…Applauds Proposed Establishment Colleges of Medicine
By Stephen Adeleye
Lokoja, February 18, 2021
The Ebira Doctors’ Forum (EDF), has congratulated Prof Yahaya Adagiri, over his confirmation as the substantive Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Kogi State Specialist Hospital (KSSH), Lokoja.
Dr Kabiru Zubair, the EDF President, gave the commendation when he led some executive members of the association on a congratulatory visit to the CMD KSSH in his office on Thursday in Lokoja.
Zubair described the confirmation of Prof. Adagiri as the substantive CMD of KSSH, as a testimony to his accountability, transparency and management style to reposition the health institutions in the last last one year in acting capacity.
”We are extremely proud of your achievement so far, and we believe with your vast experience as a professor of Chemical Pathology and with many years as departmental head at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano, you can do more to transform the institution to an enviable one.
”We want to use this opportunity to appreciate His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello for this gesture”, he said.
Zubair prayed that God would give the CMD the wisdom and strength to be able to turn the health centre into an enviable institution.
In his response, the CMD thanked EDF for the recognition and the gesture, while appreciating the Governor for the opportunity given him to serve in that capacity.
Adagiri said that by the special grace of God, and with the support the hospital was already getting from the State Government, ”we will be able to make positive impact in the development of the hospital.
”It has been my dream since I came on board to make sure that KSSH achieve the status it is meant for; to offer tertiary medical care to the people of Kogi State”.
He commended the state government for the ongoing construction of the gigantic administrative block building at the hospital.
The CMD added that by the implementation of the 2014 CONMESS the hospital would be able to attract Consultants to other key departments that were yet to have, and also getting those departments accredited.
Speaking on the proposed establishment of Colleges of Medicine, Zubair told the CMD that the EDF was also excited over the news.
Zubair said the planned creation of two new colleges of medicine in Kogi State, in addition to the existing one at Prince Abubakar Audu’s University(PAAU), Anyigba, was commendable.
According to him, getting admission into colleges of medicine across the country has become a herculean task.
”A number of young kogites who would have loved to study medicine could not secure admission into the few universities that offers the course due to fierce competition amongst them and many end up studying other courses that is not their choice.
”Hence, the plan to have two colleges of medicine at the newly created Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTEC), Osara by State Government as well as the one that will soon come on stream at the Federal University Lokoja (FUL) as prioritized by the newly appointed Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Olayemi Akinmumi.
”This is a positive and a welcome development for the State and the Country at large.
”We are quite conversant with the hurdles associated with the creation of college of medicine, but we believe with a strong political will, commitment and focus, the challenges are not insurmountable”, Zubair said.
The EDF President, however noted that for them as a body the association chose to look at it from the perspective of a cup that is half full than half empty and would rather commend than vilify this step.
”However, the promoters should learn from the mistakes of the past and ensure that prospective medical students don’t go through the harrowing experience that many newly created colleges of medicine went through in the past, mainly due to issues of accreditation, especially at the clinical stage.
”The creation of these colleges of medicine will not only create job opportunities for the teaming unemployed graduates, but will also improve admission rate into medical school, especially for indigenes of the state and will eventually lead to the training of more medical doctors to fill the gap being created by the rapid depletion of medical doctors in the country as they leave in droves to seek for greener pastures, abroad.
”Nigeria has become more or else the biggest exporter of qualified medical doctors to the Middle East and Western World, fuelled mainly by poor remuneration, insecurity and poor working conditions.
”The global pandemic of COVID-19 has created high demand for qualified health care personal across the world. As a result, countries in the Middle East and the West World have lowered visa and other entry requirements to attract qualified healthcare workers from developing countries to improve man power in their health institutions”, Zubair said.
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