The many challenges of Pharmacy practice in Nigeria

By DEBO AKINOLA

Nigerian pharmacy graduates are often ill-equipped for challenges ahead and are practically thrown into a system that is completely strange, leaving them to struggle in all areas of practice, a pharmacist, Lolu Ojo has said.

Speaking on the challenges of the pharmacy profession in the 21st century, at this year's annual Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students (PANS) of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife , Ojo said that despite the sound education, the environment of practice does not allow young graduates to give their best.

"In the hospital, the doctor is the boss. He has cornered everything and in fact, will prefer Pharmacy and other irritating para-medicals to be thrown out of the hospital. There can only be one head of department who will probably retire as an Assistant Director or at best a deputy director. Everyone one else must wait. The situation is not different in the various ministries, parastatals and agencies. It is the same experience at the community and industrial arena," he noted.

Explaining further that the available space has been occupied and practically locked up by businessmen, entrepreneurs, he said "paradoxically, the very well trained graduate eventually become a wanderer moving one job to the other seeking an elusive comfortable altitude to fly".

According to him, this, has taken many colleagues back to school to acquire additional degrees in other areas like accountancy, law and engineering, adding that this has led to a collection of a class of hybrid pharmacists, dissatisfied and unhappy others.

Cautioning on blame trading, Ojo said, "everybody blames everybody. To the youths, our leaders had been docile, unimaginative, selfish if not outrightly stupid or foolish. They have sold our franchise to the dogs. Others blame the doctors, the traders, the government, etc. Yet, the situation gets worse and our supposedly formidable enemies are consolidating while we continue to agitate challenging every imaginable foes and adversaries".

As solution, he offered that the challenge will be on how to use the instrumentality of Pharmacy to achieve that aim.

"Mercantilism or professionalism? There is always this delicate balance between the professional and mercantile nature of pharmacy. Your training in pharmaceutical sciences does not prepare you adequately for the business of pharmacy. Drug is a specialised article of trade and most of the very successful pharmaceutical entrepreneurs are not pharmacists. If, therefore, you have your eyes on the mercantile Pharmacy, then you must retrain yourself appropriately. You must learn the trade and become an expert in it".

While welcoming participants to the event earlier, dean of the faculty of pharmacy, Prof. Onawumi, advised them to make good use of the lecture.

The event also witnessed a debate which was won by the host university, OAU.

The debate was organised to encourage pharmacy students to know what is going on outside their discipline.

The debate, which was the 2nd edition of the Shade Olafimihan Inter-Pharmacy Debate, saw Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, University of Ibadan and Igbinedion University, Okada coming second, third and fourth respectively.

On the third day, residents of Aba Gboro, a village within the university community, benefited from the PANS' health outreach. Drugs were given free to the villagers. The students also held a seminar and rendered charity service to their host villagers.

Renowned professor of Pharmacy, Adebayo Lamikanra, who was the chairman of panel of judges, while commenting on national issues, berated politicians for naming universities after themselves.

He said that "naming universities after after politicians who have contributed in no small measure to our underdevelopment is bad. What did Olabisi Onabanjo do to Ogun State University other than he was a governor? What did Obafemi Awolowo did to the University of Ife to have warranted a change of name of the university to his name? He was not even the premier of western region when this stupidity was carried out. The Cambridge University has never been renamed. We don't have a Churchill University in the United Kingdom".

Saying that the planned national conference would not achieve anything, he explained that "we talk about freedom, peace and unity, insecurity has loomed large in the northern Nigeria; Boko Haram has spoilt everything. We talk about the labour of our heroes' past. Which heroes? If they are dead, they should bury their heads in shame, if they are still alive, they should go and die".