Ms. Folashade Salako, a final year student of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) has won the 2019 Shalina Young Talent Award (SYTA) where she was crowned as Nigeria’s “best Pharmacy brain” at a ceremony held at the Ibis Hotel, Lagos on April 8th.
Ms. Salako beat 360 contestants from some of Nigeria’s top Universities to scoop first place in this coveted competition which has been described as the biggest hunt for the best pharmacy brain in Nigeria.
The SYTA, in its first year in Nigeria, sets stringent criteria to challenge the brightest pharmaceutical talent in the country. “It is a talent hunt. The idea is to challenge our students to become sound and to realize that there is reward for the hard work they put into their studies” said Dr Kingsley Amibor, national chairman, Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria.
“This speaks to the idea of our constant innovation and drive to inspire young talent in Africa, in one of the world’s most dynamic industries,” added Mrs Shalina Clifford, CEO, Shalina Healthcare.
In his address delivered by Pharm. Okame Okah-Arae, the PSN boss said Kudos must also go to Shalina Healthcare for putting up this innovative programme.
“Competition like this, will always stimulate interest,” said National chairman of the Association of Community Practice of Nigeria, Pharmacist Samuel Adekola.
“Through this initiative, these young pharmacists would have a level of motivation and confidence that would impact a sense of excellence in them. Invariably, this would contribute significantly to the quality of graduating pharmacy students,” he said.
Caption:
L-R: Pharm. Samuel Adekola, national chairman, Association of Community Practice of Nigeria (ACPN); Dr Gbola Olayiwola, senior lecturer, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, OAU; Folashade Salako, winner, Shalina Young Talent Award (SYTA); Somnath Malakar, managing director- Shalina Healthcare Nigeria Ltd; Dr Rahul Mandlik, head, medical marketing, Shalina Healthcare, Dubai and Pharm. Folorunsho Alaran, marketing manager (West Africa), Shalina Healthcare.