About 65 pharmacists have taken their oath of service in University of Maiduguri following their graduation from the institution.
They take the oath on Thursday at Muhammad Indimi Conference Hall, UNIMAID, during the 17th Induction/Oath taking ceremony of pharmacy students of the school.
At the event, Zainab Muhammad Wakil, one of the graduates was awarded the best graduating students of the pharmacy faculty 2023, while Abubakar Gaji Usman gets the Most Outstanding Student of the year award.
Miss Wakil earned a 4.93 CGPA to bagged a First Class honors in pharmacy.
In his address, Prof. Aliyu Shugaba, UNIMAID Vice Chancellor congratulated the fresh graduates and urged them to embrace professionalism and excellence in their service to the people.
He noted that the university has now graduated 590 pharmacists from the inception faculty of pharmacy in the school.
The VC explained that despite several challenges like inadequate funding and insecurity challenges in the northeast region, the university has continued to thrive without interruption.
Prof. Shugaba stated that, although UNIMAID is a second generations university in the country, it is competing with the first generation and even doing better than some of them.
Also in his speech, the VC announced that the school will be set to employ more than 500 new academic staffs, an opportunity he said the new pharmacists can enjoy.
Speaking at the event, Engr. Babakura Abba Jatau, former Borno State commissioner for information praised the university, describing it as the university with the most national outlook in the country.
‘It is not hyperbolic, this is the only university in Nigeria where you can find all Nigerians in it, from every state in the country. This is also the university that has produced governors and administrators much more than even the older generation of universities,’ Jatau said.
On the training of the pharmacists, Mr. Jatau said the university has done a great service to humanity and appealed for more of their services to the nation.
‘Pharmacy is one of the oldest professions in the world, dates back to the Greek, Roman and Egyptian times where Kings, Queens and noble men impress upon people to come up with what they called the elixir of life, for them to live eternally or live long and rule over their people, and that challenge has come out with a lot of things that later became parts of the modern medicine,’ he said.
He however, urged the university to intensify research that will develop manufacturing firms for drugs in the country because ‘we do not have a pharma company that is truly Nigerian and we need one,’ he said.
Parents challenges new pharmacists on righteousness and productivity
In their remarks at the events, some parents of the graduates has called on them to be productive and righteous in their service to humanity.
Alh. Bulama Mali Gubio, a special guest and one of the parents said that the pharmacists should not take the oath they had taken for granted.
He said that they will be answerable to their deeds both in this world and the hereafter.
‘The oath they have taken, I have never heard such an extensive oath like that and I am sure they know the meaning, the implications and its consequences.
‘Many of us have taken oath several times but unfortunately for some of us, the holy Qur’an or the Bible is attached. I took oath 14 times in 49 years and I am still standing on my feet here today. For that, I think I deserve to pretend that I have respected the oath I have taken, otherwise I would have been either a cripple, blind or something as such.
‘The oath will one day come to you and ask you, is that what you said when you took the oath? so please respect it, live by it and God will help you,’ Gubio explained.
While congratulating the graduates, Gubio appealed to them to excel in research and discovery in medicine.
‘In Islam we believe that there are 4,444 diseases sent down by God almighty and 4,000 of them have their cure in plants and trees. So, you are the once who will discover these plants and trees and apply them to cure us,’ he said.
Prof. Adamu Garba Alooma, another parent also tasked the graduates to explore drugs production and make a difference.
He said that the field of medicine and drugs production is now saturated with fake and unreliable drugs from foreign countries and are in circulation in Nigeria.
‘Our generations have relied heavenly on drugs manufactured abroad and brought into this country. I was wondering at a point in time when I saw drugs that are made for ‘export only’ and asked, are those drugs not meant for consumption by the host country; are they meant to kill other people outside their country?
‘It is a great challenge. Many of us are suffering from different health challenges and by consuming some of these drugs, we are adding to our illness rather than helping us to survive.
‘I now challenge you to begin to think of closing the gap between the orthodox medicine and the traditional one. You can be manufacturers of drugs too, to take care of us,’ Alooma explained.
He also commended the university environment for training the graduates, adding that, pharmacy is a big and lucrative enterprise and encouraged the fresh pharmacists to storm into it with dedication, hard work and enthusiasm.
The fresh graduates responded
In an exclusive interview with this reporter, some of the graduates talked about some of their challenges during studies.
While some attributed some of the challenges to natural courses, some faulted the education system in the country and appealed for government and other stakeholders to give education the needed resources and attention.
They said the insecurity challenges in the northeast and the interrupted academic sessions due to strike actions are some of the major challenges that affected their stay in the school.
On the invention and production of drugs manufacturing institutions, some of the respondents said it is going to be difficult but achievable.
They said the biggest challenge in achieving that would be inadequate training and research funding, noting that if government and private sector would invest in it, they are ready and willing to venture into drugs manufacturing.
Also, most of the graduates said they are hoping to work in a private firm or their own establishments rather than the government.
Abubakar Abdulsalami, one of the graduates said the challenges are many and they are grateful to God for overcoming them.
He said that lack of access to adequate educational materials is another major challenge, especially for medical students in the university.
‘The school is doing well but we urge them to do more in providing necessary educational material for students through updating of libraries, research laboratories and other things,’ Abdulsalami said.
Usman Yakubu Abdullahi, another graduate said his biggest challenge in school was time factor and the school academic calendar.
‘The margin between the time you have and the things you have to cover is challenging, you have a lot to cover and the time is usually short, I think that was my major challenge,’ he said.
‘My major challenge came at the early days when I came here, the security situation in Maiduguri is a bit tensed as that time but gradually, I became used to it,’ Hassan Abdullahi Umar, another pharmacist said.
Esther Vandi, also one of the graduates said that the challenges during studies are overwhelming and her plans is to be an entrepreneur.
‘I can work for the government but just temporary because my ambition is to be an entrepreneur and I hope to do that in the pharmaceutical industry,’ Miss Vandi noted.
Umar Musa Ruwa, one of the graduates said that although every study is challenging, pharmacy in more challenging due to the curriculum.
He said if the school and faculty system can review their curriculum and make some adjustments, it would reduce the burden on the students.
‘Our curriculum is very tight, we are offering about 40 courses in a session, and I think if it can be reviews and those not so relevant courses can be substituted, it will ease the difficulty,’ Mr. Ruwa explained.
He also noted that they are aware of the urgent need for home grown drug manufacturing institutions in the country but graduates of pharmacy are constantly faced with lack of scholarship and funding for research as well as the enabling environment to carry out research.
‘If the government and other partners can fund the research community and provide facilities, I think it is achievable,’ he added.
Godiya Samuel, another graduate told this reporter that she is hoping to open her own drug manufacturing company because she never hope to work for the government.
‘I have suffered a lot in this school through many challenges and now that I have graduated, my only aim is to make money,’ another pharmacist who don’t authorized her name to be mentioned said.
