Bayero University, Kano has inducted 47 Doctor of Pharmacy graduates into the profession, with experts calling for greater deployment of pharmacists to areas where healthcare services remain inadequate.
The call was made on Thursday during the 4th Oath-Taking and Induction Ceremony of the university’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, held under the theme, “A New Era of PharmD Education in Nigeria: Advancing Pharmaceutical Practice and Public Health in Nigeria.”
Speaking at the event, the Deputy Director and Deputy Head of Pharmaceutical Services at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Pharm. Ahmed Ibrahim Umar, said Nigeria’s pharmacy sector faced a significant imbalance in the distribution and utilisation of its professionals.
Umar said about 33,000 pharmacists had been registered in Nigeria since 1936, but only around 19,000 were currently practising in a country with a population of more than 200 million.
He said the challenge went beyond the number of pharmacists available, stressing that their geographical distribution and professional roles were equally important.
“The problem is not only shortage. It is distribution and role. Where we stand matters as much as how many we are,” he said.
According to him, the South-West has about 9,000 pharmacists, compared with approximately 1,500 in the North-West, creating significant gaps in access to pharmaceutical services.
He warned that such gaps could allow unqualified or inadequately trained medicine vendors to take on responsibilities that should ordinarily be handled by trained pharmacists.
Umar urged the new graduates to explore opportunities in primary healthcare, hospitals, public health programmes, pharmaceutical manufacturing, regulation, research and academia.
He also encouraged them to support healthcare delivery through patient screening, triage, management of minor ailments and appropriate referrals, while strengthening clinical pharmacy, antimicrobial stewardship and medicines safety.
“Your licence is a mandate, not a job ticket. Use it here,” he told the graduates.
The keynote speaker further urged the inductees to see their professional training as an opportunity to contribute to solving Nigeria’s healthcare challenges rather than simply securing employment.
“You are not graduating into a job market. You are graduating into a rescue mission,” he said.
Representing the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Haruna Musa, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Aliyu Mu’azu, congratulated the 47 inductees and urged them to combine professional competence with integrity, empathy and innovation.
Mu’azu said the graduates had received academic and clinical training, including clerkships at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and practical exposure to pharmaceutical products and procedures.
“Behind every prescription is a mother, a father, a child. Society looks up to you to provide patient-centred care, especially for underserved communities,” he said.
He also tasked the new pharmacists with contributing to efforts against drug misuse and substandard medicines while using research and innovation to improve access to quality healthcare.
Representing the Registrar of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, Pharm. Ibrahim B. Ahmed, Pharm. Idoko Sule Anthony said the oath-taking was a statutory requirement under the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2022, ahead of registration as pharmacists.
He said the graduates would proceed to a compulsory one-year internship at PCN-accredited centres before sitting for the Pharmacists Registration Examination.
Anthony advised them to maintain high ethical standards and pursue continuous professional development to remain relevant as the healthcare sector evolves.
He identified technological advancement, changing disease patterns, antimicrobial resistance and drug abuse among the emerging challenges requiring greater professional attention.
He also called for increased participation of pharmacists in vaccine storage and administration, pharmaceutical research and the development of medicines and vaccines.
The Acting Dean of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prof. Basheer A.Z. Chedi, described the induction as the transition of the graduates from academic training into professional service.
Chedi urged them to uphold the professional oath and apply their knowledge to improve healthcare delivery.
“Go and make Nigeria a healthier nation,” he told the inductees.
The ceremony featured the administration of the professional oath and the pinning of the 47 graduates, formally admitting them into the pharmacy profession.
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