Ibezim Bags May & Baker Professional Excellence Service Award

pharmacy

-As Olubukola Tikare wins Biogenerics Integrity Award

The former National Chairman of the Nigeria Association of Pharmacists in Academia (NAPA), Professor Emmanuel Ibezim of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) was the winner of the 2023 Edition of the May and Baker Professional Excellence Service Award in Pharmacy.

Prof. Ibezim was declared the winner of the award at the 96th Annual National Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) held in Gombe recently after beating many other contestants to the prestigious award.

The May & Baker Professional Excellence Service Award in Pharmacy which was instituted in 2005 is one of the most prestigious awards in the Pharmacy profession in Nigeria.

The award which comes with a plaque and certificate, also has N1 million prize tag. It was established to recognise the contributions and achievements of stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria.

Pharmanewsonline.com reports that pharmacists in academia have dominated the award in recent years, winning it in 2021, 2022, and 2023 consecutively. A former National Chairman of the Association of Pharmacists in Academia (NAPA), Prof. Prof. Martins Emeje, clinched the award in 2021 in Port Harcourt; Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, University of Benin, Professor Ray Ozolua, also won the award in 2022 in Jos.

While speaking shortly after the announcement of the winner, the Chairman of the Award Committee, Pharm. Anthony Oyawole, expressed profound appreciation to the management of May & Baker Nigeria Plc for not only sustaining the award since it was established to date, but also increasing its monetary value significantly, which currently stands at N1 million.

Pharm. Oyawole however urged pharmacists in other practice areas of the pharmacy profession to be innovative in their practice so that they can win such awards.

Professor Ibezim, in a brief chat with Pharmanewsonline after winning the award expressed appreciation to the award committee and the PSN for recognising his contributions to the advancement of the pharmaceutical industry.

He also thanked the management of May & Baker PLC for sponsoring such a prestigious award, noting that the award would spur him to do more than ever before to move the pharmacy profession forward. The award winner said “I feel highly elated, winning the May and Baker Professional Service Award, which is unarguably, one of the most coveted awards in Pharmacy, in Nigeria, today. I give all the glory to God, from whom every good and perfect gift, comes.

“I deeply appreciate my immediate family, especially, my dear wife, Prof. (Mrs) Nnenna Ekpereka Ibezim, for the high level of love, support, and encouragement l enjoy from them. I am highly indebted to my mentors, for their overwhelming impact on my life, to the management of May & Baker for consistently promoting excellence in Pharmacy practice, as well as to my colleagues, for their comradeship, and to the officials of PSN, ably led by the amiable President, Prof. Cyril Usifoh, for their giant strides. I owe a lot to my innumerable students, scattered all over the globe, for their warm cordiality and unwavering hands of fellowship”.

In the same vein, Pharmacist Olubukola Adenike Tikare, who practices at the Federal Medical Hospital, Jabi, Abuja is the winner of Biogenerics Integrity Award for pharmacists in public hospitals. She emerged the winner of the award after defeating 12 other contestants. The Biogenerics Integrity Award has N1 million monetary reward.

Similarly, the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) was the winner of the PSN Group Dynamic Award. The chairman of the award committee pointed out that the award was keenly contested by all the groups in the industry, but ACPN emerged as the winner. The chairman added that the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP) came second and NAPA clinched the third position.

In another category of award, Pharm. Oyinlade Kehinde, won the 2023 Best Abstract Award. An Award of Selfless Service was also presented to the Director, Gombe State Security Service, H. R. Sambo.

Professor Usifoh also presented a Presidential Service Appreciation Award to some of the national executive members of the PSN, namely Pharm. Gbenga Falabi; Pharm. Gafar Madehin; Pharm. Martins Olanipekun Oyewole and Dr Magret Ilomuanya in recognition of their services to the society.