The Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria has advised the Doctor of Pharmacy graduates of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, to prioritise the ethics of the profession.
The Registrar of the Council, Ibrahim Babashehu, who inducted the 115 newly qualified pharmacy professionals, charged them to strive for excellence in their professional career to advance sustainable healthcare.
He spoke in Ado Ekiti on Thursday during the induction and oath-taking ceremony of the 2025/2026 Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) graduands of the College of Pharmacy, ABUAD. Thirty-five of the graduates bagged First Class honours.
Babashehu urged the inductees “to uphold the highest ethical standards and exemplary leadership principles established by PCN in the unwavering pursuit of excellence in pharmaceutical services for the advancement of sustainable healthcare delivery.”
The Director-General of the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency, Prof. Martins Emeje, in his lecture, urged the newly inducted pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to look beyond conventional approaches to disease management by exploring the medicinal resources available within their immediate environments.
Emeje, who spoke on the theme of the celebration, “Advancing Pharmacy Practice in the 21st Century: Integrating Digital Innovation, One Health and Indigenous Knowledge Towards Global Medicine Security,” urged greater investment in natural, traditional and indigenous medicine as part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system.
He called on healthcare professionals to embrace traditional methods of fighting diseases, while ensuring that such practices were properly studied and integrated with modern scientific knowledge.
The DG 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.
“Digital technologies are becoming the core infrastructure for pharmacy. AI, big data, tele-pharmacy and connected systems can convert information into intelligence, prediction and timely action. AI should augment professional judgment, not replace accountability. Its safe use requires quality data, validation and others.
“Any disease that is surviving in any environment, the solution to that disease is in the environment. If you don’t know, it’s because you are not efficient.
“Let’s also embrace traditional methods to fight diseases. Nature-based healthcare, or traditional medicine, is healthcare that utilises natural environments and ecosystem-based solutions to improve physical and mental wellbeing.
“It will not only create self-sustaining health ecosystems that improve health outcomes, but also retain capital, create high-quality local jobs and boost economic growth through the localisation of pharmaceutical production, medical technology and research.
“It will also reduce dependence on imported drugs, preserve indigenous knowledge, promote the sustainable use of biodiversity and promote preventive healthcare,” the DG said.
In her address, the ABUAD Vice Chancellor, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, tasked the inductees to uphold the pillars of integrity and commitment, and to always place a premium on the wellbeing of patients.
The Provost, ABUAD College of Pharmacy, Prof. Mbang Femi-Oyewo, also admonished the inductees “to pursue competence, protect their integrity, practise with empathy, embrace innovation, serve humanity and be godly in their daily endeavours.”
