Obaseki health reforms: Nursing, Midwifery Council accredits Edo College of Nursing Sciences

The Nigerian Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMCN) has approved the establishment of the Edo State College of Nursing Sciences in Benin City, which will begin teaching nurses and midwives in the state in October 2021.

Following a weekend visit by the NMCN accreditation team to the rebuilt state-owned tertiary institution, which had been without accreditation since 2012, the approval was granted.

The state government’s upgrade of the school’s facilities is part of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s efforts to end medical tourism in the state, improve the health sector to meet global standards, and build the right human capital to drive change in the health sector through the promotion of health education.

Conveying the approval in a letter, Secretary General/Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Faruk Umar Abubakar, said the College has provisional accreditation for the General Nursing and Basic Midwifery programmes, with effect from October 2021.

The letter reads: “the Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria pursuant to Section 14 (Sub-section 1 and 2) of the Act 143, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004), has approved the establishment of the Edo State College of Nursing Sciences, Benin City, Edo State.

“In the light of that, I wish to convey the Board’s approval to commence training of Nurses and Midwives at the Edo State College of Nursing Sciences, Benin City, Edo State. The approvals are as follows:
“General Nursing Programme-Provisional Accreditation Status of one hundred (100) Students’ intake with effect from October 2021.

“Basic Midwifery Programme-Provisional Accreditation Status of one hundred (100) Students’ intake with effect from October, 202.”

Obaseki, speaking at an inspection of the institution’s facilities ahead of the NMCN accreditation team’s visit, said, “Staff have been recruited; work on the physical structure is on; equipment for the demonstration laboratory has been purchased and by weekend, all of these will be installed.”

He added: “We have continued to make improvements in our human capacity development. As a government, we will continue to build the human capacity of our people as physical infrastructure alone will not do it.”