National productivity merit award is a call for higher service – Dr. John Alfa
Que: How would you describe the award you received recently and what does it mean to you?
It means a lot to me. I am humbled by the award and, for me, it is a call for higher productivity and higher service because I never knew that that day was going to come. I never knew anything about the productivity merit award until when the nomination came. So I thank God and, as I said, it is a call for higher service.
Que: What were some of your challenges when you were coming up with the products that gave you the award?
It is not the products per say. There are quite a number of things and when you talk about challenges, of course, in my career development, there are so many challenges and so many obstacles that would have stopped me from getting to where I am now but there is an inner push in me that kept on telling me that in spite of some odds in terms of some obstacles, I could be somewhere higher and I depend on the innate ability God has given me and I have this attitude that it is always possible even in the face of so many impossibilities. So I look at my environment and I latch onto whatever is available for me to work with and that is what has enabled me to come up with the products we have come up with. I look at the environment and I see that the resources are low but we need to keep the service going and so I look for the cost effective way of producing those services and that is what led us into developing one of the topical analgesics which is called NASMETISAN. The second one is a hand sanitizer and what stimulated that was the Ebola that came up. Hand sanitizers became scarce commodity and also became very expensive and because of my specialty in formulation, I know that this is what I can do and I can even produce it better than some of the people that are doing it. So I developed the formulae and thank God that today we are able to come up with one.
Que: The National Assembly seems to be in bad light most of the time but this is a positive one. With the bureaucratic setting, how were you able to do all this?
I think this question is also very good for the young ones; self motivation and the need to impact on the larger society. Yes, the resources are limited but in health economics, the principle is that in the face of limited resources, you look for the most cost effective way to still provide services. Yes there are some down sides when it comes to funding and the perception of people in the National Assembly but I normally tell my staff that wherever you find yourself, do your services as unto God and this profession we are called to, is all about serving humanity. People are in distress at that moment and you want to bring them out of that distress by solving their disease conditions, their disease problems and so it is self motivation that pushes me to excel and make a difference in the lives of my fellow human beings.
Que: What has been the response in the effectiveness of these products you have come out with?
Let me start from our physiotherapy department here. In fact, if you go there, you will not find any tropical analgesic apart from NASSMETISAN. This is not because it is developed here but because of its efficacy. They have used some other tropical analgesics and they discovered that this one is more effective for their patients and so that is the only thing they use in that department. I will tell you that even patients and staff who gave it to their wards and relatives back home come back to tell us that their father or mother will take the container to the market looking for the product and they have searched all the pharmacies and they are unable to get it. Of course, for now, it is only available here and so in terms of efficacy, it is quiet effective.
Que: Would you at this point call on the National Assembly to set up a state-of-the-art laboratory or a mini institute that gives room for research and some of this result?
Yes. As we speak, I have already sent that proposal and it is being attended to. It is my prayer that even if that is one legacy I am able to leave behind, I will thank God for that. I am hoping that the management will look at it very seriously and proactively. It is a unit or department that can also grow to a level that it could be a fund generating avenue for the National Assembly.
Que: What will you say the support of the Clerk to the National Assembly has been in this drive with regard to these products?
With regard to these products, my response is in a very affirmative way. He has been very supportive. In fact the CNA, Alhaji Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa has been forthcoming. That is what has provided me the enabling environment to bring about some of these innovations. Apart from the products, we also have lots of areas were we have been able to innovate. For instance, we developed what we call hospital formulae. The essence of that is, we have limited spectrum of drugs that we want to concentrate on and that means that there is rational use of medicine, there is cost effectiveness in the service and the doctors have a narrow spectrum of drugs to concentrate on. All these are by his efforts.
Que: What has been the enthusiasm of your staff members? Have they also been supportive of this effort of yours?
Absolutely, they say leadership by example is one very key way of effective delivery. I would say there is a lot of enthusiasm of people wanting to do their best because of the leadership we have been able to develop, that is seen in some of the innovative units we have created. There is a young man who I recommended for masters degree and PhD programme and when he came back, because of his peculiar specialty, we have created a unit for health policy research and development. So in the area of research, we are also looking at research initiative that the outcome would be able to help shape the policies as it relates to health care delivery and in the service in general. We also have the unit for quality control and compounding. As we speak, one of my staff is currently doing his masters degree in the area of pharmacytics. So I believe in, as you are leaving, you should also leave some people behind who are skilled to be able to carry on the service. So when he comes, we would post him to that particular unit for wider scope of service. I have some people who are specializing in the area of clinical pharmacy. Right now, two of them are doing the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacy to also be Fellows in that area.
Que: Are these people you mention being taken care of by your department or the National Assembly?
Of course, they are being taken care of by the National Assembly.
Que: Would you say most of our research institutes are sleeping?
I will not use that word, sleeping. I would say they are not performing up to capacity. There might be some limitations here and there but I must say that the level of research we expect them to carry out is not being done up to that level. A lot of them also complain about funding and that is a very big problem in this country but beyond that, the people who are also involved in the research area, what about their attitude and then we also look at the public sector, those who have make money in this country what is their attitude toward research? Any country or environment that does not encourage research, development is very far away from them because people are continuously innovating and for us to be at par with other developed worlds, we just have to encourage research.
Que: One serious challenge before the Nigerian youths is drug abuse. What is your take on that?
I presented a paper recently on substance abuse and addiction. Substance abuse because there are some substances that are not classified as drugs but our younger ones are abusing them. So, in addition to drug addiction and abuse, there is also substance abuse. It is a very big problem because this presentation I did was in the Church and there was evidence that even within the Church, the youths are also involved in substance abuse and drug addiction. In the Mosques, I am sure it is the same experience and in the larger society, it is the same. My take on it is that in as much as we are confronted with the problem of lack of job opportunities for our youths, it is not enough excuse for them to be involved in drug addiction and substance abuse. There are still a lot they can do. Nigeria, I can say, is still a virgin place and there is a lot the youth can latch on. I normally tell them that introspect and discover who you are because everybody God has made, He has given one ability or the other. So right from the home, parents should be close to their children and let them identify their ability and begin to work on that. Anybody who is involved in hard work, one day your time will be out there for everybody to see. So the simple advise I have for the young ones is; know who you are, discover who you are and the sky would not even be your limit.
What should we be expecting next from your department with regards to another innovation?
Research, as you know, is working from the known to the unknown. We have achieved this feat; we are going to look at some other challenges confronting our immediate environment and then the larger environment. Before too long, by the grace of God, you will see us coming with another product.
