FOR taking bold steps to end the recurring accreditation problem confronting the Medical School of the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) at the weekend commended the institution's new Governing Council, headed by a two-time governor of Edo State, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia.
The National President of the association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, in a chat with The Guardian in Abuja, warned that NMA would take steps to ensure the experience of the Abuja University students was never replicated in any part of the country again, saying, "We think there has to be a stop to this kind of development and we are committed towards ensuring, as leaders of the profession of medicine, that this never happens again."
Enabulele acknowledged though that the steps taken so far to permanently resolve the accreditation crisis was an indication of the determination of the Ogbemudia-led Council to move the institution forward.
However, he challenged the Council to ensure that the action was not a flash in the pan, but a sustained one, "because Abuja University is meant to be a shining example located in the FCT to all other institutions in Nigeria and even neighbouring countries. So we have reasons as Nigerians to be concerned about the fate of this institution. So we want to say that for us an organisation, we are committed to the process of getting back the University of Abuja and indeed the faculty of medicine back on track."
The institution had been embroiled in crisis since June 3 and 4, when the students of the College of Health Science of the university embarked on violent demonstration to protest the non-accreditation of the College by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
The Council rose from its 27th extra-ordinary meeting last week and constituted a three-man Ad-hoc Council Committee to follow and ensure the timely implementation of the approved measures to secure accreditation within the shortest possible time.
Besides, The Guardian gathered at the weekend that, to ensure that the university is well prepared ahead of the final verification visit of the MDCN to the institution on July 4, the Council has approved about N20 million for the upgrading of the proposed Dobi Primary Health Centre to be used as clinicals by the students. The facility was donated to the university by Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT.
In addition, it has given express approval to the management to conduct interviews for teaching staff to be recruited before the end of this week. The interview begins tomorrow and is expected to be concluded by Thursday.
Recruitment of qualified teaching staff and upgrading of the Dobi facility were some of the major observations MDCN made when they embarked on accreditation visit to the institution in October last year.
Enabulele said the association believed the steps taken by the Council by addressing the root cause of the problem by identifying what went wrong would tackle the problem once and for all.
According to him, "One is happy that we have a Governing Council as presently constituted for the University of Abuja that has demonstrated openness that has shown sincerity; that has shown transparency and the commitment to solving the problems, that is the first point that gives us hope, because if you do not realise that you have a problem, then you honestly cannot solve that problem, but once you identify the problem they say the whole thing is half solved.
"We think that even with that commitment towards accepting that there is a problem, that process already has begun.
Secondly is the fact that the Governing Council has rightly placed the issues in the proper perspective in terms of identifying the weak links in the system that has engendered this unnecessary conflagration, which is avoidable in terms of managerial inefficiencies and it has resolved together his member to plug those managerial deficiencies, because it was unnecessary to throw students into this kind of state, students to be in the school for eight years.
The Guardian