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Tag: teaching

  • Fed Govt to recruit 3,500 teaching staff in unity colleges

    Fed Govt to recruit 3,500 teaching staff in unity colleges

    Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, has announced plans by the federal government to recruit 3,500 teaching staff across the Federal Unity Colleges.

    Sununu said that the recruitment of teachers would go a long way in improving the country’s quality of education.

    The minister spoke at a two-day national stakeholders’ forum on Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria organised by the National Senior Secondary Education Commission with the theme: Revitalising Senior Secondary Education in Nigeria for Global Competitiveness.

    He said: ”I want to assure you that the Ministry is currently collaborating with the Office of the Head of Service, the Federal Civil Service Commission, and other relevant government organs to recruit 3,500 teaching staff in the Federal Ministry of Education.

    “This will be for the utilisation of our various federal government colleges nationwide. It will go a long way in improving the quality of education.

    ”Not only that but also as part of our project, the Ministry has organised extensive training and retraining of all staff in schools.”

    Sununu also said that the ministry had trained over 1,000 staff in the application of technology in education through its research resource centre.

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    He further said that more than 53 vocational skills acquisition centres had been built to cater to the skills needs of the young ones.

    According to the minister, this is in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

    Sununu also said that approval had been secured to build an additional 50 model schools across the country to enhance teaching and learning.

    He said: ”The ability to revitalise the Senior Secondary Education sub-sector to meet global demands, is not merely a function of the mind, but also a function of key actions that optimise the

    ”Today marks a significant step in our journey to enhance the quality of education for our young learners.

    ”Senior Secondary Education is a critical phase, shaping the future of our learners and by extension, our nation.

    “This explains our efforts in ensuring that our education system is robust, dynamic, and capable of meeting global standards.”

    Executive Secretary of the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), Dr Iyela Ajayi emphasised the need for stakeholders to take ownership of the national policy on senior secondary education and its implementation guidelines.

    He said: “The federal government alone cannot succeed in repositioning senior secondary education.

    “We must mobilise all relevant stakeholders, including state governments, NGOs, development partners, educationalists, and those concerned about education.

    “We need to bring them together to brainstorm, identify problems, and provide solutions.”

    On his part, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, called for a total overhaul of the senior secondary curriculum to meet global competitiveness.

    Abbas, who was represented by the chairman of the House Committee on Basic Education and Services, Mark Usani, highlighted some challenges senior secondary education faced in the country.

    He listed the challenges to include a lack of qualified teachers, funding, and inadequate infrastructure, among others.

  • Teachers urged to use instructional media

    The Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, has said instructional materials are valuable to modern teaching and learning.

    Speaking at the grand finale of the Lagos State Festival of Instructional materials last Tuesday, Dr Adebule, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr Adesina Odeyemi, said teachers should learn to make instructional tools  from locally-available resources and use them in their classes.

    She said the festival, which had as theme: Effective use of instructional materials in inclusive education: Making room for diverse learning needs, was designed to encourage creativity among teachers and pupils.

    She implored teachers to take advantage of the Education Resource Centre to update their knowledge and get new ideas about various instructional materials that could concretise learning.

    The Deputy Governor said research had shown that using locally-made learning resources made learning easier and more interesting.

    Earlier, the Director, Administartion and Human Resources, Mrs Folashade Lediju, in a welcome address delivered on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, said the use of Instructional materials and educational technology provides equal of opportunities in the process of teaching and learning.

    The guest speaker, Dr. S. O. Adenle said instructional materials encourage creativity among teachers and students and made learning easier.

     

  • Ozubulu: ‘No more sound teaching in churches’

    National President of Association of Christian Theologians (ACT) Prof. Olakunle Macaulay has lamented that most churches  have downgraded Christianity, setting aside sound teaching for worldly affairs.

    In his reaction to the tragedy in a Catholic Church in Ozubulu, Anambra State, where a gunman killed worshippers in what was believed to be a drug war, Macaulay said “it is sad most Nigerian churches have been taken over by people of shady character.”

    Speaking in Lagos, at a get-together to mark his 80thbirthday, the protégé of the popular Macaulay family in Lagos said the Ozubulu incident was the consequence of the decadence in the church system.

    “The fact is that the church we have today is not the church Jesus had in mind when he talked about building the church. The church we have today is not the church built by Jesus Christ or God; things have changed from the first century church to the present church.

    “The church is not expected to be full of sinners, the church is meant for people who repent, bad people who have been in certain ways of life and now consider it necessary to change life.

    “Today, the Christian leaders are not looking for righteous people; they are looking for people who can support their ministry by fame, money and integrity and are less bothered if they are robbers, kidnappers or drug dealers.

    “In the human thinking, integrity is when you have money and can make noise; so I will not be surprised if this incident was connected to somebody who donated money to the church. It is happening all over the place. The churches today glorify rich men and women and forget the poor,” he lamented.

    Speaking on the raging controversy relating to the regulation of theology universities by the National Universities Commission (NUC), Macaulay said NUC has no right to control theology universities, as such universities are not secular but faith-based.

    He regretted the ‘’constant harassment’’ from officials of the NUC, who demanded accreditation for courses offered by theology universities.

    The octogenarian, who is director of Studies of United Bible University (UBU), in Ojodu, Lagos, recalled that NUC officials invaded his office last year, arrested him and detained him for a night. He was accused of operating an illegal university.

  • Scholars advocate indigenous language for teaching

    Scholars from universities across the country are advocating the use of indigenous language for teaching in both primary and secondary schools nationwide.

    Prominent among the agitators are Professors Toyin Falola, Clement Kolawole, and the Orangun of Oke-Ila in Ifedayo Local Government Area of Osun State, Oba Adedokun Abolarin.

    They also urged the Federal Government to increase its funding of education.

    The scholars spoke at this year’s  Toyin Falola International Conference on Africa and the African Diaspora (TOFAC) held at the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Ondo State. It had as theme: ‘Education and Africa’s transformation’.

    They contended that the use of indigenous language would aid learning among students.

    Kolawole attributed the high level of under-development in education sector to poverty and corruption, adding that the nation could only develop, if education is prioritised.

    Kolawole, a professor of History at the University of Ibadan, noted that collapsed infrastructure and lack of equipment were affecting the standard of education.

    According to him, congestion in lecture halls in public institutions need to be resolved.

    He stressed that, if returned, the subject would further strengthen the knowledge of young ones.

    Another scholar Prof. B. O. Popoola, emphasised that sit-tight presidents should be shown the way out to maximise education development on the continent.

    Falola also called on the Federal Government to return History into the education curriculum in secondary schools.

    He said a delegation of over 350 professors had met with the Federal Government over that recommendation.

    Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, represented by his deputy Agboola Ajayi, said education should be seen as an investment which every parent should give their wards.

    Akeredolu suggested that 60 per cent of the budget should go for education funding, calling on African countries to adopt only one education curriculum.

  • Ahmed seeks regulation of religious teaching

    Ahmed seeks regulation of religious teaching

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has advocated proper regulation of religious teachings to avoid inculcating religious extremism and intolerance in youths.

    He made the call at the weekend when he received the National Executives of the Jama’atul Izalatul Bidiah Wal Iqamatil Sunnah (JIBWIS), led by National Chairman Sheikh Abdullahi Bala-Lau, at the Government House in Ilorin.

    Ahmed said there is a need for religious groups to devise an acceptable and workable means of curtailing indoctrination of youths by religious extremists.

    According to him, there are misrepresentations and misconceptions on various Islamic teachings which must be addressed by relevant Islamic bodies to ensure the right information is disseminated to the public.

    He advised JIBWIS to partner similar religious bodies in ensuring that correct information and teachings, which will show the beauty and sweetness of Islam, is disseminated in Nigeria.

    His words: “As leaders of religious organisations, you have critical roles to play in redirecting the society to live a better God-guided life.”

    Ahmed advocated for acquisition of both western and Islamic education, by Muslim youths, to maximise opportunities and properly understand the dynamics of the modern world.

    Sheikh Bala-Lau called on Nigerian leaders to always give a sense of direction to the youths, particularly through skill acquisition programmes.

    He advised Muslims to follow the real teachings of Islam and laws of the land to ensure peace and harmony in the country.

    The cleric said the organisation, with over 40 years of propagating Islam, had rendered humanitarian services to Nigerians across religious divide.

  • Cleansing the teaching stable

    Cleansing the teaching stable

    For quacks in the teaching profession, the time is up. From January, next year only those certified by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) will be allowed to practise. According to the council, the policy is aimed at sanitising the profession so that it will no longer be for every Tom, Dick and Harry. Some teachers hail the policy; others condenm it. How far can TRCN go with the policy? Adegunle Olugbamila, Jane Chijioke and Ajose Sehindemi report.

    Teaching requires skills, but many just dabble into the profession without training. That would soon end. The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has moved to sanitise the profession.

    From next January, teachers who are not certified will no longer be allowed. But many teachers are worried that the policy could be politicised.

    Some are anxious about the cost of sitting for the Teachers Professional  Qualifying Examination (PQE). Others are querying the rationale behind the initiative. They  wondered why as educationists  they should  sit for professional examinations again.

    But TRCN Director, Professional Operations, Dr. Steve Nwokeocha, says they have nothing to fear, noting that the examination which would be written twice yearly is  to ensure standard and quality in the system.

    He said the council was developing a standard syllabus which would be presented to stakeholders for vetting.

    Nwokeocha said when the council conducted a pilot examination in 2008, about half of the 50,000 teachers that sat for it failed, explaining that their failure reflected the poor quality of training they acquired.

    “We had to suspend the pilot examination because the council did not have a syllabus at that time,” Nwokeocha recounted.

    “And people asked that a few more things like a model, among others, should be put in place before the examination will be conducted again,’’ he added.

    TRCN Registrar/Chief Executive Prof Segun Ajiboye told our reporter on phone, that the council would not rescind the policy.

    The directive, he said, was in accordance with global best practice. Beyond ridding the profession of misfits, Ajiboye said a profession considered a confluence must be standardised so that the nation could have the best across other professions. By October,  the examination will kick off, Ajiboye said, adding that applicants had begun registering on the council’s website.

    According to Ajiboye, a professor of Social Studies and Environmental Education, the examination has been split into four category A for Ph.D holders, B Masters degrees, C first degree holders, and Category D, NCE graduates.

     

    Teachers’views

     

    Teachers are divided over the

    policy.

    A teacher from Ansa-uD-Deen Nursery and Primary School, Mr. Kunle Yusuf, welcomed the development.

    “I think it will help fish out the unqualified ones in the teaching profession. In fact, some of us here have already registered waiting for the examination. The fee also is okay. I was told NCE holders is N3000 while Bs.C is N6,000. If the examination is well conducted and monitored, I believe it will go a long way in regulating the profession,” he said.

    A teacher in a private school, who confessed that she first got the information from our reporter, doubted the sincerity of the motive.

    She said: “I am just hearing this for the first time.All the same there is no cause for alarm. It is an avenue to pass a message to teachers to buckle up because, in this profession, there are so many who disguise as teachers. Some, having been unable to secure a job for years, now see teaching as the last resort without passion for it. If the motive of TRCN is for the benefit of students who are at the receiving end, then I think it’s a beautiful approach. But if it gives room for any form of discrimination in terms of certification, then it is of no use.”

    Headmaster of Rising Sun Schools, Oshodi, Lagos, Mr. Oluwole Aransiola, said: “I will never register let alone write the exam.”

    Aransiola added: “So you are telling me as a professional teacher having gone through the normal procedures and certificated, will now come and write another exam for a (professional) certificate. For how long will I be writing examination? What legal and constitutional right does TRCN has to impose such on teachers. What they should be doing is evaluation and concrete innovations and ideas that can help the system to improve and not coming to tell us to write an examination just for certification.

    “No matter your degree, if you do not have a teaching certification, either NCE or BA in Education, you have no business in the classroom. We all are culprits of the fallout of the education system in the country. Of what essence is the examination then?  Is it to identify the unqualified ones? Who employed them?  What kind of certificate is that or is it simply a means for extortion? “

    Aransiola has an ally in another colleague in a public school in Agege area.

    The colleague, who pleaded anonymity, said: “It’s a good idea but why I am against it is that as a professional teacher, I am an educationist. Therefore I think those with certificates in education suppose not to participate. They should be given the certificate without paying unlike those without degrees in education.

    “They should encourage us for studying education. They should at least do that because we have our certificates and it should be a proof that we are education certified.”

    However, Mrs Folashade Ojo who teaches in Somolu supports the idea

    “I support the idea as it will bring a sort of classification when we are talking about the teaching profession. The moment some are certificated, it will bring a sort of class that will boost the ego of other teachers to also want to acquire professional certification.”

    A  professor of Educational Technology at the Lagos State University Biodun Akinpelu, also pitched his tent with TRCN.

    “I am in support of this policy so that we can salvage the future of our children. What is happening (in teaching) in Nigeria is abnormal,” Akinpelu began.

    “Hitherto, teaching has been an all-comers affair and it is about time we needed those who are professionaly qualified to do justice in this area.

    “In the universities, we call ourselves lecturers but that is merely a nomenclature. Once you stand before students to impart knowledge, you are a teacher.

    “It’s not about having masters or PhD. It is about methodology; it is about understanding models of teaching. A professional teacher often sees the students as his own children and not as sex objects. A teacher is also passionate about reproducing himself, I mean producing teachers that will surpass him when he eventually retires.

    “In Canada for instance, you cannot teach if you are not professionally certified. Teachers earn highest in that country.

    “I remember some of our students who finished from here (LASU) travelled to Canada sometimes ago, but were not allowed to operate as teachers. The university had to liaise with TRCN to get them their certificates and when they returned (to Canada), they turned out some of the best in that country.”

    For Dr Victor Akinola, former Chairman Academic Staff Union of College of Education, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education Oto Ijanikin Lagos, the categorisation of the exam would if anything, separate the wheat from the chaff.

    “For me, this kind of quality assurance policy is not out of place,” Akinola said.

    According to him, in the United Kingdom for instance, teachers are valued because they are respected based on their varying specialisations and are encouraged to unleash their potentials.

    “This is unlike what we have in this country. Most of the text books recommended for children in preparatory, primary and even secondary schools, and approved by our  government  are authored by professors in universities many  of  who have neither been in the classroom nor have direct contact with these children.

    ‘’Many of these books are in the market. Go there and see the authors. I don’t have to mention names. Meanwhile, we have experts who specialise in primary education studies (PES), ECCE (Early Childhood Care Education) among others and have direct access to these children constantly; yet they would not be given the opportunity to address these key areas.

    “Even when it comes to making recommendations to government on basic and secondary education, it is these same professors that do it and this is why some of these policies do not fully have maximum impact on learners.”

     

  • Minister lays foundation for 127-bed teaching hospital

    Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Malam Muhammad Bello has laid the foundation for a 127-bed teaching hospital in Abuja.

    While laying the foundation for the multi-billionaire Baze University Teaching hospital in Jabi, Bello said the Hospital portends hope for ordinary Nigerians, adding that it would complement government efforts at bridging the gap in the provision of quality healthcare services in the Territory.

    His words: “The establishment of Baze University Teaching Hospital is taking place at a very auspicious time when Nigeria is experiencing a downturn in the provision of quality healthcare in the country, especially at the primary level. This Teaching Hospital is a welcome development in bridging the gap”.

    The minister who was represented by FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye further revealed that the hospital would ensure that the teeming residents of the Territory have access to good medical treatments, thus guaranteeing healthy living.

    Bello according to the statement issued by  the Press Secretary, Office of the Permanent Secretary, FCT, Tony Odey, challenged the management of the Hospital to provide a helipad facility in the Hospital to handle emergency situations, assuring them that the FCT Administration would continue to give them all the necessary support.

    Earlier, the Pro-Chancellor of Baze University, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba appealed to the Minister to revoke undeveloped plots of land around the University and re-allocate to more serious developers to give room for speedy development in the Territory.

    The Hospital which will be part of the Faculty of Medicine of Baze University is expected to be completed within 48 months.

     

  • What ‘Okafor’s Law’ is teaching filmmakers

    What ‘Okafor’s Law’ is teaching filmmakers

    Nollywood is witnessing a legal battle over who owns the story of Omoni Oboli’s latest movie, ‘Okafor’s Law’. Contesting that the movie is his story is Canada-based scriptwriter Jude Idada who had first gone to court in September 2016, suing Omoni Oboli for copyright infringement and claiming he was neither remunerated nor given credits for his work, which eventually turned out to be ‘Okafor’s Law’. The defendants are Dioni Visions Entertainment, Omoni Oboli and FilmOne distributions.

    In 2015, Raconteur Productions gave FilmOne Ltd a script for the same name for a co-production. Initially, FilmOne agreed to co-produce the movie with Raconteur but FilmOne later withdrew from the agreement. However, Idada raised alarm that it was his script that was turned into the movie, ‘Okafor’s Law’.

    Idada in an interview last year said he avoided blowing the matter in court not to ‘embarrass’ Nollywood because ‘Okafor’s Law’ was being screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

    Some days to the premiere of the movie on March 31, 2017, Raconteur Productions Ltd had filed an ex parte motion seeking an injunction to stop the movie from being premiered. They won and Oboli and her guests returned to their homes. However, when the case was heard on Thursday, March 30, 2017, counsel for the defendant sought for the injunction to be lifted as tickets had already been sold out. The judge granted the counsel’s prayer and the injunction vacated.

    Hence, ‘Okafor’s Law’ premiered and is currently running in the cinemas across the country.

    That an injunction was granted to Raconteur is proof the judge saw the claimant has a prima facie case even though the court vacated the injunction later to allow the movie to be screened in the cinemas.

    It was reported that the defendants posited that should the court rule in favour of Raconteur Productions Limited, the damages will have to be paid from the box office earnings of the film.  However, given that Oboli and FilmOne are spending money on legal fees, there are fears that excuses could crop up about not having money or enough money to settle should Idada be awarded any monetary compensation of the case.

    However, speaking in an interview on the matter, Demilade Olaosun, an entertainment lawyer and legal adviser to frontline entertainers such as Reminisce, Niniola, Teju Babyface, Pasuma and others said one cannot conclude that Idada has lost the suit, as the case is still ongoing. He posited that Idada stands to gain if the movie is allowed to run in the cinemas.

    He said, “The court comes back with a verdict that indeed Omoni Oboli infringed upon his intellectual property rights, the guys that infringed would account to Jude for profit made on all the channels through which the work is distributed.”

    According to Olaosun, among the reliefs which Idada’s lawyers could seek might include that Idada is ‘named the actual creator’ resulting that whoever breached the intellectual property rights would pay a certain percentage to the person that claimed.

    “So if at the end of the day, the court finds that Jude Idada owns the story, to the discretion of the court, the court may order some five, ten or twenty percent of profits to the guy, depending on what his lawyer asks for.”

    While the case is still in court, whichever way it swings, it is a wake-up call for practitioners in Nollywood that Intellectual Property must be taken very seriously.

  • Teaching in age of communication technology

    Without a doubt, teachers are pretty important to the society. Teachers hold the key to the future since they help to mould future leaders. They don’t just teach, they are critical personalities who nurture the young folks to mature, to understand the world and to understand themselves. Evidence shows that teachers, their professional knowledge and skills are the most important factor for quality education in any society.

    Today, teaching has become easier and yet, more difficult because of the ubiquitous availability of communications technology. Whether it is social, business or instructional, technology now makes it easier, faster, more affordable and more intuitive to communicate. Teaching is essentially about communication and the attractiveness of communications technology in an educational setting is difficult to resist.

    While some forms of these technologies may constitute distractions, there is broad consensus that, if properly harnessed, the adoption of communications technology in an educational is advantageous in a number of ways. Thus, the question that confronts the 21st century policy makers is the extent to which existing and rapidly evolving technologies should be adopted and utilized to facilitate the communication between a teacher and his/her students.

    In considering this question, Rick Delgado, a leading thinker on educational innovations, identified a number of reasons why policy makers and schools will do well to ensure that teachers are capable of utilizing available communications technology to impart knowledge on students. First, the use of technology ‘levels the field’ between the so-called ‘high end’ schools and the so-called ‘low-end’ schools. This then brings about equality in the treatment of students in our societies as technology ensures access to significant skills and relevant information by all students and virtually all schools.

    Second, technology prepares students for the future. The world is moving towards technology at a breakneck pace and educators have a responsibility to introduce, encourage, and help students master technology as it applies to school and the future. Technology will be used in every aspect of the future professional lives of current students.

    Third, technology ensures that the classroom can be taken anywhere. This, indeed, is the age of the mobile life. Adopting the use of technology means that the classroom can be taken anywhere. With all the knowledge and resources contained and deliverable on demand in mobile devices, students can learn at home or in the “field”. Mobile technology also allows for greater collaboration between students thus promoting strong foundations in group work.

    The social component of existing communications’ technologies also serves to motivate students and ensure healthy competition among students. Indeed, creating a social element to educational technology can allow for healthy competition amongst peers either in the same classroom or across the country. Performing well and earning badges to gain virtual social status is at the heart of many social applications today and using technology to make education have social elements can make learning very addictive.

    While our society may not be there yet, it is now a known fact that technology can replace infrastructure and thus result in huge savings for the government and for parents. Desks, books, laboratory equipment and other items are a heavy cost burden on schools everywhere. Technology and devices can help save on these costs. In addition, geographically isolated or economically disadvantaged children can benefit from access to online software or resources which would otherwise be cost prohibitive.

    Technology can also help in addressing one of the most urgent problems in our schools today. That is, the problem of reliance on obsolete textbooks that are not regularly updated. Some reports say that students sometimes continue to use textbooks that are up to 10 years old. This is not acceptable and technology can help in ensuring the timely updating of academic information because updating software and educational content is not as expensive or cumbersome as updating textbooks. With the help of technology, course curriculum can reflect real world data and in some applications, students can be exposed to real-time information.

    Technology ensures that students, classrooms, schools and teachers can be connected to anyone in the world instantly. Devices coupled with the Internet can allow for a free way to communicate globally. The opportunity to understand international or different cultural perspectives on the same topic is invaluable and incredible.

    This requires stronger training upfront and continual professional development and support, to enhance performance and learning outcomes. It is for the reasons above, amongst others that the Lagos State government under the leadership of His Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, has resolved to prepare and equip teachers for the challenges and excitement of adopting modern communications’ tools and methods of delivering instructions in the classroom. As the ones entrusted with our children’s future, this government places huge premium on the training of teachers. Our teachers must be properly trained and subjected to continuous training such that our schools and the products of our educational system will rank amongst the best in the world.

    In this technology-driven world, teachers are pacesetters, role models, disciplinarians, restorers of values and above all as agents of change equipped with communications’ tools and instructional aids for efficient and effective service delivery. It is in view of this that the Lagos State government has continued to invest in the training and retraining of teachers in its public schools to ensure that they are properly equipped to deliver premium, relevant and globally-competitive instructions.

    The overall intent is to raise excellent faculties for various courses taught in our high schools, colleges and learning institutions in Lagos State. These faculties will be defined as: teachers of exceptional ability; teachers capable of adapting the basic tools of effective communications at imparting knowledge; teachers who will be dexterous at optimizing Microsoft PowerPoint as a tool of instructional delivery; teachers of great learning capabilities with enhanced competencies in instructional deliveries and teachers who will make learning fun for adopting “hands-on” methodology in imparting knowledge.

    It is expected that public schools teachers in the state will in return reciprocate this kind gesture by rededicating themselves to the core values of the noble profession, eschew indiscipline, disloyalty and nonchalant attitude, utilize what they have learnt in at various trainings to enable them be at par with their colleagues all around the world.

    It is only when teachers are effectively positioned to produce students that are capable of launching the state and, indeed, the country into league of industrial and technologically powered societies that ‘Itesiwaju Ipinle Ekol’o je wal’ogun’, (the progress of Lagos State is paramount to us) which is the mantra of the Akinwunmi Ambode administration can amply become a breath taking reality.

     

    • Dr. Benson Oke, FCArb, is Honourable Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Lagos State.

  • Masari to establish teaching hospital

    Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, has expressed disgust over the refusal of the Federal Ministry of Health to allow the state government acquire and convert the Federal Medical Centre to serve as a Teaching Hospital for Umar Musa Yar’Adua University. The development, Masari fears, might slow down his administration’s plan to develop the health sector.

    Masari, who spoke to reporters over his two-week business trip to China and India, revealed that his administration has commenced a programme that will at the end of the day, ensure that the state gets a deserving teaching hospital that will serve the state-owned university to offer courses in Medicine.

    According to him, over 600 medical staff will soon be recruited to serve in the health facilities that are already being put in place in the state.

    Masari further explained that his dream was to ensure that before the end of his first tenure, the state-owned university would have commenced a School of Medicine, with a befitting Teaching Hospital.

    He said: “You know we are very much concerned about our Eye Centre. We want to develop this Eye Centre to a department so that it can click into our plan of developing the supposed specialist hospital into a full-fledged teaching hospital.

    “Right now, we have commissioned our consultants to come out with clear reasons why we are developing a teaching hospital. We are doing this because we have a university called the Katsina State University. This is a university which has started preparations to do Medicine and you cannot do Medicine without a teaching hospital.

    “When we contacted the Federal Ministry of Health to see the possibilities of allowing the university to upgrade the Federal Medical Centre as a teaching hospital, they (government) told us that since we have a university in Katsina State, and probably in the future that university may start offering Medicine and will want the services of a Federal Medical Centre.

    “So, in effect, they were saying that they will not give us! And so, the best option for us is to see how we are going to upgrade our own health facilities. Luckily enough, we have started working on Katsina General Hospital; and we have also contacted sons of Katsina State who are experts in the medical field.”

    “We have also placed an advert for the recruitment of over 600 medical staff.  Right now, we have employed the services of consultants. They are professionals in the medical field and they are going to offer professional services. Now, we are doing that, even in other sectors.

    “For instance, our own university-the Umar Musa Yar’Adua University wants to start offering medical courses; and you cannot operate any department of Medicine without a standard Teaching Hospital. For this reason, we wrote to the Federal Ministry of Health, because Gombe was given a Federal Medical Hospital and it was updated to Teaching Hospital; Ebonyi was also given.

    “So, on the basis of these two experiences, we wrote, and the Federal Ministry of Health replied us that they cannot, because they also have a federal institution right in the future in need of services of a Federal Medical Centre.

    “I came back home, and asked myself-‘Why can’t we start looking at what we have and see how we can upgrade them.

    “So, we invited our own professionals, and again, we have also invited international consultants, that will come and see how we can work with their own professionals. Like I told you, once you have somebody who was a managing director of a teaching hospital and a vice chancellor of a university for eight years, he is sufficiently equipped,” he said.