By Chioma Umeha
The Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy is now in the
final stages, preparatory to the investiture of six distinguished professionals
into its esteemed ranks.
According to Professor Fola Tayo, Pro-Chancellor
and Chairman of the Governing Council of Caleb University who doubles as
General Secretary of the Academy, one of the high points of this year’s
investiture event will be a feature presentation by Nigeria’s former High Commissioner
to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade.
Tayo said: “We have every confidence that Dr.
Kolade will ignite robust self-appraisal in the profession with his lecture
which will examine the place of Pharmacy in the enhancement of quality and accessibility
of healthcare in Nigeria.”
He also said that the investiture event, billed
for September 15 in Lagos, will also assess progress so far made regarding the
Pharmacy degree curriculum reviews currently ongoing across Faculties of
Pharmacy in Nigeria’s universities.
“Globally, the curriculum for Pharmacy training is
rapidly evolving in response to the growing needs of the larger society and we
want to ensure that this is happening at the right pace in Nigeria too, such
that the health and wellbeing of Nigerians can continue to be impacted
optimally by Nigeria’s pharmacists working in tandem with other health
professionals.”
The Academy, Tayo said, “is of the view that
emphasis on research and development in the sciences in general and
pharmaceutical and health sciences in particular, has waned considerably in
Nigeria, and believe that this can only spell disaster for a developing country
like ours.”
Funding of research by government is poor while
the private sector hardly sees the need to fund research. This, he said, is not
good for the country, as the only way by which better remedies can be
discovered and developed for ailments that afflict mankind, including those,
like malaria that are particularly endemic in Africa and kill millions
annually, is by research and development.
“The Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy is therefore
driving advocacy to raise awareness in this area in order to prod government to
better fund research and scientific education in general, as well as encourage
wealthy individuals and charitable foundations to sponsor scientific research,”
he added.
The new inductees into the Academy, Tayo said, all
have sterling profiles and have distinguished themselves over the years, in
different spheres of professional life.
Her words: “We are very confident that they will
add real value to our quest to positively impact the health and wellbeing of
Nigerians, not only through robust training of pharmacists and pharmaceutical
and health scientists but also through research and research-oriented learning
and development.”
The Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy brings together
distinguished pharmacists across different spheres of life and helps to drive
thought leadership, providing expert opinion on matters pertaining to the
pharmacy profession. In so doing, it helps to ensure that the profession
remains relevant to the needs and aspirations of Nigeria.
Founded in 2014, it is the fifth such specialized
academy in Nigeria with others being the academies of Science, Letters, Arts
and Engineering, respectively.
