Inaugural lecture
Beyond Counting, Pouring & Sticking: Managing Pharmacy Operations for Quality Service
405th Inaugural Lecture
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
In this inaugural lecture, Professor M.O. Afolabi challenges the traditional, product-focused perception of pharmacists and advocates for a paradigm shift towards a comprehensive, patient-centred, and public health-oriented role. She showcases how Pharmacy Administration enhances service quality through improved operations, technology, and strategic management, positioning pharmacists as invaluable healthcare leaders. Join her as she explores this compelling vision for the future of pharmacy and its vital role in healthcare.
Date: Tuesday, 9 September 2025
Time: 5:00pm
Venue: Oduduwa Hall, OAU, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
About Prof. (Mrs) Margaret Olubunmi Afolabi
Professor Afolabi’s distinguished career began with a "fortuitous journey into academics" after an "academic procedural limbo" in her initial Ph.D. studies led her to pursue an MBA. This ignited her passion for Pharmacy Administration, a field she would go on to pioneer in Nigeria. To build a solid foundation for this new discipline, she earned five postgraduate degrees across four different faculties at Obafemi Awolowo University, where she has been an academic staff for over four decades.
Her work has been instrumental in establishing Pharmacy Administration at her university, which remains the only institution in Nigeria offering the specialism up to the Ph.D. level. Her research provides a compelling vision for a modernised, patient-centred profession, focusing on quality improvement through enhanced operations, digital technology, public health initiatives and "Pharmapreneurship".