CRSG Tasks Students To Be Health Ambassadors, As College Matriculates 285

... Wants State-owned Institutions To Entrench Entrepreneurship To Expand IGR 

By Kingsley Agim

The Governor Bassey Otu-led administration has tasked students in the Colleges of Nursing and Midwifery Sciences to prioritise their studies and assert themselves as potential health ambassadors of the State.

The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Henry Egbe Ayuk, conveyed the government's charge, Thursday, at the 3rd Matriculation/Capping ceremony of the College of Nursing and Midwifery Sciences, Itigidi in Abi Local Government Area of the State.

He said as potential stakeholders in the healthcare service delivery chain, students must portray messages that promote healthy living in their appearance and other extra-curricular activities.

He also warned against recalcitrance, truancy, cultism and any other untoward practice capable of jeopardising the aim of coming to the college, adding that discipline and adherence to school's rules and regulations should remain their guiding principles, while hoping that at the end of their studies, they would be worthy of their certificates both in character and learning.

"Let me thank the management of this College for the invitation to witness its 3rd matriculation/capping ceremony. I understand the peculiarities of the institution and I identify very strongly with the impressions made and created here already. 

"This school is a pilot and strong indicator to measure the sustainability of collegiate nursing education in the State, nay Nigeria. Before now, nursing education was under hospital management. That is no longer the practice. Everything must be done to ensure that appropriate training, curriculum development, and standard measures are adopted in this institution. That was why I deemed it expedient to come here and stress these facts on behalf of the Visitor and State Governor, Senator Bassey Otu.

"Laying down our expectations of a pilot project like this college would tell how far we can go with nursing education. If you do well, you will bring confidence into the system. If you do otherwise, the reverse will also be the case," he remarked.

"As a government, we will not disappoint your expectations of your parents and guardians for sending you here. We want to see you go through your education with care and without hardship," he averred.

He appealed to the college authority to be careful not to bring undue stress on students and their parents/guardians, while warning against unauthorised levies and other charges.

He also enjoined parents and guardians to fulfill their own side of the bargain through prompt payment of school fees and other necessary charges, as well as cooperate with the school's management as partners in the education of their children. 

The Health Commissioner used to opportunity to also convey government's directives to state-owned institutions of higher learning to seek for and implement business opportunities to complement government subventions. 

"Schools should to seek for genuine business partnership to help them address their felt needs. This would help take off pressure from students and parents who are weighed down with charges that ordinarily should be avoided.

"Providing social support especially in education and health care are a shared responsibility. Government will continue to provide required leadership in relevant support, while institutions must adjust and improve their internally generated revenue (IGR) and avoid sharp practices and leakages in their financial system," Dr Ayuk stated.

The event's Special Guest of Honour and Wife of the Governor, Rev (Mrs.) Eyoanwan Bassey Otu, extended felicitations to the matriculating students, describing them as special, having been the successful ones out of the several hundreds who applied for admission into the institution.

Rev. Otu, who was represented by her Special Adviser - Projects , Programmes and Events, Dr. Inyang Asibong, admonished students to focus on their academics as the number one objective of enrolling in the college.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion and Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Sylvanus Agabi congratulated the matriculants for the opportunity accorded them to pursue education in a rewarding profession like nursing. 

The Chairman, who also congratulated the College for being the first in the South-South geopolitical zone, assured of the Legislature's preparedness to support legislations that would engender improved funding for the development of the institution.

In her speech, the Chairman of the College's Governing Council, Dr. (Mrs.) Margaret Opiah, took guests and students on the onerous journey towards attaining collegiate status, pointing out that government is making concerted efforts to achieve for the College final accreditation from the National Board on Technical Education (NBTE).

She thanked the Otu-led administration for its unwavering commitment to improve the healthcare system, noting that nursing education remains primary to that cause, hence the need to invest in the college.

She made a passionate appeal to the House of Assembly, to legislate on laws that would address the infrastructure and human resource gap in the College in order to get it up to speed with international best practices.

In her address, the Provost of the College, Deaconess (Mrs.) Ruth Ebong, mentioned that a total of 615 candidates applied for admission into the College, out of which 285 were successful, having fulfill all requirements for admission.

Further breaking it down, she said out of the 285 new entrants, 75 are Basic Nursing students, while the other 210 are for National Diploma/Higher National Diploma programme.

Emphasising the need for a successful end, the Provost cautioned against distractions and breaches of the rules and regulations, while laying bare the College's zero tolerance for indiscipline.

Speaking on behalf of the matriculants, Becky Nsing, a Basic Nursing student, expressed excitement at the opportunity to learn about nursing and midwifery, assuring the college of that students would try to put on their best behaviour in the course of their studies.

Highpoints of the event were admission of the matriculating students by the Commissioner for Health on behalf of the Governor of the Cross River State, His Excellency Ntufam Prince Bassey Edet Otu, procession, rich cultural displays, among others.