The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Residency

  • ‘There is need to regulate medical residency’

    ‘There is need to regulate medical residency’

    Betty Apiafi is the Chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Health Institutions. The lawmaker, who represents Ahoada East/Abua/Odual Federal Constituency in Rivers State, speaks with Victor Oluwasegun on a new bill to regulate medical residency and other issues. Excerpts

    As the chairperson on the Commit-tee on Health Institu-tions, what is your opinion on the 2017 Health budget; what are flaws and the strong points?

    That is a very difficult question to answer because the budget is a document sent to the National Assembly for legislative input. So, we are supposed to actually work with the executive to see how we can bring out a better document to address the interest of Nigerians

    So, are you satisfied with what you’re seeing?

    What I can say about capital budget not only in health institutions but in Nigeria generally is that I think, for us, especially now that we’re in a recession, the issue of people brandishing words that the capital budget of the nation is so many percent higher than the previous year’s expenditure makes everybody feel this is a good budget. I think we should go past that stage and ask more direct questions like: what are we using this capital budget for? That is when we can actually know that the capital budget is going to produce the kind of result that we need to move the nation to another level and the reason I’m saying this is because, you have projects that are not properly thought out and they are at different stages of completion.  Today, Nigeria is in recession and the cost of construction has escalated so much. So, for you to even look at the capital budget at this time that the country is in a recession you have to go back and streamline…And unfortunately we don’t have a list of uncompleted  projects. We’ve always been saying in the House that the Bureau of Public Procurement or our MDAs should at least have a list of uncompleted projects or we should have a national database. We can now go back to those capital projects and begin to look at what is critical. If you have listened to any of our Budget defense sessions with the teaching hospitals, you will hear us telling them that if you have a project that is just starting and you haven’t done much, leave it, take the priority, and take just one or two priority projects that you can finish.

    And talking about capital budget the main Health Ministry has a N 22billion capital budget and they want to use N11 billion to pay for counterpart funding of donor agencies and use N6 billon for medical centres of excellence; would that not affect negatively the capital budget component of the Ministry?

    Yes and no. No, in the sense that before you speak about capital project, you have to be project specific and before being project specific, how impactful is that project under the present circumstance with the recession and all that? Unfortunately, I don’t have the information on what exactly they want to do with the N11 billion counterparts funding.

    One of the greatest problems in the health sector is medical residency. Even the current Minister of Health said so. What is the solution to this problem?

    Like I said, we have quite a number of challenges in the health sector which we’re trying to address as much as we can. One of the biggest is the residency training programme. Also, like I earlier said, there is a lot of disharmony in the health sector. We’ve tried to discuss with major stakeholders and to explain to them the need to work in peace. I think we’re making progress because after the last major strike by Association of Resident Doctors’ national body, we met with them with the Speaker and a lot of issues were resolved. Thereafter, the situation seems to be getting better because our doors are open, we’re always having discussions, talking to them. By discussions, one of the things we’ve identified as a problem in the health sector is the residency programme.

    Now, the Residency Programme started in 1968. Unfortunately, there is no law regulating it. Now the Residency Programme is the programme where we produce our specialists, where medical doctors who graduate from universities go to take their exams to specialize. It’s amazing that for that kind of level of specialty, we don’t have a law.

    If you noticed, in the past, most of the laws that are outdated in Nigeria, we’ve been working on them. And last week saw us presenting a bill to give legal backing to this school of Laboratory Technology in Jos. This school has been in operation for 50 years without an enabling law. It was just hanging in there at the ministry. So, we now decided that since we can’t get a policy on residency, why not make a law on residency? Because looking at the issue in the residency programme, they are so critical: what is the curriculum they’re running for residency? Who is responsible for it? How is it reviewed?

    You mean there is no programme?

    Well, there is a programme, but what is happening is that the individual institutions are being regulated by National Post Graduate Medical College and West African School of Surgeons and West African School of Physicians. But then, the West African Schools are not Nigerian institutions. So, for me, it’s only the Nigerian Post-Graduate Medical College that is ours and I’m not seeing any scheme or curriculum that they are running. Then, there are several issues…what level do you take in resident doctors? How long does residency have to last? Now, this residency prepares doctors for two exams, the Junior Registrar and the Senior Registrar. How long are they supposed to be in the programme? If they fail, should they continue? How many times should they fail? If they pass, they move on to the next level.

    The short title of the bill is: “Medical Residency Training Act” and it also deals with the structure of the programme, requirements, tenure, conduct of residents and sponsorship/ funding.

     

  • Ebedi residency gets three writers

    Ehizogie Iyeoma, Ikechukwu Nwaogu and Servio Gbadamosi are the new residents at the Ebedi International Residency Programme. The three Nigerian writers will be spending the six weeks from September to October in Iseyin, Oyo State.

    Iyeoman, from Edo State, has been described as a talented, young and energetic poet with the mastery of language and imagery and a unique style of his own. He has perfectly used his poetry most of which have been published online, as a mirror for the society. He has acquired, through his debut, Flames of Forest, an admirable amount of critical acclaims. Iyeoma’s poetry, published and appreciated globally promises to re-invent Africa through a combination of both traditional and contemporary styles, devices and languages. Apart from being a poet, Iyeoma’s humane qualities can be attested to by the responsibility he recently took to feed children, provide literacy to orphans in Northern Nigeria and IDP camps. He hopes to use his time in the Residency to further enhance his innate and creative qualities and enable him to finish his poetry collection, A Spring Of Endless Songs.

    The second writer, Ikechukwu Nwaogu from Abia State is a writer and playwright, who occasionally dabble into poetry. His short fiction and nonfiction pieces have appeared on various online platforms.

    Nwaogu hopes to use his time in Ebedi to enable him put in a significant amount of work on his forthcoming collection of short stories, and also to properly set ideas down for a possible novel.

    The third writer, Gbadamosi, is an Ibadan based Culture and Development practitioner whose debut poetry collection, A Tributary in Servitude won the 2015 Association of Nigerian Authors’ Prize for Poetry. His works have also appeared online and in journals, newspapers and anthologies like Crossroads: Anthology of Poems in Honour of Christopher Okigbo, Fela’s Re-arrangement: A Collage of the Poetic Biography of Nigeria’s Folkhero of Afrobeat Music and The Sky is Our Earth: Anthology of Fifty Young Nigerian Poets.

    Gbadamosi hopes to use the opportunity of his residency to research, reflect and continue work on a new collection of poems titled, From Northwind.

    All the three writers will also take part in the mentorship of secondary school students in Iseyin and environs in the area of creative writing, drama and public speaking.

    Now in its sixth year of operation, the Ebedi residency is a private initiative for writers to complete their creative works in an enabling environment at no cost. The Residency which has hosted about 75 writers from countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroun, Ghana and Ivory Coast. Since its inception has also produced several award winning writers. The latest of such writers is Elnathan John whose book, Born on A Tuesday shortlisted for the 2016 NLNG Prize was completed at the Ebedi Residency.

  • Writers’ residency at World Book Capital

     

    Port Harcourt is  in its third month as the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Book Capital.

    With a mind of fulfilling its mandate as the World Book Capital (WBC) expressed in the winning bid, it has kicked-off several projects, such as the Reading Tree and Book Clubs, the Walking Book and National Essay competition for students in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across Port Harcourt and the country, the Port Harcourt World Book Capital project administrators have said.

    According to them, they have started a monthly Book-of-the-Month discussions and drama performance, Books in the Air, and Library Support programmes.

    Besides these, they say, the Port Harcourt Book Festival, the Port Harcourt Book Centre, new Public libraries and the Writers in Residence projects are soon to be unveiled.

    The Writers in Residence project will bring together 12 selected writers (published and unpublished) from all over Nigeria to reside in the city of Port Harcourt for three weeks. Throughout their stay, they are expected to exchange ideas and engage in intense training sessions that will be anchored by seasoned literary professionals. They are also expected to draw inspiration and ideas for new works based on the theme of the Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014: Books Windows to our World of Possibilities, which would then be published in an anthology.

    The residency, the WBC administrators said, is expected to foster cooperation, unity and friendship among the writers thereby encouraging national integration and promote tourist activities in Rivers State. There would be Writers’ Workshops onScript writing and fiction with Mr Chris Ihidero and Chika Unigwe.

    “The objectives of the programme include inspiring a new generation of creative writers from all over Nigeria, showing the importance of intercultural communication and exchange in order to encourage creative collaboration, raising the profile of aspiring writers participating in the programme and enhancing the exchange of ideas, skills and experience amongst the participating writers.”

    They have announced a call for interested participants who wish to part of the residency programme. “The application is open to emerging writers from all parts of Nigeria with interests in fiction and creative non-fiction. To participate, writers must be Nigerian citizens or permanent residents of Nigeria, be at least 21 years old and possess a portfolio of good quality written material.”

    Applications for the Writers in Residence programme is expected to include a statement of what the writer hopes to achieve during the residency, a detailed curriculum vitae and a 1200-1500 words excerpt from a published or unpublished work. Application forms can be downloaded from the website below:

    www.portharcourtworldbookcapital.org<http://www.portharcourtworldbookcapital.org.

    Entries should be submitted electronically to wir@portharcourtworldbookcapital.org not later than Friday, August 22. “All enquiries should be addressed to the Writers in Residence Programme Coordinator via wir@portharcourtworldbookcapital.org  or via telephone on 08023187731.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Residency clause in Anambra

    Ogbaru Federal Constituency in Anambra State has endorsed the creation of additional states in the Southeast, residency clause and abolition of joint allocation for local governments.

    Secretary to the State Government Oseloka Obaze said there was need to include the residency clause in the constitution, adding that it would help unite the country.

    Obaze said: “The need for the residency clause will solve problems for people living in various areas. It would also safeguard their investments as well as help unite the country.”