_Nosakhare Agbonigiarhuoyi_
Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has received the accreditation team for the Edo State College of Health Sciences and Technology.
The team which was led by the Consultant to the College, Dr. Esther Oshunluyi, accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, Prof. Tosan Erhabor, Education Director, Health Records Officers Registration Board of Nigeria, Halima Ahmed, amongst others, was at the State Government House on Tuesday July 23, 2024, ahead of the institution’s reopening, having been revamped with state-of-the-art facilities by Edo State Government.
In his address, the Governor stressed the need to prioritize experienced and trained health workers over accredited programmes.
According to Obaseki, “It is great to have accredited programmes but our focus must be on ensuring that there is sufficient learning and practical experience so that we can stop this brandishing of certificates; it should be about skills.
“The shortage of quality manpower is huge. We are at the epicentre of migration. We know that a lot of the people you are training will travel, but we see an opportunity even in that. Let us train quality people who can go to other markets and work, rather than being at home unemployed.”
“As part of our reforms, the Health Ministry has enumerated over 7,000 facilities and wants to create a linkage between the school and the healthcare market to help train and retrain the people they hire. This is what is done all over the world. Our people are very smart. The market is here”, he added.
Speaking on the motivation behind the revamp of the College, Obaseki said: “The shocker for us, came during COVID-19, when I had to interact very closely with the health system and it showed that we have derailed in terms of understanding what the healthcare system entails and the kind of institutions and support required to build and sustain any health system.
“Our Covid response, mobilizing over 5,000 doctors and a larger number of other healthcare workers to support the response, showed that the healthcare system has broken at the top and at the bottom.
“Healthcare is not about doctors or hospitals but a whole support system, middle management system and manpower; and without this support, the healthcare system will not stand.”
Obaseki further assured on completing the College before the end of his administration. He said: “I want to assure you of our commitment as a government, that all of this will be finished before we leave. We will invite all of you for the reopening, and you will be amazed at what you will see.
“All the key items that we need have been procured. If we have well trained community health workers, they will help us with health education and reduce the incidence of many of these diseases we have to deal with.”
On her part, the Consultant to the College, Dr. Esther Oshunluyi, commended the Governor and other government officials for their dedication to the infrastructural upgrade of the institution.
She noted: “We have worked so hard as a government, led by His Excellency, to really provide all these things they said they need to give us our accreditation back. This is the very first time that all the regulatory bodies of health sciences and technology are doing accreditation together.”
