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- writes Tinubu to intervene
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has petitioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, asking that he intervene in the growing dominance of doctors in the health sector administration.
In a letter to the President, the ACPN National Chairman, Ambrose Igwekamma Ezeh, accused the federal government of repeatedly yielding to the “blackmail tactics” of physician-dominated associations such as the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), and the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).
He made reference to recent events at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), where physician-lecturers reportedly downed tools in protest against the appointment process for the institution’s next Vice-Chancellor.
The ACPN Chairman alleged that similar pressure tactics were successfully deployed earlier at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), leading to the nullification of a Vice-Chancellor appointment by the Federal Ministry of Education under the leadership of Dr. Tunji Alausa, a physician.
“The moves violate extant regulations of the National Universities Commission (NUC), which require Vice-Chancellors to hold a PhD, a qualification many medical doctors allegedly lack in favour of professional fellowships.
“Most public sector appointments have strict conditions precedent which make the appointment lawful. The ease at which the federal government succumb to the shameful blackmail leaves a sour taste in the mouth,” the ACPN Chairman stated.
He further alleged a pattern of systemic favouritism towards physicians in top-level appointments, including hospital administration and university leadership roles, and condemned what he called “a thriving culture of blackmail” that enforces physician monopoly in positions such as Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) of Federal Health Institutions (FHIs), Provosts of Colleges of Medicine, and even Vice-Chancellors of health-focused universities.
The ACPN chairman also raised alarm over disparities in remuneration and other working conditions, citing that physician-lecturers who double as hospital consultants earn nearly twice as much as their non-physician counterparts, while allegedly denying them equal consultant status.
He further accused hospital CEOs, mostly physicians, of incompetence and abuse of power, referencing a recent incident at the Specialist Hospital, Irrua, where a senior pharmacist was reportedly punished for opposing improper drug procurement practices.
“The CEO punished a Grade Level 17 officer and replaced him with the fourth in line simply for daring to uphold professional standards,” he noted.
The ACPN chairman decried the federal government’s continued failure to implement inclusive, effective health policies, describing the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) as “visionless,” especially in its alleged exclusion of pharmacists from vaccine distribution despite the success of community pharmacy-led COVID-19 vaccinations.
He thus demanded a presidential directive to end what he called the “outrageous incomprehensible dominance” of physicians in roles unrelated to clinical practice.
He also warned that continued suppression of non-physician professionals could discourage Nigerian youths from joining the healthcare workforce. “National growth and development will become stunted if the federal government does not wield the big stick. The time to act is now in the public interest.
“The ACPN’s open challenge adds to growing tensions within Nigeria’s health and education sectors, which have faced repeated strikes, policy reversals, and professional turf wars in recent years. There has been no official response yet from the Federal Government, the Ministry of Education, or the Ministry of Health yet.”
