• As PCN visits ABUTH
Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
A foremost lawyer, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), has regretted that bad leadership has turned virtually all Nigerians to beggars, particularly the South-west Nigeria, saying the culture of begging was alien to Yoruba race in the past years.
The founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) said the Yoruba people had deep resentment for begging in the 40’s and 50’s, adding that “they have seen begging as a way of life, contrary to what they believed in because of poverty caused by bad governance.â€
The senior advocate of Nigeria spoke in Ado Ekiti yesterday when the leadership of the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria(PCN) paid a visit to ABUAD on assessment tour of the Pharmacy Department of the newly inaugurated 400-bed Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital(ABUTH).
He said: “Today, Nigeria is at a crossroad. The Yorubas were not used
to begging in the 40’s and 50’s, they used to stone beggars because
they viewed it as a shameful act.
“But today, go to occasions and see how well dressed people beg for
money. That was why we want to join the change agents using our
university as a model, even ABUAD is synonymous with change.
“In our school here, we didn’t concentrate alone on academics, we are
into farming. Our moringa tree is used to produce eight products that
are consumed and provide jobs for our peopleâ€.
He described Pharmacists as pivots of the medical practice, “who were
like the old time herbalists that gave herbs to the people for
healing. We need your advice to be able to have a strong pharmacy
department and that we will comply withâ€, he said.
The President of the PCN, Prof Mbang Femi-Oyewo, said the mission of
the regulatory body in ABUAD is to come and assess the pharmacy
department and to guide on how to give the recommendations to the
university on how best to run the department .
She said: “We want this university to have an excellent Pharmacy
Department that will serve as a reference point just like every other
department in the hospital and that can meet international standard.
“This is a regulatory body that gives recommendations based on
facilities we see. We want to ensure that the department is not left
behind, and that is why we are here to give professional advice,
because we don’t want people to be traveling to India to get medical
treatment when we get a facility like ABUTH.
“Pharmacy department is very essential and it requires special
expertise for its operation. We want the best practice here that
aligns with global best practices and that is why we are here as a
regulatory bodyâ€, he said.
