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My commitment and passion, situational adaptability, ability to transcend barriers, muster support and inspire creativity to achieve organizational deliverables in settings I find myself defines me as a leader.
At the end of my mandatory one-year Pharmacy housemanship programme in November 2016 at the Federal Medical Centre in Owo, it was time for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and I was posted to camp in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. The NYSC is a one-year compulsory service designed for every Nigerian graduate, it starts with a three weeks intensive camping activity and it takes place at every state in the federation including the Federal capital territory. I was made the Chief Pharmacist to lead about 50 colleagues and equals at the Abuja camp clinic, which was designed to serve the health needs of about 3,000 youth corp members in the camp. It was the epoch of recession in the country, therefore the fund released for the procurement of drugs for the clinic wasn’t sufficient enough to procure the required quantity of drugs, most especially the essential drugs to serve the needs of the camp. I took the initiative to reach out to a few of the pharmaceutical sales rep I had connected with during my time as an intern Pharmacist, I asked them to link me with their colleagues in or around Abuja, I advocated for free samples of some of their products that we needed in the pharmacy, I wrote letters to different pressure groups of the Pharmaceutical society of Nigeria, Abuja chapter informing them of some of the challenges we faced in the camp, I also reached out to the departmental heads of the Pharmacy unit of some government hospitals in Abuja. The response we got was very positive as we got a supply of medication that lasted till even the next batch after ours. I got unprecedented support from my colleagues some of who remain personal friends till today, they reached out to their outside contacts in retail pharmacies within Abuja to solicit for support. The camp clinic coordinator was very impressed with what we achieved, she invited me to meet the NYSC state coordinator who offered me the chance to work at the national secretariat Pharmacy clinic, I was also asked to be part of a three-man committee alongside high ranking NYSC officials on drug procurement for the next batch of corp members.
Presently I work at the research unit in a non-governmental organization and I have led a team of data collectors to collect quality data at various instances. During the formative assessment phase for the respectful maternity care study in Ebonyi and Kogi state Nigeria, I was deployed to the field to oversee the activity of about 30 data collectors. Also, during the MCSP quality of care end-line assessment, I was deployed to Ebonyi state to oversee the data collection process for a group of about 24 data collectors. In the words of the state coordinator of MCSP for Ebonyi state in a mail she sent to me and copied several of the organization’s top officials after the data collection exercise, she said “You owned this activity, you put in everything you had-energy, commitment and initiative to make it work. You cheerfully travelled the length and breadth of Ebonyi from Sudan to Ettam to ensure data collectors were on top of their game. I deeply appreciate your ability to take charge and sort out field challenges”.
The chevening scholarship will afford me a broader scope of influence and influential network to proffer creative solutions to challenges and inspire creativity in a greater number of Nigerians.