The Secretary to the Abia State Government, Professor Kenneth Kalu, has urged fresh pharmacy graduates of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, to seek innovative solutions to age-old diseases.
Delivering a keynote address at their induction ceremony on Thursday, Professor Kalu congratulated the graduates on their achievement but quickly reminded them that the knowledge they acquired during their studies should not be seen as the pinnacle of their learning journey.
Instead, he advised that continuous learning and adaptation are important in the ever-evolving field of pharmaceutical sciences to stay ahead.
“Your profession is one of those professions where you are never allowed to function on yesterday’s knowledge.
“You will need all of these and more to stand out in the industry, or wherever you choose to go, because ultimately, today’s oath makes you a pharmacist for life. And you now have a sacred duty to abide by the letters and spirit of the oath.
“Your call going forward is to serve humankind, to help in battling new strains of diseases through the discovery of effective drug combinations, and active support for other professionals in the healthcare industry,” Kalu admonished.
He added, “The message I must immediately leave with you is this: you should never stop paying attention to what is happening in your world. Soak in the lessons and always put yourself at a vantage position to make the most of new opportunities.
The world as you already know, has dramatically changed and only those who understand the dynamics of these changes will thrive. Nothing is the same. Therefore, in order to remain relevant, you must keep evolving; you must keep learning; and you must keep adapting,” said Kalu.
The professor, however, noted that while the world may keep changing, “the values of diligence, curiosity and teamwork will remain eternal.”
According to him, the fresh graduates “will need all of these and more to stand out in the industry, or wherever you choose to go, because ultimately, today’s oath makes you a pharmacist for life. And you now have a sacred duty to abide by the letters and spirit of the oath. Your call going forward is to serve humankind, to help in battling new strains of diseases through the discovery of effective drug combinations, and active support for other professionals in the healthcare industry.
“I must state at the onset that an optimum level of migration of skills from one country to another is not necessarily bad. Afterall, the economics of demand and supply for labour dictates that labour or any other factor of production, for that matter, will move to wherever it receives the best value.
To be clear, if a nation or a community intentionally trains some professionals for export, as is the case in India and in some other countries in Asia, this is fine. However, brain drain becomes a troubling phenomenon when it begins to threaten the effectiveness and efficiency of critical institutions of any nation.”
The SSG also expressed concern over the alarming rate of brain drain affecting Nigeria’s healthcare sector, with thousands of medical professionals, including pharmacists, seeking greener pastures abroad.
Citing recent statistics, he noted that Nigeria is losing thousands of its trained professionals, including pharmacists, to developed countries like the UK, USA, and Canada — a trend that threatens the efficiency of institutions in the country.
“Pharmacists are also not left out of this mass exodus,” Professor Kalu remarked, citing data from the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, which estimated that 7,000 pharmacists left the country between 2021 and 2023.
He lamented the impact this migration has on the nation’s healthcare system, leading to a shortage of personnel and a decline in service delivery.
While acknowledging the allure of opportunities abroad, Kalu challenged the graduates to be agents of change and contribute to improving the nation’s health sector.
“Again, I return to the subject of research. It is true that we have come to rely extensively on conventional drugs and pharmaceutical products to fight various strains of diseases, but we must begin to look inwards and start identifying what local responses we can develop for many of the diseases that have become seemingly intractable, including various forms of cancer. I believe that there is nothing impossible for the human spirit once we put our hearts, mind and money to it. So, we must begin to conduct research and invest in home-grown solutions to age-old health challenges.
“Getting more knowledge about the many local resources that can help us combat emerging health threats may require that we do something that has seemingly become unfashionable today —it may require that we resist the pull of opportunities in the developed nations.
Many believe that Brain drain, or the japa crisis, has become a major epidemic threatening the very foundations of our civilisation in Nigeria, pulling our best brains and hands away from the country and denying us the opportunity to harness our very rich human resources for the development of our land,” said
Kalu congratulated the new pharmacists and urged them to uphold the ethics of their profession while expressing confidence in their ability to make significant contributions to society..Continue>
