By Mahdi Isa Waziri (News Editor)
The National Alumni Association of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, has honoured its 47 prominent members, including both the living and the deceased.
Some of those honoured included the Association’s one-time most impactful President, Professor Ahmed Tijjani Mora, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Hon. Tajuddeen Abbas, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, and the Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed.
Others honoured were Bala Usman (posthumous), Kwanashie (posthumous), Salihu Baffa (posthumous), Lantana Ahmed, Amina Bala Zakari, H.E. Amb. Tijjani Muhammad Bande, GCON, Prof. Mahmud Jega, Haj. Rabi Saulawa, and Prof. Maryam Abdu.
Professor Mora is a product of Barewa College, Zaria, where he graduated in 1974 as the best graduating student with a Division One Certificate in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE). He later obtained his Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy) degree from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria in 1978. He also obtained his Master’s and Doctorate degrees from ABU, Zaria and Usman Danfodio University Sokoto (UDUS), respectively. He is a Fellow of the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists (WAPCP) and attended the Senior Executive Course (SEC) at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).
Professor Mora has had a distinguished career in academia, with over 50 years of lecturing, laboratory supervision, and mentoring students in three universities. He has been a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ABU Zaria for 38 years, from 1986 to date, on a ‘pro bono’ basis. He also served as the Foundation Dean and pioneer Head of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kaduna State University (KASU) from 2012 to 2016. Additionally, he was the first Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice at the College of Pharmacy, Igbinedion University, Okada (IUO), Okada, Edo State.
Professor Mora has had a distinguished career in alumni associations. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Zaria Branch of the ABU Alumni Association from 1984 to 1986. He was also the Foundation National Chairman of the ABU Pharmacy Alumni Association (ABUPAA) from 1994 to 2010 and is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the ABUPAA. He served as Deputy National Chairman of the ABU Alumni Association from 2010 to 2015 and later became the President Worldwide of the Ahmadu Bello University Alumni Association from August 2015 to February 2021. He also served as the National Chairman of the Conference of the Alumni Associations of Nigerian Universities (CAANU) from September 2016 to December 2022.
Professor Mora holds several traditional titles, including the K’ayayen Sarkin Musulmi of the Sokoto Sultanate Council, the Wakilin Maganin Zazzau of the Zazzau Emirate, and the Iyan Piriga of the Piriga Kingdom, Lere LGA, Kaduna State. He has been decorated with the National Honour of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by the Federal Government. He is a prolific author, having published eight books, including “The Lizard Shape Model in Drug Distribution in Nigeria”. He has also published numerous peer-reviewed research studies in international journals of repute. He has attended over 300 conferences, workshops, and seminars nationally and internationally and has been a speaker at 130 of these events.