Professor Margaret Ilomuanya of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, is the winner of the 2026 edition of the May and Baker Professional Excellence Service Award in Pharmacy.
She was declared the winner at the 99th Annual National Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) held in Awka, Anambra State, 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 a N1.5 million prize tag. It was established to recognise the contributions and achievements of stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria.
While presenting the certificate at the closing banquet of the Ijele 2026, a former Director General of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Dr Joseph Odumodu, commended Prof. Ilomuanya for her contributions to the advancement of the pharmacy profession. He urged her not to relent in her oars.
In his brief remarks during the presentation of the award, the Managing Director of May & Baker PLC, Pharm. Patrick Ajah restated the company’s commitment to promoting professional excellence.
“We believe in rewarding innovation and dedication that drive the growth of the pharmaceutical sector”, Pharm. Ajah said, adding that the company’s commitment has made it possible to increase the monetary value of the award from N1m to N1.5m to strengthen its promotion of professional excellence service in the industry.
Meanwhile, Pharmanewsonline checks have shown that pharmacists in academia have dominated the award in recent years, winning it in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 consecutively. A former National Chairman of the Association of Pharmacists in Academia (NAPA), 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. Prof. Emmanuel Ibezim won it in 2023 in Gombe; former Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Prof. Toyin Odeku won the award in 2024 in Uyo.
The trend was, however, broken in 2025, when KIMKY Pharmaceuticals and Enterprises, managed by Kim Bot, who was the Director General of the Plateau State Drugs and Medical Commodities Management Agency, won it in 2025. Pharmacists in Academia may have taken over again with the emergence of Prof. Ilomuanya as the 2026 winner of the prestigious award
