The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has raised alarm over what it describes as the persistent subjugation and institutional humiliation of non-physician health professionals by medical doctors across Nigeria’s healthcare system. The body has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently wade into the growing professional tensions, warning that continued neglect of the issue could severely undermine the nation’s health sector and broader developmental goals.
In a strongly worded open letter addressed to the President and jointly signed by the National Chairman, Pharm. Ambrose Igwekamma Ezeh, and National Secretary, Pharm. Omokhafe Ashore, the association accused doctors of monopolising authority within public health institutions, allegedly to the detriment of other highly trained professionals.
According to the ACPN, this pattern of dominance has evolved into a culture of systemic humiliation that is driving disillusionment among the younger generation of health workers. “It is important to inform Mr. President that the humiliation health workers in healthcare are subjected to in deference to physicians is beginning to affect the psyche of youths in a generation where nobody wants to be an underdog,” the memo stated.
The pharmacists warned that the unchecked influence of physicians in the health sector is breeding frustration and marginalisation among other professionals, a situation they described as dangerously unsustainable. “National growth, development, transformation and evolution will gradually become stunted if the Federal Government does not wield the big stick to stop the outrageously incomprehensible dominance of an overpampered group of civil servants who get what they request and are allowed to dictate a pittance for other skilled personnel in the Nigerian workforce,” the statement read.
The ACPN did not hold back in criticising the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), accusing it of sidelining the contributions of non-physician health professionals and fostering policies that stifle innovation and collaborative service delivery. They cited years of declining performance under successive health ministers, particularly under the administrations of Prof. Christian Chukwu, Prof. Isaac Adewole, and Dr. Osagie Ehanire, accusing them of pursuing “revoltingly illogical” reforms that deepened dysfunction.
“The FMOH has specialised over the years in a destructive repudiation of the human capacity of non-physician caregivers. In our Health Sector, obstinate bellicosity paves the way for harmful grandiloquence to take the place of the eloquence of ideas or courtesies,” the association said.
Highlighting a recent incident at the Specialist Hospital in Irua, Edo State, the ACPN described how a senior pharmacist, who offered professional guidance on the proper management of the Drug Revolving Fund (DRF), was allegedly punished for challenging entrenched interests. The pharmacist, a Grade Level 17 officer and Head of Department, was reportedly transferred to a remote health outpost, while a junior officer who allegedly exhibited unethical loyalty to the hospital’s leadership was elevated to the position.
“The replacement for the HOD was the 4th in line because he made himself available in a palpably despicable act of unethical misconduct in our professional space,” the statement added.
The association further accused the investigation panel constituted by the Federal Ministry of Health to probe the matter of being compromised, claiming it was dominated by physicians with an agenda to exonerate the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer. “The matter was referred to the FMOH, and vintage ministry officials sent an overwhelming team of physicians and a sprinkling of other subdued members on a mission to vindicate the Physician/CEO,” the ACPN alleged.
The pharmacists lamented that such incidents are not isolated, describing them as the “new normal” across various Federal Health Institutions (FHIs), where they say pharmacy departments are often the primary victims of unchecked administrative impunity. “What happened in Irua has become the new normal in most of the pharmacy departments of the FHIs, where physicians/CEO decapitate DRF schemes with impunity,” they wrote.
The association also expressed frustration at the lack of accountability within the health sector, citing findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which has previously identified the health sector as one of the most corrupt in Nigeria. Despite these revelations, the ACPN noted that the Ministry of Health has failed to sanction erring officials, allowing malpractice to thrive.
“It is worrisome that these tendencies, apparently driven by satanic energy, continue to thrive because the FMOH has not found it worthy to sanction any of these CEOs, even when the ICPC, in daring moves, has come up with formal announcements that the Health Sector is the most corrupt realm in our public sector life,” the group stated.
The ACPN urged President Tinubu to uphold fairness and equity by addressing what it termed the monopolisation of authority by physicians. It called for deliberate government action to restore professional balance, dignity, and collaboration in the healthcare system, warning that continued neglect would only deepen public distrust and weaken healthcare delivery across the nation.
