WELCOME ADDRESS OF THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE 46TH ANNUAL PANS OAU WEEK (PHARMACADEMIA)
The Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, Professor Wilson Erhun; The President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, father and Life Patron of PANS, Pharm (Mazi) Sam Ohuabunwa OFR, MON, FPSN, FNAPharm, NPOM; Our distinguished Keynote Speaker, Vice-Chancellor of Chrisland University, Professor Chinedum Babalola FAS, FAAS, FPSN, The Chairman of the Osun state Chapter of the PSN, Pharmacist Adetona; All Heads of Departments and the Director of the DRPU, Distinguished lecturers and other Faculty officers here present, my esteemed PANSites, Ladies and gentlemen.

It is with great joy that I welcome you all to the Opening ceremony of the 46th annual PANS OAU week. Apart from its traditional implications, the PANS Week is the one period of the year that allows us as Pharmacy students to glimpse from afar the reality of Pharmacy practice and perhaps our fate in the years to come. This is perhaps why the period is often met with high anticipation and expectations.
This year the theme of the week is “PHARMACADEMIA” in exploration of an aspect of Pharmacy practice that doesn’t often enjoy the spotlight: ACADEMIC PHARMACY PRACTICE. Like a lot before me and some of my colleagues, I made a promise to myself sometime ago that if the dear Faculty of Pharmacy OAU eventually releases me, I would run as fast and as far as my legs can carry me for indeed like a number of us often find out in the course of our stay, the Pharmacy course tends to be more than we bargained for. It therefore marvels me when someone who is seemingly conscious of their decisions makes the choice to stay back in the faculty and even more so when such a person does it with an amazing amount of passion and zeal. For as a matter of fact, an advantage of the Pharmacy profession is that it creates many opportunities with its diverse areas of practice. And perhaps the reality of it is that most of these areas of practice appear to be more financially rewarding than Academic Pharmacy practice.

However, it is without doubt that Academic Pharmacy Practice remains one of the most important for as a matter of fact, the only way a profession can survive the test of time is for its Professionals to produce more professionals. This is the responsibility of the Academic Pharmacist, of course alongside contributing to knowledge through research and community service.

However, noble as this cause sounds, it becomes interesting that the academic pharmacist sadly does not get the recognition he deserves. There is no need to go far to establish this; ASUU is on strike! Again! For good reason of course; the gross underfunding of the educational sector has left the entire educational sector crippled. And the Academic Pharmacist being part of this system is not left out.

Another interesting twist in this conversation is the seeming suppression of the “Pharmacist” identity of the Pharmacist-lecturer over time, a teacher and friend once told me _“I identify more as a teacher these days than Pharmacist”_ and then and there I tried to imagine what a “Pharm. Lamikanra” sounds like. Or a Pharm Ogundaini or even a Pharm Adeyemi because the reality is that we often tend to forget that beyond the teacher identity, they are professional Pharmacists too.

So, my distinguished audience, this week we have dedicated to explore these peculiarities. And I trust our mother and newest Patron to deliver an amazing keynote. But apart from this expository role, the week serves an appreciative role and is dedicated to celebrating our teachers, at least in our own modest way. For the truth of our reality is that these are the ones who share in our highs and lows. They are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters. They are counselors and guardians. And as much as some of us have somehow found a way to consistently hate them for doing their jobs, some make it very hard to not love them. For eventually, no one is without their flaws. The week started with us walking up to these men to say thank you in whatever ways we could but once again standing as a representative of PANS OAU, I say to all our teachers: “THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO”.

I would also want to appreciate the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, both at the National and State levels for being an ever-reliable support system. Particularly, I must once again
congratulate the President, Pharm (Mazi) Sam Ohuabunwa OFR, MON, FPSN, NPOM who within weeks of his ascension as President has already gotten to work. He remains a model and pillar of support for students of Pharmacy throughout the country.

My dearest PANSites, I encourage us all to optimally participate in the other events of the week as scheduled. I also appreciate every brand and individual who has supported the execution of this week in one way of the other. We are very much grateful because ultimately, we really cannot do it on our own.

Ladies and Gentlemen…Thank you for listening!