Ex-Ogun health commissioner faults governor on nursing schools

Contrary to the claim by the Ogun State Government that the state Schools of Nursing and Midwifery across the State have been given full accreditation status by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) through the effort of the Dapo Abiodun-led administration, a former state Commissioner for Health, Dr Babatunde Ipaye has said the Schools got accreditation in 2017 during the administration of the immediate past governor, Ibikunle Amosun.

Prior to this, Ipaye noted that the three schools had been shut down and therefore had not trained nurses for years.

Ipaye said: “Going by the earlier visitation, the accreditation team described the School of Midwifery, Abeokuta as the best and most-equipped in Nigeria. Undoubtedly, the former governor had sent the bill to convert the schools to Colleges of Nursing through the State Assembly and was passed by the 7th Assembly of Ogun State under Senator Ibikunle Amosun. The Bill was later signed into law in 2017 prior to the accreditation visit by the Nursing Council.

Ipaye challenged the Commissioner for Health to make public how she got access to the Nursing Council, which only allowed her leverage on the strength of the relationship already built with the Ibikunle Amosun administration that the schools had existed for 45 years without accreditation.

He pointed out that the Schools of Nursing, Idi Aba and Ijebu Ode were two of the best in Southwest Nigeria from the Second Republic of the Chief Bisi Onabanjo through to the administration of Chief Segun Osoba, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Senator Ibikunle Amosun. To utter such an unverified statement is to abridge the labour of our leaders past.