and specialising in sending relief to this troubled region, Nkoli Nnamonu found she needed more expertise in order to do her job well. “I needed additional technical know-how to conquer the particular challenges of working in this area,” says Nkoli. “I had to work on improving delivery turnaround and reduce overall supply chain costs for more efficient and effective health programming.”
She learned these skills and more on her recent CIPS Level 4 Diploma course, funded by the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition under the LAPTOP Scholarship scheme. The course gave her insights into choosing the right suppliers, avoiding poor quality vendors and products, understanding customer perspectives, and applying a WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) context to health supply delivery, the last particularly relevant in a job where, in addition to medicines, she also ships hand sanitizers for sanitation and plastic jerrycans for water storage. Applying what she has studied most recently, she has also helped design comprehensive, easy-to-understand requests for quotations (RFQs) that are sent out to potential vendors to make supplier selection easier.
A major challenge has been security; because of strict curfews and restricted entry, supplies cannot move after 4pm in some areas; this constraint has been compounded by the poor road networks. A journey that should take eight hours might take 15 instead because of this. “This is where good logistics planning makes all the difference,” says Nkoli.
A pharmacist with a Master’s in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Nkoli has always welcomed the opportunity to study. Now that she has completed Level 4 Diploma studies, she is looking forward to moving on to the next level. “I want to continue — especially with medical supply chains — and strengthen my management skills,” she says. “I would like to widen my focus from the north-eastern region, through the national, and then finally to the regional level, to a place where I can contribute to policy discussions on West African supply chain issues”.
“The journey doesn’t end here.”
