Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has appealed to nursing students in the state not to leave after graduation to curb the brain drain in the state’s health sector.
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The governor made the appeal during the 2024/ 2025 Maiden Matriculation Ceremony of the Nursing College, Enugu on Thursday.
Mbah said rather, students should consider the huge resources the state was committing in training them in nursing and midwifery and give back to the state after graduation.
DAILY POST 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.
Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Chidiebere Onyia, the governor said the “japa syndrome”; was completely against the policy of the state, which had been spending a reasonable amount on 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 about 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 you 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.
The Governor said 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 fulfilment of its campaign promise of building a healthy society.
The governor revealed 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.
He noted that the step was critical and allowed 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.
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 the 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 the 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 toward 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 his assumption of office including the 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 courses at the University of Washington and provision of other logistics for staff and students.
