Pharmacy was first established as a Department in the former Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Ibadan Branch, in the year 1957. When the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) was established in 1962, it remained a Department within the Faculty of Science. It, however, continued to award the Diploma in Pharmacy degree till June 1965 while concurrently starting a programme for the Bachelor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm.) degree in September 1963.

The Senate of the University decided during the 1968/69 session to upgrade the Department into a full Faculty status from 1st October, 1969, with four main departments: Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutics. Consequently, the growth of the Faculty continued at the Ibadan Campus of the University until it transferred to her present building on the Ile-Ife (home) campus in September 1972.

The Faculty over the period of its growth and development had three units namely, Drug Research Unit, Pilot Drug Production Unit and Drug Quality Control Unit which were incorporated into the Departments of Pharmacognosy, Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, respectively. However, during the 1978/79 session the three units were separated from the Departments and merged into a Unit, now known as the ‘Drug Research and Production Unit’, to consolidate the various efforts on research in the Faculty. Senate approved in 1983 that this Unit should become an autonomous department in the Faculty of Pharmacy. The department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Administration was physically and effectively established in November 1996, after a long sojourn in the Dean’s Office, and has since then been functioning as an independent department.

The Faculty also has established postgraduate programmes in all her departments while the staff development programme of the University has contributed immensely towards the availability of Teaching and Research staff in the Faculty.

The philosophy of Pharmacy education is to produce graduates with a wide range of scientific, professional and managerial competence which best serves the needs of the community and who possess sufficient adaptability to meet the demands of a changing health care delivery.

Thus, the objectives therefore are:

1. To equip the graduates with material knowledge required to perform pharmaceutical services in the industry, community, health institutions etc .
2. To train postgraduate students in Pharmacy

The Faculty in spite of some constraints to optimal functioning is indeed meeting the above stated objectives.

Margaret Olubunmi Afolabi is a Professor of Pharmacy Administration with research interests in Operations Management of Pharmacies and Public Health Pharmacy. She is the first female professor of Pharmacy Administration in West Africa.

She graduated with B.Pharm. degree (Hons.) from the University of Benin, Benin – City, in 1979; worked briefly as a hospital pharmacist for three years and then proceeded to join the academia in 1982.  In furtherance of her research interests, she obtained postgraduate qualifications (M.Sc., MBA, MPhil., MPH and Ph. D) at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile –Ife.  She has published about fifty research papers and chapter contributions to books in her discipline.

The central focus of her research activities is  evaluation of pharmacy operations, with due regard to current practices and the application of innovative strategies to enhance the quality of pharmaceutical services in hospital and community practice settings. She seeks to explore technology options and the application of management sciences for quality improvement of pharmacists’ activities in these healthcare facilities. Considerations are given to client feedback as a measure of service quality with special emphasis on the design and validation of instruments to measure client satisfaction, patient response to waiting lines, adherence to dispensed medications, readability and comprehension of information leaflets in medicine packages.

In her teaching and professional career, she has mentored many undergraduate and postgraduate students in Pharmacy, both in Nigeria and outside the country. She is a preceptor and Fellow of the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists (FPCPharm.) and a Fellow of the Leadership Foundation, International Women’s Forum, Washington DC. She had undergone executive training at Harvard Business School; INSEAD^R  Business School for the World in France; IWF Leadership training in Montreal Canada and various certificate courses at the University of Washington, Seattle.

She volunteered in the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) Programme of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a visiting Lecturer to the University College of Belize in Central America.

She has served as external examiner to a number of Pharmacy Schools at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, both within and outside the country. Her teaching and mentorship experience in other universities include visiting lectureship at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, World Bank Capacity Building Programme at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS), University of Sierra Leone and as a WHO Consultant Professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, COMAHS, University of Sierra Leone.

At various times, she served as the Head of Department; Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy; Student adviser and a member of the University Senate. She has taken up many administrative positions within the university system and in her professional organisation. She is actively involved in pharmacy professional organisations in Nigeria and in Sierra Leone; serving as a trainer in the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) programme. She is a merit award winner of Osun State branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN).

She is a member of the Governing Council of Pharmacy in Nigeria (PCN) and she serves in various committees of the Council; currently the Chairperson, Sub-Committee of Deans and Chairperson, PCN Investigating Panel. She is also a member of the Governing Board of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC), where she serves in a number of committees and as the Chairperson of the Board’s Establishments committee.

Professor Afolabi loves singing and she is actively involved in Christian ministry.

Dr. (Mrs) Sharon Iyobor Igbinoba is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Administration, Faculty of Pharmacy, Obafemi Awolowo University. She is an alumnus of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Obafemi Awolowo University and obtained her Bachelor of Pharmacy (Passed with Distinction), M. Sc (Pharmaceutical Chemistry), PhD (Pharmacology), in 1998, 2006 and 2013 respectively. She also holds a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree (PharmD. 2018) from Faculty of Pharmacy University of Benin, Nigeria. Her research focus is on Pharmacokinetics. She is also involved in research related to Drug-herb utilization, interaction and safety; Medicine-use related problems with emphasis on herb use and in special population.

She teaches Pharmacokinetics and Therapeutics to undergraduate and graduate. She is currently coordinating the Clerkship Program of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Administration

Dr. Igbinoba is a registered Pharmacist with Pharmacist Council of Nigeria; a Fellow of the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists (FPCPharm 2017). As a Pharmabridge-FIP Fellow, she was exposed to the practice of Clinical Pharmacy at University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy and University of Cincinnati Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States (2012). She is a recipient of TETFUND Academic Staff Training and Development award which she utilized as a visiting research scholar to study In Vitro Drug Metabolism at School of Pharmacy, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America (2014). She has served in various capacity in most of Faculty committee. She also served as the Faculty Environment Officer and as Secretary of the Central Planning Committee of 1st Great Ife Pharmacy Scientific Conference and Reunion, Faculty of Pharmacy.

Mr. Anthony O. Adeniyi started his career in this University as a Clerical Officer on 1st June, 1993. He was appointed as an Administrative Officer II on 1st June, 1999 and rose through the ranks and was promoted to the post of Deputy Registrar with effect from 1st October, 2017. He has worked in different units of the University and was redeployed to the Dean’s Office, Faculty of Pharmacy as Faculty Secretary effective, 16th December, 2019. Mr. Adeniyi had the following academic qualifications; BA.Ed (English), MPA (Masters of Public Administration) and MA. Ed (Higher Education Administration).

His schedule of duties includes servicing of all statutory meetings in the Faculty, processing all recommendations as appropriate to relevant committees, screening of fresh students for admission and performing other duties that may be assigned by the Dean and Registrar.
Mr. Adeniyi has generally demonstrated a high sense of responsibility and thoroughness in all areas of his work.He is humble, mature and deeply committed to the progress of the Faculty and the University as a whole.

Dean: Professor Moses A. Akanmu B. Pharm., M.Sc., PhD (Tokyo), M. Phil (Stellenbosch), MPSN
Vice-Dean: Dr. Sharon. I. Igbinoba B. Pharm., M. Sc., PhD (Ife), FPCPharm., PharmD (Benin), MPSN

DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL PHARMACY & PHARMACY ADMINISTRATION
K. P. Osemene, B. Pharm. (Benin), MBA (Ilorin),M.Sc., PhD (Ife), MPSN, FPCPharm — Reader & Ag. Head

DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMISTRY
B. J. Taiwo, B. Pharm., M.Sc., PhD (Ife), MRSC., MPSN — Senior Lecturer & Ag. Head

DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICS
E. O. Akinkunmi, B. Pharm., M.Sc., PhD PharmD., (Ife), MPSN –Reader & Ag. Head

DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACOGNOSY
M. D. Ayoola, B. Pharm. (Ife), M.Sc. (Ibadan), M.Phil., PhD (Ife), MPSN — Senior Lecturer& Ag. Head

DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACOLOGY
O. I. Adeyemi, B. Pharm., M.Sc., PhD (Ife), FPCPharm., MPSN — Senior Lecturer & Ag. Head

DRUG RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION UNIT
F.O. Olorunmola, B.Sc., M.Sc., PhD (Ife) — Senior Research Fellow & Acting Director