To further bring cutting edge and innovative solutions closer to its clientele, Alpha Pharmacy, has officially unveiled its corporate head office on Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.
Tagged ‘Grace & Glory Place,’ the imposing building is a beauty to watch from the busy traffic and environs.
Speaking during the colourful opening ceremony which also coincided with the company’s 33th anniversary on 13 December 2018, Pharm. Ike Onyechi, managing director of Alpha Pharmacy expressed gratitude to God for making the event possible.
“We named the corporate headquarters ‘Grace & Glory Place’ to give honour to whom it is due. We recognise that over the 33 years of our existence, there have been many big names in the pharma industry that have come and gone.
“We too would have been consumed, if not for the Grace of God. We therefore find it gratuitous that we have had a number of achievements that we cannot claim to be entirely due to our own efforts,” he stressed.
Reminiscing the journey so far, Onyechi explained that Alpha Pharmacy’s specialization in rare medications has its origin in Nigerian Hoechst Limited, where he began his career. Subsequently, it expanded into a phenomenal coincidence of demand and supply.
According to the Alpha boss, he discovered that many of the places he wished to supply were serviced by more seasoned pharmacists. As a small retailer still trying to find its feet in the big league, the pharmacist disclosed that he was unable to find any consistent customer, especially amongst the large medical institutions and organisations. Not until he decided to reach out to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell Clinic and a few others with a proposition to provide what their regular suppliers could not offer.
“I believed that I would be able to get those products through my access to suppliers in Germany and Belgium, courtesy of my ex-employers at Hoechst (now NGC).
“By travelling to Germany via England, I was able to add other suppliers, some of whom we still work with to date. That was the source of the spark that became the mission and vision of Alpha Pharmacy – Find what others were not willing to do and do it with passion,” he said.
Onyechi also conceded that there were occasions when incidental requests for unfamiliar and seemingly trivial medicines have found their way to his desk which later led to his spectacular success.
The high point of the event witnessed the official tape-cutting ceremony, cake-cutting session and official unveiling of the company’s newest supplements, ‘Now Foods.’
In attendance were Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, chairman of the occasion; Pharm. (Dr) Margaret Ebigwei-Ibru, founder, ST&T Regency International Schools; Pharm. Ngozi Onuorah, director Chemical Evaluation and Research Directorate (CER), National Agency for Food and Drug, Administration and Control (NAFDAC); Pharm. Bukky George, managing director, HealthPlus Limited and Pharm. Ogheneochuko Omaruaye, managing director, New Height Pharmacy.
Others were Pharm. Lere Baale, managing director, Business School Netherlands (BSN); Femi Soremekun, managing director, Biofem Pharmaceuticals; Olorogun Goody Ibru, former chairman, Ikeja Hotels and Fola Aguda, district coordinator, Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International (FGBMFI), Lagos Chapter.
