No fewer than 35 out of 115 pharmacy graduates of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), have bagged first-class honours as the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) inducted the graduates into the pharmacy profession.
The induction and oath-taking ceremony for the 2025/2026 Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) graduands of the university’s College of Pharmacy was held in Ado-Ekiti under the theme, ‘Advancing Pharmacy Practice in the 21st Century: Integrating Digital Innovation, One Health and Indigenous Knowledge towards Global Medicine Security.’
Speaking as the guest lecturer at the ceremony, the Director-General of the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), Prof. Martins Emeje, warned against Nigeria’s continued dependence on imported pharmaceutical products, calling for greater investment in indigenous and natural medicine.
Emeje said developing medicines from locally available resources, backed by scientific research, validation and proper regulation, would strengthen the country’s health system while promoting economic development and medicine security.
He urged the newly inducted pharmacists to explore medicinal resources within their communities and integrate indigenous knowledge with modern scientific practice.
According to him, digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, big data, tele-pharmacy and connected healthcare systems, were increasingly becoming essential to modern pharmacy practice.
He, however, cautioned that artificial intelligence should complement rather than replace professional judgment and accountability.
Emeje said, ‘The major contribution you have for the world is to ensure that there is local drug production from the local environment in our society.’
He added that embracing nature-based healthcare and traditional medicine could help create sustainable health ecosystems, retain capital, generate quality jobs and promote local pharmaceutical production and research.
The NNMDA boss maintained that such an approach would also reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported drugs, preserve indigenous knowledge, encourage the sustainable use of biodiversity and strengthen preventive healthcare.
Inducting the graduates into the profession, the Registrar of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, Ibrahim Babashehu, charged them to uphold the highest ethical standards and demonstrate exemplary leadership in the pursuit of excellence in pharmaceutical services.
Babashehu urged the new pharmacists to remain committed to professional ethics and contribute to sustainable healthcare delivery in the country.
The Vice-Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, charged the inductees to uphold integrity and commitment, stressing the need to always place the wellbeing of patients above other considerations.
Also, the Provost of the College of Pharmacy, Prof. Mbang Femi-Oyewo, urged the new pharmacists to pursue competence, protect their integrity, practise with empathy, embrace innovation and remain committed to humanity and godly conduct in their professional and personal lives.