September Prime Paragon: Pharm Ayodeji Matuluko

“I knew there were opportunities but how to get them was my big issue as a newly graduated pharmacist. So I followed my goal of getting a postgraduate degree”

With humble beginnings from the city that never sleeps “Lagos”, to being pulled by purpose across "Good Ol' Blighty", the UK; Ayodeji shows that she is EPIC – an Excellent Pharmacist Impacting Change. She has served in various capacities in different groups such as: Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA), supporting the enhancement of antimicrobial stewardship in four African countries on the Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS) programme; a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) and the Global Health Workforce Network (GHWN) Youth Hub; FIP Pharmacy Practice Research Special Interest Group Liaison for FIP YPG; and the FIP YPG 2020 Steering Committee as the Chairperson of Projects.

She is an emphatic writer and a meticulous researcher committed to global antimicrobial stewardship. In this interview, she shares her journey as a pharmacist and PhD candidate, her influences, FIP YPG, opportunities for attending FIP conferences at no/low cost, implementation science, antimicrobial stewardship and resistance.
Have fun reading . . .

YPG Lagos: We compile a research profile on our paragons; we had more than 15 pages of solid material on you. I have to ask: What is the story behind Ayodeji Matuluko?
Pharm A.M: I appreciate the opportunity to share my experience with your audience. I am currently a PhD Researcher at Glasgow Caledonian University. My career journey as a pharmacist spans almost 8 years. I completed pharmacy school at the University of Lagos at the end of 2012. I was inducted into the Profession in January 2013 and started internship a few days later, at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). It has been a great experience for me as I have been intentional about gaining diverse experiences within healthcare and this has seen me have work experience in different areas. I also have an MSc in Clinical Pharmacy, International Practice and Policy from University College London.

YPG Lagos: What drives you as a person? What and/or who keeps Ayodeji on track?
Pharm A.M: What keeps me going everyday is my belief in God and seeing everyday as a gift. I believe that we all have a purpose to fulfill while we are on earth and ignoring our purpose is tantamount to deciding not to live at all. I believe in taking advantage of opportunities and putting in my 100%. I’m mostly driven by knowing that I have the potential to add value to the world in my own little way.

YPG Lagos: Who/What influenced your choice to become a Pharmacist? How has the journey been thereafter?
Pharm A.M: I initially started out wanting to be an Electrical Engineer and that was probably influenced by the fact that my senior brother was studying Engineering in the university at the time. It was also equally influenced by a rough assessment of my strengths which I did as a teenager when I was around 13. I excelled at Math, and other science subjects and would later on do really well in subjects like Technical Drawing and Applied Electricity in secondary school. However, I suddenly lost interest in the idea of Engineering as a course when in my penultimate year of secondary school. I started to find certain subjects relating to it a bit too abstract for me, and found that I was drawn more to biology and chemistry. So after discussing with my parents, and a cousin of mine, I decided that Pharmacy was a course that gave a good blend of biology and chemistry and so I made it my first choice in the universities I applied to at the time and ended up getting into the University of Lagos to study pharmacy.
The journey since becoming a pharmacist has been great. While in undergrad and especially during my SIWES year (6 months training in my 4th year), I realized how diverse pharmacy was and I made it a point to get enough experience in diverse areas within a short time and get insights into global practice, so I could then focus on an area that most suited my skills and temperament. Since graduating from pharmacy school, I have worked in community pharmacy, in the hospital, in public health organizations, in medical communications and currently undergoing training as an applied health researcher through PhD studies.

YPG Lagos: Can you tell us about your ‘life after college' journey and how it has led you to this point?
Pharm A.M: I would say I had relatively clear goals about who I wanted to be as a pharmacist and where I wanted to practice, but I did not know the extent of the opportunities available to me and how my skills as a pharmacist could be applied in diverse areas in the real world, i.e. beyond traditional pharmacy settings. I knew there were opportunities but how to get them was my big issue as a newly graduated pharmacist. So I followed my goal of getting a postgraduate degree, a MSc in Clinical Pharmacy, by ensuring I did my internship in a hospital setting and doing the necessary training and courses I needed to make a strong application to UCL which had always been my choice university for an MSc. After my MSc, my mind was opened to diverse possibilities, especially having had the opportunity to get experiential training in hospital wards in one of the largest hospitals in central London. It was after that experience I knew that I could even be more and do more with my pharmacy degree. I had also a nagging feeling that the career/jobs I wanted were not yet created. Sounds funny but being aware of the skills I had gained made me imagine various possibilities and I strove to equip myself with more trainings, short courses, applying for numerous job opportunities and working hard at my roles. I started to feel unsettled about my career path after my MSc and wanted to specialize in research and then gradually came to terms with the idea of doing PhD research and moving to Glasgow, Scotland. I follow where my purpose and interests lead and whatever excites me.

YPG Lagos: Were you always clear on your career path after school and how did you map it out?
Pharm A.M: By my 3rd year in pharmacy school, I knew I enjoyed clinical pharmacy the most because it allowed me to combine a growing knowledge of pharmacology, pharmacotherapeutics and patient-focused care. I was really enamoured of the idea of individualized treatment and not so much a population-based approach. I also assessed my temperament and knew within me that I did not enjoy the day-to-day buzz and interactions typical of a community pharmacy setting. Also although I loved chemistry in secondary school, Pharmaceutical Chemistry no longer excited me as much and I found that I was less interested in Pharmaceutics. So, I was clear on that bit of wanting to pursue a career path in clinical pharmacy. I never entertained the idea of research but like I said before, it was the experiences I had post-graduation that shaped my interest in clinical research. One thing that always bothered me throughout my work experiences was the indiscriminate use of antibiotics and the non-enforcement of regulations to make sure all antimicrobials were only available on prescription in all clinical settings in Nigeria. So, that was my major drive—in addition to all my cumulative education and experiences— to want to carry out research focused on improving the use of antimicrobials.

YPG Lagos: What were the defining points in your undergraduate years? How did they help you mature as a professional?
Pharm A.M: They were a couple of defining points along the way, such as the shift from year 1 to year 2 where our lectures started to become more pharmacy-focused, and other times like during my SIWES year where I had my first experience of working in the real world of pharmacy. However, I would say a key defining point of my pharmacy school journey was in my final year when I did my final year project in pharmacognosy. That was my first opportunity to carry out a research project on my own. Obviously everyone in my year had this opportunity but for me it was key to my training and growth, because my then supervisor gave me liberty to lead on the work and be creative in the approach and methods I employed because she saw early on that I took charge of things without needing to be pushed to do so. I ended up working in both the pharmacognosy and pharmaceutical microbiology laboratories and completed my project way ahead of schedule. That gave me confidence in my growing skills and piqued my early interest in research.

YPG Lagos: You were elected Chairperson of Projects on the 5-man Steering Committee of the International Pharmaceutical Federation –Young Pharmacists Group (FIP YPG) for 2020. What did it take and how did it feel to achieve this?
Pharm A.M: Well, I first joined International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) as an individual member in late 2016 after making the decision to build my network and learn about pharmacy globally. I also attended my first FIP Congress in South Korea in 2017 and it was there the seeds of getting more involved in FIP through YPG were sown. So in the next year (2018), when the first FIP YPG subcommittee call was announced, I applied and got in to serve as Newsletter Coordinator for that year. I wanted to develop professionally and gain leadership skills, but I knew I was not yet ready for a Steering Committee role so I applied to the subcommittee in late 2018 again and by September 2019 after building sufficient experience in FIP YPG I decided to run for a role on the Steering Committee at the FIP Congress in Abu Dhabi. It was my first ever time of running for anything and I was elected by the majority to be Chairperson of Projects for 2020. It is great knowing that people placed their confidence in me to deliver on the plans I outlined in my manifesto.

YPG Lagos: How do you balance your professional and personal life amidst numerous organization tasks and your Doctoral program? How do you step back to step up (relax)?
Pharm A.M: I am big on time management and prioritizing tasks. So, I have learnt to say no to tasks that overwhelm me and I also create time for relaxation in my own way. To achieve any kind of growth or strategic plan for one’s career, it is important to be clear on what kinds of skills and experience you require to get to the desired goal. So anything that doesn’t align with my plans for my career, in the short and long-term, I don’t say yes to it. I carve out time for things that interest me and stretch me in positive ways, contributing to my sole goal. It is not always easy and means that I make some major sacrifices in my personal and professional life, but it has been worth it because I know what my main goals in life are. I relax most times by watching movies and listening to music

YPG Lagos: Were you always a High achiever or you learnt to be this way? What set you on course to achieve the numerous milestones and shoulder the many responsibilities you’ve taken up till now?
Pharm A.M: I have always been a high achiever from childhood. I don’t believe in playing small. Also my parents have been a great support in pushing me to be all I want to be, as well as being there for me when I have failed along the way to achieve certain high-impact goals I set. They also invested heavily in my education and made sure my siblings and I were at the right places at the right time.
I am driven by the desire to always be better than who I was yesterday; work doesn’t scare me. It is not having anything to do that bothers me instead. However, I do know my limits and I have increasingly learnt when to say a big, albeit polite ‘NO’ while also prioritizing self-care.

YPG Lagos: Do you have mentors? How did you meet/find them and use their knowledge and/or resources as a boost?
Pharm A.M: I don’t have official mentors but I have people I look up to or have worked with who have shaped my career path and have been great influences along the way from finishing pharmacy school until now. The thing with finding mentors is that you need to know what you want out of a mentoring relationship, that is map out your objectives and also have a solid idea of how you can contribute to the relationship. Also it is not in all cases you need an assigned mentor or a mentor you know personally. For me, I have found unofficial mentors, by looking through the biographies and professional profiles of people I admire or who are on a similar path to the one I have mapped for myself, and I study their journey and see what they did along the way to get to where they are. That has really helped me and I find that when I reflect and look back I have achieved certain things simply by identifying key strategies based on the work of others who have gone before me.
My current PhD supervisors are also not just supervisors but I consider them to be great mentors as they constantly support me and push me to achieve things I never thought I could achieve. They are committed to my growth as a researcher and as a person. This keeps me motivated every day. I consider this a blessing.

YPG Lagos: One of your tasks as a FIP YPG executive is/was to redesign the YPG Mentorship Programme. Why was it a point of focus? Has it been achieved? If yes, how did you go about it?
Pharm A.M: The FIP YPG Programme has always been inexistence but had not been running fully for a while as it needed to undergo some restructuring and further review within FIP. The previous FIP YPG Steering Committee in 2019 had done some great work in preparing the documentation and so it was important that as I was taking over as Chairperson of Projects and overseeing the programme, I made sure to build up on the work of the Steering Committee and ensure that during my term the programme actually became a reality. Also, I had noted that our FIP YPG members were in great need of mentorship as they are early career pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists starting out in their career and in need of strong guidance. Hence I made it one of my priorities to ensure the documents handed over to me were finalized and the programme was redesigned and submitted for review. We were able to send out a call for the Mentorship Programme on July 1, 2020 after an extensive period of review and I am happy to say our first set of mentees for this relaunch started their mentorship journey officially on the 1st of September 2020. It is such a privilege to have led the efforts to making this programme a reality in 2020.

YPG Lagos: You are an active member of various associations, haven taken up various roles not limited to volunteering, mentoring and leadership in different organizations especially in the FIP YPG and Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA); please describe your experience(s).
Pharm A.M: When I left pharmacy school in 2012 ‘locum’ in community pharmacies was the trend. Most people I knew in my pharmacy class were taking up locum pharmacist roles and for me it seemed like there could be more I could do beyond ‘locuming’ and earning some ‘cool cash’ before our one-year mandatory pharmacy internship. I did end up taking locum roles for about 2 months after my final year project defense, before starting my internship, but after internship I had a nagging feeling that I really needed to put myself out there and serve in a greater capacity. After internship I was waiting to start my mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme and unfortunately (or fortunately as I would find out later) my colleagues and I who finished internship pretty early in January 2014 had to wait till July 2014 to be called up for NYSC instead of March 2014, due to some administrative errors in our department. So it was then I decided to take my volunteering plans to the next level and after doing my research I showed up at the office of LiweWell Initiative (LWI) and told them I would like to volunteer for them and take part in their public health outreaches. They ended up offering me a role as an intern and an Academy officer (for their training activities for pharmacists and other healthcare workers). It was an unpaid role, however I was not after earning more money, but was focused on building skills I would never be able to get elsewhere, and especially not by ‘locuming’. I also had sufficient money saved from my internship year. Volunteering/interning at LWI was my first exposure to the inner workings of a public health focused organization, from the grants and funding to the logistics departments. It was an intense experience but I gained numerous skills there, from learning to lead a team when we went on home outreaches to even the seemingly mundane things like how to write proper professional emails and proposals for support/funding. Years later I would end up being approached by the same organization to be a mentor on their newly created Mentoring Programme. By the time I was done with my volunteering in LWI it was time to start my NYSC journey and I would end up serving in another public health organization and I took on the skills I had gained to this organization- skills I would not necessarily have picked up in a traditional pharmacy setting. These experiences really shaped me and made me learn so many things in such a little while as well as made me even more confident about my decision to pursue my postgraduate studies. Hence, since then I have constantly pursued opportunities to volunteer, to serve and to add value to organizations and that is what has led me to my roles in the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) and FIP YPG.

YPG Lagos: You have attended a fair number of conferences, and I believe they have deepened your commitment to improving healthcare services globally. The annual FIP conference in particular, for Pharmacists - especially in low to middle income countries - interested in attending but do not have the financial means; what opportunities are available for funding?
Pharm A.M: Conferences are a great avenue to develop new knowledge, build new networks and find out about interesting opportunities while also building one’s visibility. Attending conferences ranging from FIP ones, to others within my research field have opened my mind and placed me on the right path. My life has changed in many ways because of this and it is my wish that every pharmacist gets the opportunity to attend conferences too. There are a number of opportunities for pharmacists from low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) to attend FIP Congresses, some of which I have overseen or supported in my role as Chairperson of Projects for FIP YPG in 2020. FIP has the Ton Hoek Scholarship for Young Leaders and the Congress Travel Scholarships targeted at young pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists from LMICs. There is also the Mike How Travel Award given yearly by FIP’s Industrial Pharmacy Section (IPS) in conjunction with FIP YPG and the International Pharmaceutical Students Federation (IPSF) to support attendance at FIP Congresses. Other sections of FIP, including the Health and Medicines Information Section (HaMIS) award a yearly travel stipend. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, FIP’s congresses have gone virtual this year, and the costs of attending are heavily discounted since the congresses are taking place virtually.

YPG Lagos: You were among the first official delegates to represent the FIP at the 72nd World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland 2019. How did you achieve this feat and what was it like to be at such an important gathering? What invaluable lesson did you learn from the experience?
Pharm A.M: As I mentioned earlier, I have served on FIP YPG’s Subcommittee since 2018 and have been active in my roles, so when the opportunity came for YPG to join FIP’s official delegation to the 72nd WHA I was offered the opportunity. It was a great opportunity which I am happy I did not decline. It involved intense preparation ahead of attendance and during the week of the WHA we were very busy with assigned activities. I learned a lot about how policy making is done at the global level and how we as pharmacists can advocate for our profession to global health leaders. A great highlight of my attendance at the WHA with other FIP YPG attendees was the opportunity we were given to facilitate a high-level dinner to address the 18 million shortfall of health workers globally.

YPG Lagos: Research! With at least 11 publications and a PhD almost in the bag, it sure looks like you like to get right in the thick of things. How did you find yourself here? Was it planned or an entanglement?
Pharm A.M: That is if you count short fiction I have written in addition to reports/journal publications. For me it’s not about how many publications, but about doing something of value that adds to the existing knowledge base, and doing what I love. Research found me, or rather my PhD topic found me. Building up on my interest in ensuring the appropriate use of antimicrobials, and fueled by my need to be more and build more skills which I didn’t think my job at the time could offer me, I started to search for doctoral research topics online and started to let a few people in my network know that I was nursing the idea of doing a PhD (to build accountability). I really wanted to stop at MSc, but my interests have a way of drawing me in and I am big on building skills and exploring numerous career opportunities. So after searching on findaphd.com numerous times I stumbled on my PhD topic and the minute I read the advertisement I knew the project was for me. It was described exactly like I something I would love to do. So I did a quick search and emailed the main supervisor on the project telling her about my background and attached my CV. Her reply was very encouraging so I put together my application and submitted it together with a research proposal, on the University’s online application portal. I ended up getting shortlisted for an interview on May 1st 2018 and by May 8th 2018 after my Skype interview I was awarded a funded place on a PhD programme at Glasgow Caledonian University. It has been a life-changing experience, a tough journey, but definitely a great decision.

YPG Lagos: What does your work/training as an Implementation Scientist entail?
Pharm A.M: Implementation science is an area I did not even know existed until I started my PhD. The wonderful thing about research is that you start out knowing what ‘you know’ but as you progress you realize there is still so much to learn/so much you don’t know. Implementation science is basically the study of how to improve the uptake of research evidence within healthcare settings. There is this common knowledge among implementation researchers that it takes about 17 years for evidence base to be implemented into practice (although the current COVID-19 pandemic has kind of shifted our thoughts about this). Basically, after researchers find out about the effectiveness of either a medicine or other health intervention, we know that this does not always translate into rapid uptake in healthcare settings. So training as an implementation scientist involves learning the methods used in employing theories, models and frameworks to facilitate the faster uptake of evidence base into practice. This is the approach I am using in my PhD to facilitate the uptake of interventions to improve antibiotic use in hospitals. For this I am supervised my researchers with varying experiences in implementation and I have done online courses on implementation science as well as was funded by my University to attend an implementation science research training school in Bangkok, Thailand from the 5th to 9th of November 2019. It has been a mind-blowing experience learning and developing as an Implementation Scientist.

YPG Lagos: I understand that you are a writer. Has it provided you a safe haven when the going gets tough or did you have to learn the skill for formal purposes? Do tell.
Pharm A.M: My parents would probably tell anyone who cares to hear that I have been writing really well since I learned how to string words together. As far as I know I have always written things. Small pieces of paper stapled together, different notebooks with all sorts of stories and I remember writing a play when I was about seven years old. Writing for me is a way of expressing myself and most people who know me or have worked with me can attest to the fact that I express myself excellently through writing. I would say it is one of my strong talents as well a skill that was refined with the help of my dad. Growing up my dad made myself and my siblings write essays and it was one task I always enjoyed the most. My dad noted my skill and always explored opportunities for me to write and improve on my writing though writing competitions etc. Writing is something I enjoy although I would acknowledge it is a tough process to start from a blank page to something beautifully crafted, especially if one is doing the kind of writing I do now within my PhD research.
Overall, writing for me is a beautiful mode of expressing oneself and a very useful skill that can open doors, because if you are able to communicate properly through the written word you can get things done more efficiently. I have had different websites/blogs (anonymous) since 2011 where I write/wrote fiction and non-fiction, and my most recent blog which is thankfully not anonymous is one where I document my PhD journey as often as I can: ayodejibmatuluko.wordpress.com

YPG Lagos: You have also been privileged to study and immerse yourself in the healthcare system both in Nigeria and abroad; has the multicultural exposure helped you contribute in the various positions you hold? How?
Pharm A.M: Yes, it has given me an improved sense of awareness and knowledge about different things and how the different healthcare systems compare. Also, having the experience of working in the Nigerian healthcare sector has given me the unique position of being able to add value to conversations/work around improving certain healthcare practices in LMICs. Also having had some experience in the UK healthcare setting has also opened my mind to the possibilities within clinical pharmacy/healthcare and has also shaped my approach to my current research both as an ‘outsider’ to the system but also someone who has a fair enough knowledge of the system to make certain decisions.

YPG Lagos: With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the issue of antimicrobial misuse specifically antibacterials has been at the fore, this further worsens the trend observed in recent years and the ever looming consequences of antimicrobial resistance. In an article published in May 2020, Hanan Balkhy; Assistant Director General for AMR at WHO, told The BMJ that early data on patients with covid-19 suggest only a minority have bacterial co-infections as such The World Health Organization discourages the use of antibiotics for mild cases of covid-19 while recommending antibiotic use for severe covid-19 cases at increased risk of secondary bacterial infections and death. This underlines the importance of timely and relevant research; how can the fight against AMR benefit from such efforts? What strides would you love to see pharmacists make in this global fight?
Pharm A.M: It is a great task and pharmacy has a key role to play in this. The WHO endorsed a global action plan on antimicrobial resistance in 2015 which outlines five key objectives to be achieved to tackle the threat of AMR. These include increasing awareness of AMR through campaigns; surveillance and research; increased focus on infection prevention, sanitation and hygiene; optimizing the use of antimicrobials in all settings (including the animal sector); and lastly development of new antimicrobials, diagnostic technologies and vaccines. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic initially meant that key interventions to improve the use of antimicrobials through efforts like antimicrobial stewardship (optimizing the use of antimicrobials) were at first given less priority in most settings, due to COVID. However, as the pandemic has progressed it has become obvious that ensuring the proper use of antimicrobials is key to avoiding inappropriate antimicrobial use in COVID-19. The COVID pandemic has also meant that strategies such as improved infection prevention and hand hygiene have been given great importance. Pharmacists are stewardship leaders and as medicines experts have key roles to play in antimicrobial stewardship and the surveillance of antimicrobial use. In addition, there needs to be an emphasis on multidisciplinary stewardship efforts with other healthcare professionals in hospitals especially, to ensurethe appropriate use of antimicrobials.

YPG Lagos: Currently there are very few public and global health concerns of greater importance than Anti -Microbial Resistance. In line with the WHO global action plan, Global Antibiotics Resistance Partnership (GARP-Nigeria) and some other national agencies like the The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) came up with a National Action Plan for combating Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). To highlight an example: Pharmacies especially in Lagos, witnessed a high increase in requests for oral Azithromycin between February and May 2020 due to the media talking up its supposed benefits in managing or preventing the virus. Pharmacists are drug stewards but without the right laws/policies and their full implementation, the menace of AMR will continue to grow. Implementation has always been our Achilles heel as a country, any thoughts on strategies that can be employed in combating AMR to improve its stewardship in Nigeria to safeguard the health of the citizenry?
Pharm A.M: There are a number of barriers to achieving the appropriate use of antibiotics in community and hospital settings in Nigeria. I am all too familiar with what it is like to practice in the Nigerian setting especially in a community pharmacy where one is usually faced with high demands for antibiotics. Coupled with this is the weak enforcement of legislation on prescription only medicines, which should include antibiotics. The regulatory bodies need to provide strong legislation that prevents the sale of antibiotics over the counter. Also there is a need for widespread campaigns on AMR, how AMR occurs and how to use antibiotics properly, in simple language for the general public; and these should not be one-off, but continuous activities at the local government, state and national levels. In addition, pharmacists need tailored training on how to treat patients with minor illnesses and avoid the use of antibiotics, with referral to medical practitioners when antibiotics need to be prescribed. One key step in understanding what strategies to utilise in tackling AMR and improving stewardship, is to carry out research at the community and facility level, to understand the unique barriers to achieving AMS from the perspectives of healthcare professionals and what immediate strategies can be employed as part of concerted efforts to tackle AMR. There is a lot of work to be done, but by taking little steps and working in collaboration across organisations and sectors a lot can be achieved.

YPG Lagos: Life after school can be a huge challenge; if you were a keynote speaker at a Pharmacy Induction ceremony; what advice(s) would you give the YPs?
Pharm A.M: I would say to them most importantly to have a clear focus of what they want to achieve in life, and to make sure that they go about their duties/work as a Pharmacist with utmost integrity. People may see you as the odd one out for wanting to uphold the right values in your work and in the profession but you must not lose your focus. Especially when you are fresh out of school, you need to shift your focus from ‘money money money’ to asking, ‘What problem can I solve’, ‘How can I develop my skills’? Every other thing will follow in the years after that and you will have no regrets.

YPG Lagos: If you could have a tête-à-tête with one person you admire, who would that be and what would you discuss?
Pharm A.M: For me that would be someone totally unrelated to Pharmacy- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I adore her and her work and she has always been my inspiration even though from afar. Funny enough, I would only want to let her know how learning about her work in 2003/2004 (and insisting my dad bought her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, for me) shaped my idea of what it meant to be a Nigerian and African writer and gave me confidence as a teenager to continue to write my stories and imagine different worlds. As far as I am concerned I was her first fan before people even knew about her and her work. So I will let her know that too.

YPG Lagos: Finally, you already boast an impressive résumé and I believe you won’t be resting on your oars. With the wealth of experience you have gained, what do you expect of yourself going forward?
Pharm A.M: I don’t believe in letting one’s talents waste, so I always work to develop myself further and add value anywhere I am called to serve. Like I mentioned before everyone has a purpose on this earth which has been determined by God. I see myself continuing to develop further as a strong applied health services researcher and working with cross-disciplinary teams to advance global health.

YPG Lagos: Thank you for honoring our call.
Pharm A.M: Thank you for interviewing me.