Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has urged nursing students to remain in the state after graduation in a bid to tackle the growing brain drain affecting the health sector.
The governor made the appeal during the 2024/ 2025 Maiden Matriculation Ceremony of the Nursing College, Enugu on Thursday.
Mbah said rather, they should consider the huge resources the state was committing in training of students studying nursing and midwifery in the state and give back to the state after graduation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that 240 nursing students matriculated comprising 120 each from the Parklane and Awgu campuses following the upgrade of the college to Higher National Diploma awarding institution.
Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said “japa syndrome” was completely against the policy of the state, who had been spending reasonable amount in training them.
“We don’t train you and after spending all that money in infrastructure and the first opportunity you get you leave our healthcare facilities.
“One thing we are very particular is how we improve the service conditions so that when you go through the effort of getting your certificate, you don’t leave our state.
“That is why we are training beyond just academics so that you see that this is service and if any of you can go back to our budget in 2024 and 2025, the highest investment is in education and health,” Mbah said.
He explained that the state’s effort in upgrading the institution and ensuring that students were exposed to the best learning techniques, medical equipment and technology, was in fulfillment of its campaign promise of building a healthy society.
“The bold move and the can-do spirit initiative of the administration, that led to guaranteeing the future of the people and transforming the state into a hub of medical tourism.
“This led to the accreditations of the college and other medical institutions by Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN),” he stressed.
Mbah disclosed that the journey started with the invitation of the first batch of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) officials to accredit the School of Midwifery.
This step, he noted, was critical and allowing students to get indexed after two years of delay, a process that officially certified them as Student Nurses and enabled their enrollment in the NMCN professional exams.
“Building on this success, the State Government took even bolder steps by inviting officials from both the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the NMCN to oversee the upgrade of the former “School of Nursing” to the prestigious collegial status.
“This transformation required considerable investment and commitment, which the government wholeheartedly provided.
“The growth reflects the government’s dedication to broadening access to quality nursing education across the state,” the governor added.
Commending Mbah for the fortification of the health sector with ultra-modern medical facilities, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Yomi Jaye, said Enugu state was one of the first states in the federation to key into the collegial status.
This, he explained, led to awarding of students with multiple certificates such as Ordinary National Diploma, Registered Nurse, Registered Midwifery and HND.
He said with the upgrade of the college, its admission now moved from 50 to 240 students which he revealed would increase in next session to complement 260 Primary Health Centres being built by the state government.
He added that the state was already putting in place world-class facilities at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospitals, Enugu International Hospital and as a deliberate step of curbing the Japa syndrome.
In her opening remarks, the Acting Provost of the college, Dr Nkechi Ani, highlighted some of the notable achievements of the governor since assumption of office to include upgrade of infrastructure and construction of a fully-equipped ICT centre.
Others are frequent staff training and development, entrepreneurship training in digital and software skills, international course in the University of Washington and provision of other logistics for staff and students.
Speaking on behalf of the students, Rita Ogbodo, said with governor Mbah’s intervention which led to the upgrade of their school to college, they now earned four different certificates after their training.
