The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chapter, has called for stronger integration of pharmacists into Nigeria’s healthcare system as it marked World Pharmacists Day 2026 with a community health outreach and fundraising for its permanent secretariat.
The event, held in Abuja under the theme “Empowering Pharmacists for Healthier Futures,” brought together pharmacists, regulators, and industry stakeholders to spotlight the expanding role of the profession beyond dispensing medicines.
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PSN-FCT Chair Decries Manpower Drain
In her address, PSN-FCT Chairman Pharm. Salamatu Orakwelu said the lack of full integration into the health system and poor appreciation of pharmaceutical services are driving pharmacists out of Nigeria. “When you talk about empowerment, when you look at it from the angle of shortage of manpower, if people are being empowered in terms of working to optimum capacity, they will not be moving away,” she said.
Pharm. Salamatu Orakwelu noted that pharmacists remain the most accessible healthcare professionals in communities, yet their roles have expanded to include health education, counselling, vaccination, identification of medication errors, and promotion of preventive self-care. She called for supportive legislation, investment in pharmaceutical development and education, and involvement of professional expertise in all policy decisions relating to medicines.
Registrar Warns Against Over-Reliance On AI
Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) Registrar Pharm. Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, who delivered the keynote address, cautioned pharmacists against wholehearted reliance on artificial intelligence, stressing that they would be held accountable for any errors. “If anything goes wrong, the artificial intelligence space is not going to answer the question, it is going to be you,” he said. He disclosed that the Council has closed 1,321 illegal medicine shops in Kano’s open drug market and shut it permanently, with plans to close similar markets in Idumota, Lagos, and Head Bridge, Onitsha.
Pharm. Salamatu Orakwelu also lamented that Nigeria continues to import basic raw materials for drug production despite local capacity, blaming high production costs, energy challenges, taxes, exchange rate volatility, and regulatory bottlenecks. “Most of the policies we see are on paper. They are not implemented yet,” she said.
Dr. Abubakar Danraka, Chairman of the WPD Planning Committee, noted that less than 10 of over 150 local drug manufacturers in Nigeria are World Health Organization pre-qualified, and urged strengthening of the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain to support manufacturers, which he said could reduce medicine costs by over 50 percent.
Secretariat Project Launched
The major highlight of the celebration was the launching and donation towards the completion of the PSN/FCT secretariat project, which remains ongoing. Dr. Michael Oyebanjo, CEO of Mopson Pharmaceutical Limited and Chairman of the occasion, called on government to create an enabling environment and supportive regulations that allow young pharmacists to practise and produce for their communities immediately after graduation.
World Pharmacists Day is celebrated annually on September 25 to recognise the contributions of pharmacists to healthcare delivery worldwide. This year’s FCT commemoration combined advocacy for systemic reforms with tangible community impact and infrastructure development for the profession.
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