IDRIS AHMED, Lokoja.
The Igala Cultural and Development Association (ICDA), the unified voice of the Igala-speaking population globally, strongly appeals to Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo to prioritize completion of the Prince Abubakar Audu University Teaching Hospital in Ayingba, Kogi state.
The University’s Medicine program was suspended by the National Universities Commission in 2016 due to non-compliance with accreditation standards.
ICDA urged the Governor to set in motion necessary modalities and infrastructure to enable the institution to recommence the college of medicine.
President of ICDA, Surgeon Commodore Dr Ahmed Abdullahi, in an interactive session with Journalists on Thursday in Lokoja, noted that it has become expedient for the university to reintroduce the college of medicine to satisfy the yearnings of parents and students desirous of studying medicine and surgery.
The group lamented that the medical college, which was established in 2011, and the academic programmes begun in 2012 were to be shut down in 2016 after students were ready to proceed to the clinical stage before the abrupt stoppage by the NUC due to non-accreditation of the program.
He commended the then vice-chancellor, Professor Hassan Isah, for his ingenuity and tireless efforts, which ensured the program got the necessary human and material resources to achieve full accreditation before the unfortunate incident occurred.
Dr. Abdullahi stated that the 25-year-old university has come of age, both in academic resources and infrastructure facilities to run the College of Medicine, advising the government to expedite action in correcting the pitfalls that led to non-accreditation of the clinical stage of the program.
“We were elated by the news of the students who were transferred to other universities for lack of accreditation who have completed their medical and surgery programs and are now qualified doctors.
“We commend the government for the bold move that ensured the students did not suffer unduly. We commend the government of the immediate past administration for timely intervention in the transfer of the students to other universities for the completion of their program.
“However, it is noteworthy that the brilliant performances of the pioneer medical students were as a result of the solid foundation laid during the pre-clinical stage of their training at PAAU. Their movement to other universities was due to the absence of a teaching hospital.
A teaching hospital is therefore needed for the continued training of medical doctors, nurses, and other professionals allied to medicine.
“A teaching hospital will further enhance the medical well-being of residents of Kogi State. A teaching hospital will as well be needed for the training of the graduating doctors as resident doctors to become consultants in various medical disciplines.
“We are appalled that Kogi State University Anyigba, being the second oldest state university behind Benue State University in Northern Nigeria, could not have a functional college of medicine when its contemporaries and even newer generations have theirs running in full circles.
We, however, appeal to Governor Ododo to hike the ovation and celebration of the graduating doctors by re establishing the college of medicine, upscale, and remodel the teaching hospital of Prince Abubakar Audu University to a world-class standard that would be too irresistible to be denied approval by the accreditation agencies, and to meet the present tertiary healthcare delivery needs of the state,” he appealed.
The President, who was then a visiting lecturer at the college of medicine, Anyigba, however, bemoaned that for a university of its status without a college of medicine, the faculty of engineering and the faculty of environmental studies do not speak well for the state, saying most of the state universities established many years after the PAAU, have been running colleges of medicine in full throttle with befitting teaching hospitals.
The body therefore enjoined Gov. Ododo to commence the college of medicine in PAAU just as he has done with the young Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, which has gotten approval to run the college of medicine, stressing that a well-equipped teaching hospital will give the institution a sense of belonging in order not to send subliminal messages within the education sector of the state.
While commending the incumbent Vice Chancellor, Prof Marietu Tenuche, and the Governing Council for their commitment to starting Nursing and other allied health programs, ICDA urged them not to relent on their oars until the College of Medicine is restored, as posterity would hold them in high esteem.
