PHARMACY graduates of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, recently celebrated the 60th anniversary of the faculty.
The university, then the University of Ife, was also the only university in the country awarding the degree of Bachelor of Pharmacy until 1971.
Under the aegis of the Great Ife Pharmacy Alumni Association (GIPAA), the umbrella body of all pharmacists that have graduated from the university, the old students also performed the sod-turning ceremony for its proposed ultramodern pharmacy student hostel at the university’s new student hostel site.
Welcoming guests and members from different parts of the world, GIPAA Global Chairman, Olalekan Asuni, said the overall goal of the association is to create a global community of Great Ife Pharmacy for excellent teaching and learning experiences in the faculty.
He pledged the association’s resolve to deploy its global network to “galvanise our members to see how we can add tremendous value to the faculty in terms of attracting scholars and mobilising grants for research and other scholastic endeavours from now on.
“Laboratory and drug manufacturing equipment that can be sourced from both institutional and industrial landscapes will be brought into Ife to change our narrative from just a centre of theoretical training to a centre of excellence in pharmacy education.
“Consequently, GIPAA will be setting up a very high-octane alumni team that will comprise both Nigeria and the diaspora to begin the process of fashioning out globally where equipment for our labs and the DRPU can be sourced and facilitators that can upgrade our faculty will be sourced in order to keep adding value to the experience at the faculty.”
Asuni also assured students in the faculty that the association would continue to assist them to ensure a conducive learning environment for them.
“For the students at the faculty, let me assure everyone that for your generation, it’s a good time to be a student in the faculty of pharmacy. GIPAA is ready to go to the ends of the earth to ensure that your training in Ife is upgraded and you are provided with the tools you require, like it was 30 to 40 years ago. We will be there for everyone going forward,” he pledged.
. TheWitness
