-As UNILAG Edges UI to Clinch SYTA 2024 Edition
Regulatory agencies and prominent pharmaceutical industry stakeholders including the Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Moji Adeyeye; Registrar, Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), Pharm. Babashehu Ahmed and others have lauded the management of Shalina Healthcare for advancing the course of healthcare in Nigeria, by giving the youths an array of opportunities to express themselves.
Speaking in Lagos on Thursday, at the final edition of the SYTA, a value-adding initiative by Shalina, which is a national-level competition for final-year pharmacy students in Nigerian universities, the stakeholders hailed the company for the impact it is making in uplifting the knowledge of students as well as pharmacists in general.
In her speech at the competition tagged the “Biggest hunt for the best Pharmacy brains in Nigeria”, held at the NECA House, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, Adeyeye, who was earlier on facility tour of the company's factory on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Isheri, Ogun State said;”They should also be commended and appreciated for the platforms they are giving our young people to express themselves as well as grow”.
Speaking in the same vein, the Registrar of PCN, Ahmed applauded the healthcare company for its initiative saying “the company is making an unprecedented effort in ensuring that young pharmacists are well trained and are also encouraged to promote quality healthcare delivery in the country.”
While declaring the event opened, the Managing Director of Shalina Healthcare Nigeria, Opeyemi Akinyele, said the initiative is with the main objective of “serving as a platform for the final year students to interact with renowned experts from the field of pharmacy. And also build competitive distinction and self-awareness among young pharmacists.”
The competition which covered all the twenty-four Pharmacy Institutions in Nigeria saw Princess Kamsy Okeke, of the University of Lagos emerging as the overall winner, while Michael Ekweazor of the University of Jos emerged as the first runner-up, and Vivian Ihediuche of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Anambra State, emerged the second runner up, winning cash prizes of one million naira, five hundred thousand naira and three hundred thousand naira respectively.
On the progress made from Season One to Five, the Corporate Marketing Manager of the company, Pharm. Folorunso Alaran said; “the initiative has moved beyond its starting point of five schools and today covered the whole 24 Pharmacy institutions in the country.
“This is unprecedented in the quest for the best pharmacy brains in Nigeria and remained the biggest hunt for the best pharmacy brains in the country. We moved around the 24 universities in the country's six geopolitical zones from November 2023 to February 24, 2024. In all, we had three thousand participants, and we brought the best in each school to this Grand Finale, he said.”
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