Priscilla Ofunre, Ado-Ekiti
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has said the healthcare policy of his government would be boosted as Ekiti State University College of Medicine produced new set of doctors.
The governor charged the College to broaden the scope of its research work not only for more breakthroughs in the medical line but for lofty placement of Ekiti State University on webometric ranking.
Governor Fayemi spoke at EKSU, on Monday, during the maiden induction ceremony of 43 first set of Doctors produced by the institution after ten years of rigorous academic exercise.
At the occasion, one Dr. Bankole Emmanuel emerged the best graduating student with distinction in Surgery and Clinical Pathology.
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The governor, who went down memory lane said, “I am particularly happy about the outstanding performances of these doctors in their final examinations.
“I was reliably told that the inductees recorded 100 percent in their examinations with a distinction in their MBBS examinations .
“The first executive governor of this state, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, started the idea of a College of Medicine for EKSU in 2001.
“But in 2004, it came to an abrupt end, because the government then didn’t believe the state could fund a medical College at that time.
“But in 2008, Engr. Segun Oni started the process of re-establishing the College and I want to thank Engr. Oni for signing the bill that re-established the college to law.
“Medical education is held in high esteem all over the world, and this is expected, because it touches on the lives of human beings.
“I am convinced that these new doctors will contribute to our healthcare policy. Ekiti State is ready to employ as many as possible among them that are ready to work in the state.
“We are committed to more robust healthcare coverage for pregnant women and children below five and the vulnerables, who could have been shut out of quality medicare due to inabilities to afford the bills .
“I want to commend you for you perseverance, resilience, commitment, hardwork and you must know that medical education is continuous.
“Also, you have to be good ambassadors of the university and the state.
“As part of the ways to enhance and improve healthcare delivery, our government is providing water supply across the state to prevent water borne diseases.
“I want to also charge the management to ensure prudent use of resources available and embark on more research works for favourable rating of this university on webometric ranking”, he said.
Also speaking, the acting Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Olubunmi Ajayi, said when the university was at a crossroad, especially when finance became an albatross making failure to be staring the university in the face that Governor Fayemi came to their rescue, saying: ” if not for this intervention, this epoch making event could not have been possible.
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According to the acting Vice Chancellor, “Even the wife of the governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, paid the tuition fees of some of these doctors when finance was becoming a problem”, she said.
Registrar of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCAN), Dr. T.A. Sanusi, administered the oath on the new doctors, warning that whoever flouted the rules guiding Medical profession will be sanctioned.
The Provost, College of Medicine, Prof. Kehinde Oluwadiya, said the doctors had got the best of training and this he said accounted for the 100 percent pass recorded in the final examinations with a distinction in Surgery.
“Our last but main problem was how to secure accreditation for this College, because the last government of Ayodele Fayose made it clear that it was not ready to help but we were optimistic that Governor Fayemi would help because of his background as an academic and he helped in an unparalleled manner, by providing all we needed to secure accreditation” .
Prof. Olawadiya appealed to the new doctors not to beyray the oath administred on them, by being diligent and responsible wherever they practice.
