Ore Green Becomes West Africa's First Female Pharmacist

Oreoluwa "Ore" Green, born in Lagos in 1885, became West Africa's first female pharmacist, a groundbreaking achievement at a time when higher education for African women was rare. She was the daughter of Francis Colley Green, a former Superintendent of the Lagos Detective Force.

Ore attended CMS Girls Seminary and St. Mary's Convent School, excelling in subjects like Mathematics and Latin. In 1912, she traveled to London for further education, earning multiple qualifications, including a First Class Certificate in the Theory of Music and midwifery credentials.

Her most significant accomplishment came in 1916 when she passed the qualifying examinations of the Pharmaceutical Society of London and obtained the Apothecaries' Certificate, making her the first West African woman to gain a practical pharmaceutical qualification. After qualifying, she worked as a dispenser at the Soho Eye and Ear Hospital in London before returning to Lagos in 1917 to work as a midwife at Dr. Richard Akinwande Savage's hospital.