All of God’s great people in the Bible were faithful in the small things. In Matthew 25 Jesus told the parable of the talents. In it He referred to the one servant who had taken his master’s money and multiplied it. In verse 23, his master said to that man, “…Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” In Zechariah 4:10, the Lord asks the prophet, “For who hath despised the day of small things?” There is a powerful principle in taking small steps.

Many people are not moving with God today simply because they were not willing to take the small steps He placed before them. If you have received a call into any particular area, you should leap at the opportunity – no matter how small – to move in the direction in which the Lord has called you. If you are called to be a youth pastor, and are sitting at home waiting for an invitation from some large church, you should know that it will never come. You need to find the first young person you can, put your arm around him, and begin to minister to him.

Don’t be afraid to take small steps. The Bible promises us that if we are faithful in small matters, one day we will be rulers over many larger things.

The impossible, many times, is just simply the untried.

I can remember a time in my life when I was literally frozen with fear at what God had called me to do. It seemed so huge a task that I was unable to bring myself to face it. A friend came to me and spoke two words that broke that paralysis in my life. He said simply, “Do something!” If you are at a point of paralysis in your life because of what God wants you to do, the word for you today is “Do something!” Don’t worry about the goal, just take the steps that take you past the starting point and soon you’ll get to a point of no return. As you climb higher, you’ll be able to see much farther.

We should all learn to grow wherever we’re planted.

As you begin, don’t be afraid. Eric Hoffer said: “Fear of becoming a has-been keeps some people from becoming anything.” Every great idea is impossible from where you are starting today. But little goals add up, and they add up rapidly. Most people don’t succeed because they are too afraid, even to try. They don’t begin because of that old fear of failure.

Many times, the final goal seems so unreachable that it keeps us from even making an effort. But, once you’ve made your decision and have started, you are more than half-way there. God will begin with you today – no matter what your circumstances. Just think how thankful you would be if you lost everything you have right now and then got it all back again. Wouldn’t you be ready to go? Choose to think eternally, but act daily.

Culled from AN ENEMY CALLED AVERAGE by JOHN L. MASON

Your outlook upon life, your estimate of yourself, your estimate of your value are largely coloured by your environment. Your whole career will be modified, shaped, molded by your surroundings, by the character of the people with whom you come in contact every day.  – ORISON SWETT MARDEN

Everything in life and business is relationships. Everything you accomplish or fail to accomplish will be bound up with other people in some way. Your ability to form the right relationships with the right people at every stage of your life and career will be the critical determinant of your success and achievement and will have an inordinate impact on how quickly you achieve your goals.

The more people you know, and who know you in a positive way, the more successful you will be at anything you attempt. One person, at the right time, in the right place, can open a door for you that can change your life and save you years of hard work.

No One Does It Alone

A key part of goal setting is for you to identify the people, groups and organisations whose help you will require to achieve your goals. To accomplish goals of any kind, you will need the help oflots of people. Who are they?

There are three general categories of people whose help and cooperation you will require in the years ahead. These are the people in and around your business, your family and friends, and people in groups and organisations outside your business or social circle. You need to develop a strategy to work effectively with each group.

Your Key Business Relationships

Start with your business. Who are the most important people in your business life? What is your plan to develop higher quality relationships with them? Make a list of everyone who works inside and outside of your business – yourboss, colleagues, coworkers, subordinates, and especially, your customers, suppliersand vendors. Which of these people have the greater ability to help you or hurt you in the achievement of your business or career goals?

Sometimes, I ask my audiences how many of the people present are in customer service? Only a few hands go up. I then point out that everyone is in the business of customer service, no matter what they call it or what they do.

Identify Your Customers

A customer can be defined as anyone who you depend upon for success and advancement in your job or business.  A customer can also be defined as anyone who depends on you in any way. By this pair of definitions, almost everyone around you is a customer in some way.

For example, your boss is your primary customer at work. Your ability to satisfy your boss will have more of an impact on your future, your income, and your career than any other single skill you have. If you displease everyone else but your boss is delighted with you, you will be safe and secure in your job. If you please everyone inside and outside your company but your boss is unhappy with you, that problem alone can short-circuit your future.

Your Customer Service Strategy

One ofthe best-strategies you can use is to make a list of everything that you believe that you have been hired to do. Answer the question, “Why am I on the payroll?” And write down everything you can think of. Then, take this list to your boss and ask your boss to organise this list in order of his or her priority. What is most important to your boss? What is second most important? What is third most important? And so on.

From that moment onward, discipline yourself to work on your boss’s top task all day long. Make sure that whenever your boss sees you or talks to you, you are working on what he or she has told you is his or her top priority for you. This will do more to help you in your career than any other single decision you make.

Two Key Qualities for Promotability

Inasurveyreported in Success Magazine, a few years ago, 104 chief executive officers were presented with twenty qualities of an ideal employee and asked to select the most important. Eight-six percent of the senior executives selected two qualities as being more important for career success and advancement than any other. First was the ability to set priorities; to separate the relevant from the irrelevant. Second was the ability to get the job done fast; to execute quickly.

Nothing will help you more in your career than to get the reputation for being the kind of person who gets the most important job done quickly and well.

Hard Work on the Wrong Task?

But here’s the catch. Many people are working very hard at their jobs, but they are not working on what their boss considers to be the most important job. The sad fact is that if you do an unimportant job very well, this could hurt your career and even threaten your job.

As conditions change, keep the lines of communication open with your boss. Be sure that what you are doing is still your boss’s top priority. And then make a game of doing it fast. Nothing makes a boss happier than to have someone who gets the job done quickly. Be sure that you are that person.

Your Other Key Customers

Your coworkers, who also depend on your work, are your customers as well. Go to each one of them and ask them if there is anything that you can do to help them. Ask them if there is anything that you could do more of or less of, anything that you could start or stop doing that would help them do their jobs better.

The fact is that people think about themselves and their own fobs all day long. Anytime you offer to help people to do their jobs better or faster, they will be wide open to helping you later. The Law of Sowing and Reaping is not the Law of Reaping and Sowing. There is a particular order to this law. First you put in, and then you get out. First you sow, and then you reap.

You should look for every opportunity in your work to help people and to do nice things for others. Every honest effortyou make to help other people will come back to you in some way, at some time, and often when you least expect it. The most popular people in every organisation are those who are always willing to lend a helping hand.

The more the people next to you, above you, and below you like you and support you, the more you will get paid and the faster you will be promoted. Develop a reputation asa “go-giver,” as well as being a go-getter.

Look for ways to be a valuable resource to the people around you and they will automatically look for ways to helpyou and support you when you most need it.

Culled from GOALS by BRAIN TRACY

Nigeria

For all her problems, Nigeria has gotten some things right. She is still an investment haven; she is still the beautiful bride that is currently being courted by many international businesses that seek to create greater returns for their investment. The factors that influence the attractiveness of a country for investment includes:

  At present, we have the five most important factors: a very high market growth rate (as seen in the telecommunication business), a large market size, access to regional markets, skilled labour pool and relatively cheap labour. Though someone might give me a knock on the skilled labour pool, but just let that one pass.

What is the nature of products that sell in our markets?

A close look at the nature of products that sell in our marketshowcases two major things:

1. A global feel: Any selling product today must not look like it was made in Aba. It is not that people do not want to have Aba goods, it is just that our tastes have been conditioned for the global feel.
2. Local Content Appeal: Though the winning products all have a global appeal, they must not be totally out of touch with our African feel and values. A case in point is the Nigerian music and video industry, which has succeeded in achieving a certain degree of global feel-value and a local content appeal. Another good example is in our designer clothes and highbrow restaurants. Mr Bigg’s eatery had to introduce the Village Kitchen to achieve this very balance.

 Characteristic of the players

If you should take a good look at the firms that have thrived in our nation, you would notice this commonality – the provision of a product/service with a global appeal that meets a local need. In the pharmaceutical industry, our local need relates more to our disease burden and the purchasing power of the populace. One should not forget that the pharmaceutical industry is not limited to drugs and medical devices, but encompasses the food processing industry – an area that is still very much untapped.

Generally, the majority of our earnings are spent on these global-feel, local need products. If your product/service is not in this category, you may need to work harder at it.

To participate in the market, some of the options include:

1. Import the products and achieve effective marketing.
2. Be a representative of a foreign firm and achieve effective marketing.
3. Develop the capacity to produce the products locally and yet, achieve effective marketing.
4. Develop the product/service with some unique characteristics and enjoy some exclusivity, while achieving effective marketing.

You do not have to look far to find examples of option No. 1, 2, 3. It is a game of numbers, most of the indigenous firms that have thrived, have done so by doing the first three.

Globalisation

The challenge with the first three, especially for a growing firm, is that the world has gone global. Asian firms do not need a middle man any longer to sell in Nigeria. Walmart can sell here and foreign investors can now repatriate 100 per cent of their investment.Now, this has immediate implications for the workforce and the future economy but that is beyond the scope of this article. The point to note is that Nigeria is attractive primarily because of the consumption power of the growing middle class; hence, relatively larger firms with greater marketing force and more affordable global-feelproducts would have all to gain, if they could meet the needs of this class.

It is obvious therefore that for a growing firm in Nigeria that seeks to be a player in the pharmaceutical industry, there are some really big odds to overcome. For most developed indigenous firms, the core competence is selling (the first three) and now globalisation implies that they would have to compete with global firms with greater manufacturing competence, finance and relatively more organised government.

 The Cheetah Challenge

It would not be wise for this firm to bury its head in the sand and convince itself that all is well, even for indigenous firms with impressive balance sheets, the time to engage is now. Now is the time to seek means for not only achieving continual prosperity but also the survival of the future generation. The answers would not only be a purely business decision, it would be more of a nationalistic posture. It is nationalistic because there could be other immediate ways to make money without having to engage in the struggle that could be demanded.

So, here are the questions:

How can I create or find a highly finished product with a global appeal and a local feel?

1. How can I best leverage finance?
2. How can I integrate research and development to my product offering?
3. How can I maintain specialised technical skills?
4. How can I maintain great managerial capacity and
5. still be good at marketing?

 The Cheetah in the Challenge

To be able to develop a successful solution in the midst of this challenge, the demands on the management of this firm would be a bit higher than that of just selling a good product, since he may need to now create that good product. There is so much competition and the market is constantly moving; his best bet would be to have a niche market and to keep innovating around that niche market.

His innovation would be around product, processes and people.

In the pharmaceutical industry, this innovation could be expensive. This firm would need a certain level of thought leadership and technical partnerships for the development of products, services and processes that offer greater value.  One of the challenges would be to be able to merge his business capacity with novel technical competence borne from academic research, and this should not be a short term engagement, it should be done in a manner that leverages the best of tax incentives and other government shelters that favour indigenous research and development.

Some examples of where he could look to develop better products and processes would be in the:

1. Herbal Medicine
2. Information Technology
3. Food processing industry
4. Proprietary products

 He would need to become a thought leader in the chosen area of interest and to seek partnerships with other thought leaders.

THE STRATEGY

There would be need to create a framework for:

1. Knowledge building.
2. Capturing relevant technical expertise, including intellectual property acquisition.
3. Developing an effective local and international business network for future business opportunities. This would be necessary for leveraging of financial structures.
4. Maintain a strong grip on marketing.

The goal therefore is to create new products and services with certain levels of exclusivity. It is a necessary goal and for some firms it could be the only goal worth pursuing.

 Though the role of the government in protecting and advancing this processes cannot be overstated, for the individual firm, the acquisition of innovation should be a sustained management strategy and should be pursued even in relatively stable indigenous firms. The development of Asian pharmaceutical giants was arrived at via conscious focus on technical capacity acquisition and the development of novel products, while maximising the benefits of a large market size.

REFERENCE

Smart State Council. (2008) “Attracting investment into Queensland’s knowledge-intensive industries” Brisbane, Queensland Government.

Pharm. Jimi Agbaje, managing director of JayKay Pharmcy, has described being appointed a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) as one of the highest honours that can be bestowed on a member of the pharmacy profession.

This much was revealed during the just concluded PSN presidential inauguration ceremony of Pharm. OlumideAkintayo and investiture of 25 eminent pharmacists,which took place at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos, on 24^th March, 2013.

Also in attendance were Pharm AzubikeOkwor, immediate past president; Pharm. Ade Popoola, chairman, PSN Board of Fellows (BOF); Hon. NdudiElumelu, chairman, House Committee on Health;Foluso Phillips, president, National Economic Summit Group (NESG); Dr. Nelson Uwaga, PSN past president;Dr Joe Odumodu, chairman, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, a PSN Fellow.

Speaking on the theme “Repositioning the Pharmacy Profession – Role of Fellows,”Agbaje, who was the keynote speaker, said thatFellowship is an honour which recognises those individuals who have attained distinction in particular aspects of their pharmacy career.

“Since majority of fellowships are based on nomination from the State branches, and in few cases from members, it signifies the esteem in which a member of the Society is held by his peers. Fellowship is an honour that all members should aspire to,” he said.

Explaining further, the former Lagos gubernatorial candidate noted that,after about four decades of existence, the PSN decided to start honouring deserving outstanding members of the Society with the award of the Fellowship of the Society (FPSN).

The first to be so honoured was the late AzariahOlusegunRansome-Kuti, posthumously, in 1971. However, the number so honoured up to 2012 stood at 431, out of a registered pharmacists’ population of about 17,000, making them the creme-de-la-creme of the profession.

While lauding the virtue of the incumbent PSN president, Pharm. Okworsaid that he believed he is the best man for the job.

“The PSN is meant for those who can be president and I can assure you that OlumideAkintayo fits that bill. It is my pleasure to hand over to someone who can carry on with the splendid tradition of the society,” he remarked.

Foluso Phillips, chairman of the occasion, also challenged pharmacists at the gathering to define the role they have played so far in the society and Nigeria as a country.

“At times like this, it is always pertinent to ask what key performance indicator we set for ourselves. What are the advocacy platforms you have in the society? Where’s your voice in roll back malaria andpolio programmes in our country?

“Aside key performance indicators in our various professions, we need to seek alignment in playing our major roles. Today’s Nigeria is compelling us to remain firm, accountable and determined,” he stressed.

Delivering effective and efficient health care service is the role of leaders and managers in health care service systems. At every level of management, from top-level to junior level management, health care personnel are tasked to employ the best of their clinical, technical and management skills to ensure optimal service delivery. Continuous professional development is therefore required to further develop the capacity of personnel to meet present and emerging challenges. The Pharmanews workshop on Leadership and Management is designed to make this human capacity development possible.

For 20 years, Pharmanews Ltd has offered training and consultancy services to health care personnel in Nigeria. The company is accredited by the Centre for Management Development (CMD) as a management training institution. Our programmes have benefited pharmacists, doctors, nurses, medical laboratory scientists, pharmacy technicians, distribution managers, store officers, and other health care personnel.

We request that you please send us your nominations to the training workshop on the course below:

COURSE:                       EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN HEALTH SERVICES

 Date:                  Tuesday 14^th and 15^th Wednesday May, 2013

Time:                  9:00am – 4:00pm

Venue:               Pharmanews Training Centre

                            8, Akinwunmi Street, Mende, Maryland, Lagos

 Target Participants: Doctors, Pharmacists, Nurses, Medical Lab. Scientists and other Clinical, Administrative, and Technical personnel in the health care and Pharmaceutical industry.

Course Content:

• Leadership and Change Management
• Financial Management of Health Care Services
• Effective Service Management Protocols
• Opportunities and Challenges of the NHIS

Course Objectives:

• To equip participants with the requisite Leadership and Management skills required for achieving optimum health care service delivery.
• To educate participants on the relevance of Financial Management in health care services and to develop their capacity to meet the gaps in the public and private sector.
• To enable participants understand the Protocols for Effective Service Management.
• To educate participants on the trends, challenges, and opportunities in the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Nigeria.

 Registration:

Registration fee is N47,000 per participant. The deadline for registration is 30th of April, after which N49,000 will be paid. On-site registration of N49,000 will also be accepted at the workshop venue.

Registration fee covers tea/coffee break, lunch, workshop materials and certificates ONLY.

Group discounts:  3 – 5 participants – 10%,    6 and above participants – 15%

Cancellation: For cancellation of registration fee, 90% of the fee will be refunded, if cancelled at least seven (7) days to the workshop and this information communicated to us by sms or email only using: pharmanews@yahoo.com or info@pharmanewsltd.net. There will be no refund if cancelled thereafter.

Method of Payment:

Participants should pay into Pharmanews Ltd account in Zenith Bank Plc A/c No. 1010701673 or Access Bank Plc A/c No. 0035976695 and send their full names and bank deposit slip numbers by sms or email to Pharmanews Ltd.

For more information, contact:

Cyril Mbata                               –   0706 812 9728

Nelson Okwonna                       –   0803 956 9184

Elizabeth Amuneke                  –   0805 723 5128

Ifeanyi Atueyi                            –   0803 301 5991

Asiwaju Joe Oyewole Olarogun is a fellow of the PSN and a past secretary general of the society.

In this interview with the editor, YusuffMoshood, during the last PSN conference held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the senior pharmacist x-rays the 85th PSN conference and states that the annual pharmacists gathering is now more interesting and educative, compared to how it used to be in time past.

Below is the full text of the interview:

 How do you see this 85th PSN conference? Is it a success?

 If we look at the history of our conferences, it is clear that we have evolved from the old ways of doing things, to a very modern way of doing things. To me, this conference is one of the best, if not the best that we have ever held.

This is as a result of the fact that a lot of things have been reviewed to make the conference more interesting, more educative,and more enlightening and focused.

It is also great that we now have people who are invited from other countries and who have come to share with us their knowledge of things relating to health and pharmacy.

This has helped us. The organisation of the PSN conference has improved and I think this is very good.

I have been the secretary general of the PSN before, and at that time, things were not as developed as we have now.  I am talking about 30 years ago.  At that time, the secretary general was doing virtually many things in the conference.  The task of the secretary general is now divided and handled by so many people.  This has made the management of our conferences much better.  I am very happy with the improvement.

What are the areas of improvement that should be considered?

First, I think we can now see that the success of this conference is due to the involvement of the state government. This is an eye opener to other states planning to host the PSN conference. They should get the government involved. There is no way you can have a good conference without getting the government involved. Fortunately, the next state to host the PSN is my State, Kwara. We have learnt a lot from this conference in Ogun State and we are going to use it to make the conference in Kwara State a success and even a better conference. We are definitely going to get the government involved.

Although, there is now a change of baton of the PSN executives, the immediate past exco had a running battle with the former PCN registrar,which negatively affected the profession.How do we avoid such a thing in future?

I must tell you that things like that are bound to happen. When a society is developing and you have different people managing various areas, such conflicts are bound to happen.

For instance, somebody has even gone to court to argue that he was barred from contesting for the presidency of PSN during the last election. As far as I’m concerned, he is just fighting for his right.  It is a fair development. It is a development that can help us to improve our society and profession.

What is happening in our organisation is a reflection of what is happening in the larger society.  The only thing is that we still have to stay together and do our best to learn from issues like these and improve from such situations. As long as we live, we shall continue to learn how to live.

What is your advice for the new PSN executive? What should the new exco focus on to make the PSN and the profession better?

What the new exco should do is to improve on the efforts of the last executives. I know that we have two secretariats that we are working on in Lagos and Abuja. The new exco should complete those projects.

I will also advise the new leadership to try and improve the relationship between the society and government. This is very important.

By Pharm. Nelson Okwona

 The initial title of this article was “Endearing African Innovation: The Impossible is Possible”, for want of space, we have chosen the catch phrase above.

The phrase, “the impossible is possible” was meant to highlight my conviction and present disposition that Africa is ready and the time is now. We are ready for innovation, for break-through research, for development and for value creation. Against the backdrop of a dysfunctional system and an apathetic populace, Africa is indeed ready.

There are many reasons for this optimistic posture, my sojourn in the well-trodden pathof research and development in Nigeria is not a long one but has been quite revealing. It is said that ignorance breeds a certain level of optimism that is annoying, so I wish to state that my optimism is not borne from ignorance but rather from stark realism.

I believe my journey began with meeting Dr. Hadiza Nuhu, as a student at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. She is a noble and dedicated lecturer with unparalleled commitment to herbal product development. From her, I learnt first-hand that the hurdles against product development from indigenous raw materials are enormous and that a certain level of commitment was required. Her work with Herb 25, an antimalarial herbal, product left a permanent impression on me. It left the impression that some things are worth doing and that responsibility is chosen.

The question then was how?  How many individuals are willing and capable of making such commitments to pharmaceutical research and development? It was a commitment that is not sufficiently attractive when one weighs the risks and the opportunity costs of doing so, the level of intellectual, emotional and financial commitments required were also daunting.The decision to join the ranks of individuals that would commit to research development and management was not a hasty one, it was one born from a certain knowing that this is the right thing to do. It certainly feels right to be the difference, though not necessarily easy.

Years later, on graduation from pharmacy school and after one year at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, certain things became rather obvious– thatwe have the technical capacity, the human resource and the will to develop effective products from indigenous research. What we needed was a very good strategy, a strategy that would integrate the stakeholders in a win-win manner for a sufficient duration of time.

We needed to set up a chemical reaction, a reaction that was self-sustaining, one in which the products of the reaction could be taken away to allow for new ones, some catalysts that would reduce the barriers to change and ensure that useful outcomes emerge – outcomes whose demand must be sustained so as to achieve a self-sustaining reaction.

This strategy would channel the flexibility and the means of the private sector and the subsidised technical capacity of public research organisations. By public research organisations, I am referring to institutions like the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and universities. The strategy would rely on the persistent actions of certain individuals that could sustain the passion for value creation.

Prof. Ramesh Pandey exemplifies the need for such individuals, especially bio-entrepreneurs who understand the language of research and industry. His role as the CEO of Xechem in NIPRD’s work with NICOSAN demonstrates the need for a multidisciplinary approach to research and development. I have met enough gallant researchers in Nigeria who have great potential products sitting on their shelves, as research publications. Sincerely, they have done great work. Given the circumstances, the missing link lies in aligning their interests with those of the industry. Though this may not be a total alignment, most research breakthroughs are borne from a deliberate alignment of interests.

I have written extensively on this and other issues in my book, “The Heart and Art of Innovation”. Other considerations like intellectual property protection and the development of robust financial structures underlie the need for a good team for any worthwhile development project to be successful.

I was very privileged to have met Prof. Charles Wambebe, the former Director General of NIPRD. His passion and commitment demonstrates that only a certain level of dogged commitment would create the results we desire.

I am optimistic because such commitment now exists and in sufficient quantity in the research, industry and public sector organisations. The journey may be rough and tough but the impossible is indeed possible. Africa can develop the cure for HIV and for malaria. It is not because we would suddenly achieve overwhelming technological advancement, though this is not impossible too, but rather because we have committed to a deliberate search – because certain men and women would continue to advance the cause of value creation, for innovation and for indigenous research.

I have always believed that discovery needs not be complex. Drugs like Quinine, the Fluoro Quinolones, Metformin, Digoxin and Paracetamol are mainstay that therapies could have been developed by indigenous researchers. The development of Nicosan demonstrates this sufficiently – thatthough the gifts of God are not always too apparent, as they are often hidden and do demand certain research commitments, the search is such that they are within the means of the seeker. The solutions can and would be found by us.

The rate of uptake of indigenous research by the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry has not been satisfactory and this has been attributed to many reasons, one of which is their perceived immaturity – most players in the Nigerian industry are content to market and produce generics. Well, not all are immature; some key industry leaders, some of whom I have met in person are very much keen on the infusion of indigenous derived pharmaceutical products. In some quarters, this has become a matter of necessity. These industry players have the motivation and the means to make things happen.

A new project, the West African Pharmaceutical Innovation Project (WAPIP) seeks to harness these optimisms and potentials to create a pool of indigenous research capacity in Nigeria and beyond.

WAPIP is a joint venture private sector driven initiative that is geared towards the development of active and effective linkages between the pharmaceutical industry and research organisations within the West African region. One of the goals of this project is to drive pharmaceutical research-industry partnerships in West Africa, via an issue based approach that will create ownership for Innovation among stakeholders and provide sufficient guidelines and motivation to engage in the much needed collaborative arrangements required for product development.

Led by champions of change in the pharmaceutical industry comprising leaders of industry, public research organisations, media, management consultants and authorities in intellectual property acquisition and commercialisation; this catalyst wouldchampion a project that would create a nexus for pharmaceutical development management and promotion.

It is from such an understanding and participation that I bear this overwhelming conviction that the impossible is indeed possible. This understanding that synergy is key; that passion exists; that potentials abound; that there are men who will not give up; that there are immense opportunities; that the challenges are not obstacles and that the whole is more than the sum of the individual parts; this understanding is that with the right mix of collaboration we could indeed create a miracle.

Thank you.

Pharm. Olumide Akintayo, PSN president and Pharm. Azubike Okwor, immediate past president of PSN, during the presidential inauguration ceremony and investiture of new fellows of PSN, held at Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos, recently.

The fellowship ceremonies formed part of the inaugural rites for the induction of a new National President of the society, Mr. Olumide Akintayo which took place in Lagos, 25^th March, 2013.

The theme of this year’s inauguration is “Repositioning the Pharmacy Profession: The Roles of Fellows”

Nigerian healthcare professionals have been called upon to discard the spate of competition, confrontation and distrust in the health sector and embrace the spirit of collaboration, consultation and cooperation among one another in the interest of the health consuming public.

President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, Pharm. Olumide Akintayo, who gave the remark weekend during his inaugural lecture at the Shell Hall, Muson Centre, Lagos, lamented there was too much competition, confrontation and distrust in the health sector.

“Professions exist to serve Society, therefore our mission as pharmacists must address the needs of Society, our duty is to work and ensure that the added value we bring to healthcare and our potentials are taken into account and respected by policy makers and other health professionals. We note here that there is a lot of competition, confrontation and distrust in the health sector,” he declared

Recognising the position of pharmacists as experts in medicines, he said pharmacists have always been known as an accessible and trusted source of advice and treatment. “Today, our contribution to healthcare is developing in new ways to support patients in their use of medicines and as part of the clinical decision making across the range of ailments.

Further, the PSN President said the situation must give way for collaboration, consultation, cooperation in the interest of the health consuming public.

“We must open our hearts and minds to allow the team concept to rule our worlds in healthcare delivery. There is no doubt that the cost of fighting against disease and preserving health will continue to increase in spite of constant control and intervention.

There are manifold reasons and benefits for wishing to create a genuine cooperation between pharmacists and other healthcare providers. Pharmacists will therefore provide leadership to ensure unity among all the stakeholders in healthcare delivery.

Akintayo said in community pharmacy practice, practitioners will be encouraged to begin to exploit opportunities in maternal and child mortality, while hospital practice is stabilised.

“The feeling you get is that in Nigeria, we are loosing our sense of destiny. Nigeria is becoming Africa’s greatest contradiction while also the continent’s greatest hope and danger.My hope is that someday, even in my generation someone will emerge to harness the energy that makes Nigeria a potentially dynamic nation.

For effective health policies formulation, Rev Fr. Anselm Adodo OSB, the director of Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories, has advised African governments to involve the private sectors and create a level playing ground for both conventional orthodox medicine practice and traditional herbal medicine. He said this during his recent visit to Ghana, on the invitation of the Ministry of Health, Ghana.

Fr. Adodo noted that the orthodox, conventional method of healing is not the only valid health system, adding that there are other ways of attaining health that are equally valid.

While welcoming Rev Fr. Adodo,Pharmacist Peter Arhin, the director of Traditional and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Health Ghana, disclosed that in the spirit of brotherly entrepreneurship, the Ghanaian authority urged both countries to put in placehealth policies that will encourage large scale production of herbal medicines. He added that since the practice ofherbal medicine is the same in Africa and what unites us together are the plants, it is therefore imperative that we cultivate our medicinal plants and do it in such a way that the world will benefit from what we are doing.

Pharm Arhin further identifiedthe need to recognise our herbal practitioners, as well as train them to produce refined herbal medicines. “It is also important that the research aspect of our traditional medicine be developed, while we ensure that the intellectual property rights of traditional healers are protected”.

Also at the event, which included the facility tours of specific herbal hospitals and institutions in Ghana, among others, the patron of the Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners in Ghana, and Director, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Medicine (PROMETRA), PharmacistAloka Dabra, said that “what orthodox medicine has failed to do, African herbal medicine is doing”.

While commending the role of Fr. Anselm Adodo in herbal medicine practice and publications in Africa and thepioneering role of Pax Herbals in herbal medicineresearch, packaging and manufacturing, Pharm Aloka revealed that herbal medicine is being integrated into the Ghana healthcare policy, backed with appropriate laws.

“As a result of this development, there are presently 18 government approved hospitals where herbal and alternative medicines arebeing practiced in Ghana. The consultants at the herbal clinics in these hospitals are trained at the University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University with Bachelor of Science (BSc) degrees in herbal medicine. Meanwhile, Ghana presently has over 150,000 legally registered herbal practitioners”.

Pharm Aloka, who observed that over 66 universities are offering degrees up to PhD level in herbal medicine in China, with over200 patents, while similar progress is presently taking place in India, however  regretted thatthe whole of Africa has less than five patent rights.

The Ghanaian Traditional Medicine Practitioners Federation also played host to Rev. Fr Adodo and he used the opportunity to givethema motivational address on how to move the practice forward in Ghana. The practitioners therefore urged the management Pax Herbal to commence the importation of their products to Ghana for the health benefits of their people.

Other dignitaries at the eventinclude the former director of Traditional Medicine in Ghana, Osofo Pankama Quaram and Dr. Letica. A. Wiafe, the Municipal Director of health services, Ghana Health Services, among others.

 Following the recent breakthrough recorded in the cure of a baby born with HIV by scientists in the United States, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Lagos branch has called for the modification of the discovery, stating that if the techniques will be extrapolated on adults, that the results might not be the same.

Speaking with Pharmanews in an exclusive interview in his office, chairman, Lagos State PSN, Pharm. Akintunde Obembe, hailed the researchers for the rigorous work and the accomplished feat. He said it is an improvement from the cases he had heard of so far, and also implored them to further research into the processes, so that in the nearest future, adult patients can be beneficiaries of such breakthroughs.

“But be that as it may, it is an improvement from what we can see, however, we still implore the scientists to further research this breakthrough, so that it can be extended to adults. I believe we still need to do some modification on this breakthrough,” he stated.

Also, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has called on Nigerian governments and relevant institution of health, particularly the National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA), to invest more in research aimed at discovering a global cure for HIV/AIDS.

This was contained in a statement made available to news men by its chairman, Dr. Osahon Enabulele. The association praised the efforts of the research team responsible for the discovery of the possible “functional” cure for the pandemic, and called for the encouragement of similar research locally to enable Nigeria join the league of nations around the globe who are finding solutions to human difficulties.

NMA said it has already directed its research committee to study the findings of the US research team, with a view to repeating the same feat in Nigeria.

The statement reads in part: “The Nigerian Medical Association has directed its Research committee as well as its HIV/AIDS Committee to deeply understudy the research finding with a view to replicating similar research studies in Nigeria, in collaboration with relevant research institutions, Universities and the National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA)”.

Asked about his opinion, as regards the claims of Professor Isaiah Ibeh, dean of Basic Medical Sciences, University Of Benin, on a new drug he claims to cure HIV/AIDS, Obembe  said he monitored the incidence very well, and came to terms  with the Vice-Chancellor  for disapproving the claims, because it did not follow the scientific procedures for validating new findings.

He noted that the process the discoverer followed was not scientific enough; and that for any discovery to be generally accepted, it must follow the laid down procedures for verification. It is when all these processes have been followed holistically, that one can be sure of the claims of such discovery.

Obembe therefore urged all stakeholders in the health sector in Nigeria to throw their weight behind such noble achievements, by researching into the things that can improve the health of our people, which will thereafter lead to a healthy people and a healthy nation.

Also speaking on the issue of Mobile Authentication Service (MAS) project, he argued that the incidence of NAFDAC giving pharmaceutical companies an ultimatum to comply with the policy does not come into play, because the project is fraught with many logistics problems, which pharmaceutical companies have not been finding easy to deal with.

“Towards the end of year 2012, we were reliably informed that NAFDAC came out with a fiat that all pharmaceutical companies that are dealing in anti-malaria and antibiotics must key into this service with the time given to them expiring by the end of the year 2012 for anti-malaria, while those with antibiotics must comply before the end of March 2013”.

He further explained that any issue that has to do with drugs must painstakingly be addressed in the interest of the people, because more than 65 per cent of the citizens of the country attend clinics for malaria treatment.

“Being a common ailment, one would have expected the regulators to consider all that has to do with the availability, cost implication on the pocket of our people and all other associated difficulties that the manufacturers and importers of these medicines will face”.

The chairman has called on the government to intervene in the matter and instruct the regulatory agency involved to halt the process and substitute it with a better method of checking out fake products.

Technology is helping pharmacists, physicians, and other health care professionals emerge from the functional “silos” that make it difficult for them to communicate with each other, according to Michele Vilaret, Director of Telecommunications Standards for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

“Because miscommunications are dramatically reduced, the point of sale at retail pharmacies becomes a counseling rather than a sales event where pharmacists do what they do best: use their clinical knowledge to explain the particulars of the medication to the patient,” said Karla Anderson, a Managing Director for BearingPoint Life Sciences, one of the world’s largest management and technology consulting firms.

Networks are of course everywhere…

ICT tools get being invented day and night; no one needs to rush to a newspaper stand or the Internet to find out. The regular bolus of adverts alone, spread by manufacturers of devices, by all the means they can is enough for you to know that a new ICT tool is born. And sooner than it is released, it is actively distributed to all parts of the world.

In June 2005, my article: Networking Schools of Pharmacy was published by Pharmanews. The article gained prominence long after then and later became a whole chapter in my book: Pharmacy & Information Technology in the 21^st Century. However, what the modern world is teaching me now is that there are or there could be networks, not only in Nigeria, but other parts of the world. However, what matters is their affordability by institutions and individuals.

The Internet is everywhere across the globe. What matters are the prerequisites to it (e.g. computers) and the access to the Internet itself; all of which definitely come at some price.

In the advanced world, they have not only succeeded in networking schools but their entire endeavours of life. The prototype is excellent. I am glad too in Nigeria, we are in the process of networking everything, however the government needs to give more attention to important areas and the citizenry too must put their hearts into it, in order to make it part of the new life.

Networks Push for True Partnerships

The goal is to integrate the many different types of systems available to pharmacists, physicians, HMOs, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies. This includes what many believe is the holy grail of health care technology: electronic health records. When integration occurs, all health care providers will have secure and transparent access to all the information they need to better serve patients. This is likely to have an enormous impact on pharmacists.

“Although all the pieces won’t be in place for some time, with the help of technology, pharmacists are finally becoming full-fledged members of the clinical patient support team,” said Barry P. Chaiken, Associate Chief Medical Officer for BearingPoint, which provides design and implementation of next-generation systems for health care organisations.

“[Pharmacists] possess extraordinary amounts of clinical knowledge,” remarked Chaiken. “They are bright, intelligent, and highly motivated and should be having a tremendous impact on the practice of health care. By embracing technology – as many of them are doing – their ability to become partners with other clinicians should easily be achievable.”

Pharmacists couldn’t agree more. “I didn’t go to pharmacy school to count to 100,” said Richard Ost, pharmacist and owner of the Philadelphia Pharmacy. He employs three pharmacists and fills 750 prescriptions a day, an astounding 292% over the national average, for 3,800 customers each month. Since he has a small staff, he relies on an automated pharmacy workflow system that makes it possible for him to handle his heavy volume. “The more that technology can take over basic operations and facilitate communications with other health care professionals, the better job I can do serving patients,” noted Ost.

Is this network coming to Nigeria?

ScriptPro, in collaboration with TeleManager Technologies, offers advanced functionality for the Refill TeleManager Interactive Voice Response System (IVR) through ScriptPro’s SP Central Workflow System. This product allows patients to access information about the status of their prescriptions and enables pharmacists to know in real time the status and location of every prescription.

With the newly integrated IVR/workflow product, patients can call the pharmacy and input a prescription number, to order a refill. In addition, patients can find out the status of a prescription on the phone (i.e., if the doctor has authorised the refill yet, or if the prescription is ready to be picked up). Pharmacists can view all prescription orders coming through the IVR and see their status on the SP Checkpoint or SP Station workflow screen. With the use of multimedia graphics, pharmacists can view, listen, enter data, or transcribe on the screen. Because SP Central logs all pharmacy calls during the past week, pharmacists can check the log to investigate any discrepancies. In an effort to optimise patient service, the enhanced IVR system will make outbound calls to remind patients to pick up or refill their prescription medications.

What Limits Nigeria?

The price of Internet is not as expensive as we think. Government is largely responsible for procurement of ICT devices in abundant quantities, mostly institutions of learning. However, today, private organisations and companies are making their own contribution for example: the MTN e-library.

Schools are important places and ought to be flooded with computers and ICT devices. In developed countries, they are no longer thinking of computers and internet in the learning environment, as even every single room in students’ hostels is equipped with computer and Internet.

The good score we have is that other endeavours, like school registration, application for employments, among others, are now done online. In general, Nigeria is only limited by lack of abundant tools to make us join the league of global village.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, has directed that henceforth funds meant for the requirements of the Primary Health Care services be deducted at source from the monthly federation allocation meant for the FCT Area Councils.

The Minister gave this directive while meeting with the members of the Implementation Committee of the FCT Polio Immunization Exercise, Development Partners as well as stakeholders recently in Abuja.

Senator Mohammed said that this action has become necessary to underscore the importance of Routine Immunisation Exercise to all the nooks and crannies of the Federal Capital Territory.

The Minister remarked that the FCT Administration remains a practical example of good governance, as his administration has been prompt in releasing all funds from federation account allocated, including 10 percent of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) accruing to the FCTA to all the six Area Councils.

Senator Mohammed therefore wondered why the Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory would fail to meet all their statutory responsibilities, despite the magnanimity of the Administration to live up to its own responsibility.

His words: “We, as the FCT Administration, have given the FCT Area Councils all it takes, as required by the law, and therefore cannot accept failure in the area of primary health care services, which is central to the health of rural dwellers in their respective councils because we cannot continue to micro-manage the area councils.”

The Minister instructed that Traditional Rulers and Religious Leaders must be carried along in all the processes of Routine Immunization Exercises in the territory.

He revealed that the issues and gaps noticed in polio eradication exercise will also be tabled at the subsequent meeting of G-7 Security Summit, which is an assembly of FCT and all its contiguous states, to find a practical way of nipping in the bud cases of poliomyelitis in the zone, due to migration of people around the zone.

While calling for serious advocacy and sensitisation amongst all stakeholders, Senator Mohammed appreciated the efforts of Bill Gates and Aliko Dangote, as well as other development partners, in contributing to the total eradication of this menace.

Considering the importance of Routine Immunisation Exercise, the Minister vowed that he would personally go to monitor and supervise the house-to-house immunization exercise, if invited.

Speaking earlier, the FCT Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr. Demola Onakomaiya, lauded the uncommon commitment of the FCT Minister and FCT Minister of State, Senator Bala Mohammed and Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, respectively for providing the political will to upscale health activities in the Federal Capital Territory.

Dr. Onakomaiya however pleaded with the Area Councils wake up to their responsibilities by contributing their quota as required statutorily.

The meeting was also attended by the FCT Minister of State, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, representatives of World Bank, UNICEF, members of the Implementation Committee, as well as stakeholders.

Destructive criticism is one of the most harmful of all human behaviour. It lowers self-esteem, creates poor self-image, and undermines the individual’s performance in everything he or she attempts. Destructive criticism shakes the individual’s self-confidence so that he or she feels inferior, tenses up and makes mistakes whenever he or she attempts anything for which he or she has been criticised in the past. The individual may give up trying at all and simply avoid the area of endeavour altogether.

The average parent criticises his or her children as many as eight times for every time he or she praises them.  Parents criticise their children unthinkingly in an attempt to get them to improve their behaviour.  But exactly the opposite occurs. Because destructive criticism undermines thechild’s self-esteem and weakens his or her self-concept, effectiveness decreases rather than increases. The child’s performance gets worse, not better.

Destructive criticism makes the individual feel incompetent and inadequate. He or she feels angry and defensive and wants to strike back or escape. Performance nosedives. All sorts of negative consequences occur. Especially, the relationship between the parent and child deteriorates.

Children who are criticised for their schoolwork soon develop a negative association between schoolwork and how they feel about themselves. They begin to hate it and avoid it whenever possible. They see schoolwork as a source of pain and frustration. And because of the Laws of Attraction and Correspondence, they begin to associate with other children with the same attitudes.

Often people make the mistake of thinking they are giving “constructive criticism” when they are really just tearing the other person down and calling it “constructive” to rationalise their behaviour. True constructive criticism leaves the person feeling better and more capable of doing a better job in the future. If criticism doesn’t improve performance, by increasing the individual’s feeling of self-esteem and self-efficacy, then it has merely been a destructive act of self-expression carried out against someone who is not in a position to resist.

Destructive criticism lies at the root of many personality problems and of much hostility between individuals. It leaves a trail of broken spirits, demoralisation, anger, resentment, self-doubt and a host of negative emotions.

When children are criticised at an early age, they soon learn to criticise themselves. They run themselves down, sell themselvesshort and interpret their experiences in a negative way. They continually feel, “I’m not good enough,” no matter how hard they work or how well they do.

The whole purpose of criticism, if you must give it, is “performance improvement.” It is to help the other person to be better as a result. Constructive criticism is not done for revenge. It is not a vehicle to express your displeasure or anger. Its purpose is to help, not hurt, or you should refrain from using it at all.

Here are seven steps you can follow to ensure that what you are giving is “constructive feedback” rather than destructive criticism.

First, protect the individual’s self-esteem at all costs. Treat it like a balloon, with your words as potential needles. Be gentle. With my children, I always begin the process of correction with the words “I love you very much,” and then I go on to give them the feedback and guidance they require to be better.

Second, focus on the future, not the past. Don’t cry over spilled milk. Talk about ”What do we do from here?” Use words like “Next time, why don’t you … ”

Third, focus on the behaviour or the performance, not the person. Replace the word “you” with a description of the problem.

Instead of saying, “You are not selling enough,” instead say, “Your sales figures are below what we expect. What can we do to get them up?”

Fourth, use “I” messages to retain ownership of your feelings. Instead of saying, “You make me very angry,” instead say, “I feel very angry when you do that,” or, “I am not happy about this situation and I would like to discuss how we could change it.”

Fifth, get clear agreement on what is to change, and when, and by how much. Be specific as well as future-oriented and solution-oriented. Say things like, “In the future, it’s important that you keep accurate notes and double-check before you make shipments final.”

Sixth, offer to help. Ask, ”What can I do to help you in this situation?” Be prepared to show the person what to do and how to do it. As a parent, or if you are in a position of authority, one of your key jobs is to be a teacher. You can’t expect another to do something different without instructing that person how it is to be done.

Seventh, assume that the other person wants to do a good job and that, if he or she has done a poor job or made a mistake, it was not deliberate. The problem is limited skill, incomplete information or a misunderstanding of some kind.

Be calm, patient, supportive, sensitive, clear and constructive rather than angry or destructive. Build the person up rather than tearing him or her down. There’s probably no faster way for you to build self-esteem and self-efficacy in others than by immediately ceasing all destructive criticism. You will notice the difference at once in all your relationships.

 Rising from its 2013 Annual General Meeting (AGM), the Lagos State branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has passed a “vote of no confidence” on the chairman of the Pharmaceutical Inspection Committee (PIC) in the state, for what it described as inefficiency in the control and monitoring of illegal pharmaceutical outlets in the state.

In the same vein, the AGM has also recalled the antecedent of the head of the zonal office of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) in Lagos, in undermining the activities of PIC, and hereby passed a vote of no confidence in her, as well as called for her immediate redeployment.

The resolution of the branch, which was contained in a six-point communiqué, was jointly signed by Pharm. Akintunde Obembe, chairman and Pharm. M. F. Odeyemi, Secretary.

The communiqué reads “The AGM appraised the activities of PIC in the State over a period of twenty (20) years, 1993 – 2013. And came to the conclusion that the periods: 1994 – 1996, 1999 – 2003 and 2004 – 2009 witnessed tremendous progress in the areas of inspection, monitoring and control of pharmaceutical premises”.

“However, the AGM noted with dismay that since the chairmanship of the Pharmaceutical Inspection Committee (PIC) was ceded to the State Ministry of Health in 2010, no reasonable effort has been made to monitor and control the preponderance of illegal pharmaceutical outlets in the State which are conservatively put at 200,000 outlets”.

“Consequent upon this development, the AGM hereby passed a vote of no confidence on the chairman of Pharmaceutical Inspection Committee (PIC).  In the same vein, AGM recalled the antecedent of the head of the Zonal Office of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) in Lagos in undermining the activities of PIC and hereby passed a Vote of No Confidence in her.  AGM hereby called for her immediate redeployment”.

The communiqué further stated that the AGM has mandated the Executive Committee of the State branch to liaise with the national body of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria to address the above situation, as a matter of national emergency, so as to forestall further degeneration of affairs, as whatever happens in the state could have a viral effect nationally.  The AGM also empowered the Executive Committee to seek other avenues in resolving this matter, including legal redress.

Expressing its disappointment at the extremely poor output of the performance of PCN in the last fifteen (15) months, the AGM has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR to reconstitute the Governing Council of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, to save pharmacy practice from being further denigrated.

“AGM lamented attempts to manipulate the appointment of a Registrar and imposed a regime of increased statutory fees through illegitimate and unlawful processes and declared that the absence of a legally constituted Governing Council for about seven (7) years now encourages the exploitation of practitioners as pharmacists continue to contend with a “Sole Administrator” who is not interested in a functional inspectorate system and this is detrimental to the public health interest”.

The body therefore urged pharmacists to key into the vision of a group insurance for all members by immediately paying the enabling subscription fees before the March 31, 2013 deadline prescribed by the National Council.  In the same spirit, the AGM called on members who are yet to conclude processes leading to the issuance of membership identification cards and certificates to expedite action.

Earlier on, the group had congratulated the national body on the successful hosting of the first national council meeting of the Society in the year at Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State. And the AGM hereby aligned with the twelve-point communiqué issued at the end of the council meeting.

By Pharm. Nelson Okwonna

Society as we know it has thrived by the concerted efforts of individuals aimed at attaining the inner quest in man for certain heights of good and nobility. Man, across time and space, has pursued this quest for centuries old. He had overcome obstacles, engaged noble and ignoble means, created and destroyed civilisation and still seeks to attain to a certain place of fulfilment within himself.This man believes in something.

He believes in the nobility of his intentions, the dignity of his acts and the imperfections of his frame. His belief is not one borne out of an original intention but that of a discovery; a discovery of the necessity of faith. He is by nature compelled to believe in the essential worth of certain things and to make their fulfilment his ultimate aim. It is true across all civilisations, therefore, that one cannot do something well except one believes in it and that success is happiness and fulfilment attained by the deployment of our best efforts towards our best beliefs.

Science has not been unanimous in the description of the cause of man and hence, her beautiful dissertations cannot be trusted to define her course but to, at best, explain our view of it. In Africa, majority of us within our own sciencehave explained the cause and course of man — we believe in God as the first cause and believe this well; we believe in the existence of a reality other than us, which had designed and framed our universe and had, by this creation, defined our cause and course. We believe that this Reality had created the universe, as we know it and all that is therein.

Our belief is unique but not novel, though very religious and superstitious, i.e. we believe in spirits, in witches, in omens, demons and angels. We believe in black inferiority, in donor agencies and our helplessness. Despite these, we are not unlike the West, for they too believe, just that we believe in different things. We have believed in everything but in ourselves. We believe in our teachers but not in what is taught.

Africa was taught to write English but not communication. She was taught Algebra but not necessarily to think. Thinking and communication are essential nature of one’s humanity and we are very human. We needed not be taught these things because we knew them well. So, it was not reason that we were taught but rather several aspects of life within which we have not reasoned. Reason teaches that it is a failing to despise oneself because one was taught; one must value one’s teacher but not above the taught matter. The only teacher that is above all is the one who himself is the taught matter.

Europe didnot teach Africa only of European people, she taught her mathematics, foreign languages, logic, prose, governance and other things.She taught her what she knew of the universe, while expanding her knowledge and fill of what she knows of ours. Africa believed what was taught but made the mistake of not understanding that her teachers were, more or less, observers and students like herself. She forgot that it was about meditating more on the precepts than on bowing before the master.

There are precepts; they form the backbone of science and of successful governments. They are not made by man but discovered by man and men who have built by it were more successful than their peers. By this, I mean the precepts that made the kite and the aeroplane fly; that which lights our skies and our homes; that by which our submarine and the shark navigate the deep. There is wisdom in nature from which man has learned a great deal and, by so doing, invented our world. For invention is really a discovery – a discovery from nature, relationships and by sheer perception of the intents of reality.

Our focus was not on these precepts which actually are the laws of God seen in nature, for nature is His. Our focus was on the teachers who had taught us and, by so doing, we became poor imitators of the West; the only people ashamed of their accent. We became religious but not critical. Crude oil laden but not refiners, gold laden yet very poor.

We did not learn the rules of value creation. We did not learn that all materials of value are at their least economic value, until acted upon by an immaterial resource; that processing is the expansion factor in value creation.We did not learn that natural raw materials, at their least economic value, would deplete in value, if not acted upon by an immaterial resource or value system. We did not imbibe the principle that the value potential of every raw material or immaterial resource can be perpetually increased.

Because of these failings, we despised ourselves. We didnot recognise that the most important resource is us and our thoughts, our faith and our ability to develop new processes, products and management. Hence, we sold ourselves for a dime. A generation that strove to win the US lottery; by this we did not please God or ourselves, for His pleasure is indeed pleasurable to man. We did not learn the lesson of the ants.

We didnot learn, like the ants, that the failure of leadership is not enough excuse. We became sluggards who have explained away all our woes, unchallenged by our blindness, unfocused by it, only lost in religious fervour, denying that the greatest solution God had designed is us. To us the preacher cried:

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise; which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, (emphasis mine)” – Prov. 6:6-7

One of the best lessons from the ants is the lesson of self-leadership. We mustnot be in government to proffer solutions. Creating and proffering solutions is in itself leadership. An innovator must delist from the sluggard fraternity. He must rid himself of all excuses, as he realises, perhaps for the first time, that his obstacles demand innovative solutions, which he can proffer.

Now, what should the ant study teach us?

Wisdom, I believe. Now, this should be obvious because ant-study, like every scientific endeavour, can fetch you a PhD and not the necessary applicable wisdom; the difference is in the intentionality of the scientist. You see, Africa has studied the ants, but she was not intentional in her study. If she was, then she was not strategic enough.If she was, then she would have treasured wise execution over university degrees, prosperity against mere survival, petrol over crude oil, processing over raw material, collaboration over solo efforts.

You would love the ants. They have a local wisdom. They understand the cause of the anthill, and they’ve made its preservation the greatest aim. They know that local wisdom is borne of local research and local productivity, and the usefulness of local resources for the greater good of the locals (Africans). They understand that their labour is not only wisdom but also Godly.

Now, I have spoken of this African as if he were an individual with a specific self-hating disposition; as if he truly delights in his sorry state; as if he prays for more gloom, more importation of finished products and exportation of crude materials. I have spoken as if we pride ourselves in our corrupt statistics and of inept leadership. I have spoken as if our very failings are completely unique to us.Did I not notice the emerging dismemberment of the fabrics of society in North America, the volatility of the fabric of trade and the failings of corporate governance?

Charity begins at home; human failings are not alien to us, only of a different shade. For indeed, Africa has triumphed in many other things. For one, she has happy people and one of her largest nations could boast of the most evangelical church on earth.

The failing of trade seen in major economic hiccups in Europe and North America is to help us confirm that it is not the teacher that was beautiful and true but the taught material. The beauty of the teacher is a function of her practice of what she taught, or tried to teach. There is a difference between the body of knowledge and the harbinger of it…. “We hold these truths to be self-evident”… “Wehold…”

Truths are God given and are the right picture of reality; the grasp of it is innovation and the practice of it is life. Human failings are borne from the perversion of it and the practice of a perverted logic. Just as we could see in mutants, mutation might confer certain unique and even desirable characteristics, like an increase in proportion but it is either not good for the kind from which it was formed or that it is not of a perpetuating character. The duo of suitability for kind and perpetuity defines the unique characteristics of truth.

Humanity’s failing is from a perversion of truth and this failing is not African, Africa has her blindness but she must not excuse herself. She must make manifest her belief, her faith.

There is therefore this challenge;this call to nobility and truth; to virtue, if I must say, for us to rise beyond the shackles of our mind. To begin today, to not just exist, but to rather engage positively…God being our helper.