Pharmacists Council Honours Past Chairman, Registrars

The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, PCN, Penultimate Wednesday in Enugu in continuation of its programme of honouring past chairmen and registrars of the Council, honoured some of these persons.
The chairman governing council of the PCN, Prof. Ahmed Tijjani Mora disclosed that on Monday, March 8, 2021 they had been at Lagos Zonal Office “to celebrate excellence in pharmacy profession essentially through the instrumentality of immortalization of those pharmacists, deceased or alive, who have given their all to bring the profession to occupy its present pride of place, by the naming of the auditorium and/or committee rooms within the newly completed facility, which is one of the seven physical structures constructed or remodeled and owned by the PCN as fixed assets across the nation, after these distinguished personalities.

“On Tuesday, March 9 2021, we were at Ibadan also to celebrate another past Chairman of the PCN, Prof. Festus Adio Ogunbona while on Thursday March 18, 2021 we were at Uyo for the same purpose, this time to honour yet another former Chairman, Prof. E. E. Essien.”

Prof. Ahmed Tijjani Mora stated further that” In the same vein, we went to Kaduna on March 22, 2021 to honour another celebrated icon and past PCN Chairman, Prof. Gabriel. E. Osuide. In between the proceedings of the Governing Council meeting on Thursday, April 15, 2021 the Chairman alongside other Governing Council members present undertook the unveiling of the names of two of our distinguished past Registrars namely Pharm. Albert A. Brown and Pharm. Hannatu D. Kayit after whom two Committee Rooms at the PCN Head Office.

In an address of welcome earlier, the registrar PCN, Pharm. NAE Muhammed said that it was with a great honour and privilege with thanks to the Almighty that he was welcoming distinguished guests to the epoch-making ceremony at Pharmacist Council of Nigeria (PCN), South East Zonal Office, Enugu.
He restated that the ceremony, had begun on Monday, 8th March, 2021 at the PCN Lagos Zonal Office, to honour the past Chairmen and Registrars who had over the years contributed greatly to the development and progress of the organization.

Muhammed stated that “While the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) appreciate the efforts of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Health, FMOH, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria PSN and other relevant stakeholders for the support and positive transformation of PCN from inception to its present ‘structure, we want to particularly; recognize and appreciate the contributions of the honourees for the selfless service and good leadership provided during their various tenures”
The registrar noted that it was important to state that this recognition was approved at the 41st PCN Governing Council Regular Meeting held on November 19, 2020, and that this initiative of naming PCN Auditoria, Halls and Committee Rooms after our distinguished and worthy past Chairmen and Registrars is PCN’s way of keeping their legacies alive.

He therefore felicitated with the distinguished and deserving immediate past Chairman, Pharm. Bruno Nwankwo, who was identified for immortalization, to this historic event, and expressed gratitude to all invited guests and the honourees for your laudable contributions in providing good leadership towards the development of their profession.

In his remarks during the occasion, the chairman governing council of the PCN, Prof. Ahmed Tijjani Mora, observed that “Six years from now, precisely in 2027, Nigeria would have witnessed 100 years of the regulation and control of pharmacy education, training as well as practice. From the days of the Board of Medical Examiners BME established in 1927 and operating from a location in Lagos, to the Pharmacy Board of Nigeria in 1936, to the Pharmacists Board of Nigeria (PBN) in 1964 and the present Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) in 1992 (established through Decree 91 of 1992, now LFN CAP P17, 2004), the journey to ensure the entrenchment of proper regulatory control’ as they affect pharmacy, the pharmacists and the pharmaceutical premises and especially the patients and users of pharmaceutical products, and of course the healthcare system in Nigeria as the case maybe has been a tortuous one.

Prof. Ahmed Tijjani Mora, said that “today’s event was the last, but certainly not the least in the series of activities to actualize the approval of the Governing Council regarding the naming of the PCN Auditorium, Conference Halls and Committee Rooms in the PCN buildings across the length and breadth of Nigeria where PCN own such facilities, pointing out that they were in Enugu to honour the immediate past PCN Chairman and renowned captain of industry, Pharm. Bruno Nwankwo, after whom the Conference Hall at the South East Zonal Office is named. “We celebrate you sir.”

“Indeed” he said that “the PCN as structured presently has offices in all the thirty-six (36) States of the Federation, as well as eight (8) Zonal Offices. As the certification necessary for the practice of pharmacy progresses, the facilities as per offices expands exponentially too. From the days of the Dispensers Certificate, the Chemist and Druggist, Diploma in Pharmacy, Pharmacy Assistant, the Pharmacy Technician, the B.Sc. (Pharmacy), the Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) and the current Pharm.D (Doctor of Pharmacy) programmes, the profession can similarly boast many holders of Master’s and Doctorate Degrees in many pharmacy specialty areas such as Pharmacognosy and Drug Development, Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics (or Toxicology), Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Pharmaceutical Technology, Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice (or Management), many thanks to the dedication and foresight of the various Registrars and Chairmen of the Boards or Council as the case maybe all these years.”

He recalled that there was a time around 2005, “when we counted only thirty-nine (39) active and retired professors in the then nine (9) Universities in Nigeria offering pharmacy degree programmes, in Faculties of Pharmacy at that time as well as the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Abuja. Today, with about twenty-seven (27) Universities offering pharmacy degree programmes, with 22 of these fully accredited by both the PCN and the National Universities Commission, NUC, there are not less than 300 pharmacy professors in Nigeria,” he declared.
Going down memory lane, the chairman contended that “In the field the first pharmacy practice in Nigeria opened by the pioneer, Mr. Richard Bailey, and compare that to what is obtained now with more than two hundred (200) pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, thousands of importers and wholesalers of pharmaceutical products, thousands of community pharmacies and thousands of hospital pharmacies across the country at the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary healthcare levels, in addition to the almost 100,000 (one hundred thousand) patent medicine shops in the 774 Local Government Areas . He said that Pharmacists Council of Nigeria has surpassed those by the other thirteen (13) health regulatory agencies in Nigeria.

What is more, it is only the PCN that has published its minimum standards of practices and gazetted several of its regulations. Again, the skills, expertise and competences of the practitioners were enhanced through the acquisition of the appropriate credit points under the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) programmed of the PCN as conditions for renewal of licence to practice the registered pharmacists, another first among other health regulatory agencies. More to the point, there was a continuous period of six (6) years that a Registrar of the PCN was the Chairman of the Committee of Registrars of the Health Profession (CRHP) and in that capacity introduced many novel regulatory and control innovations for the other health regulatory agencies in Nigeria to emulate. The list is endless.”, he submitted.  “Our dear distinguished former Chairman, the above represent a fraction of what the former chairmen and registrars laid a foundation towards their accomplishment.

The present governing council at its 41st regular meeting on November 19 2020 unanimously approved the memorandum from the Finance and general purpose committee for the naming to immortalize the names of various Registrars and Chairmen at head Offices as well as zonal offices in other parts of country, notable in Minna, Bauchi, Ibadan, Uyo, Enugu and Kaduna for the excellent work done in bringing the regulation and control of pharmacy education and training as well as practice to this level.”
“It is therefore my pleasure and, singular honour to, on behalf of the seventy-two (72) members of the Governing Council and the 305 staff members of the Registry, again the highest among the other thirteen (13) health regulatory agencies in Nigeria, convey our sincere appreciation and to congratulate our former Chairman on this day. You deserve this immortalization; kindly accept it for what it is, which- is a token of appreciation to you by Nigerians for your doggedness and dedication to our fatherland.” He enjoined all the staff of the south East Zonal office to use the event as a motivation to put in their best in their service