…Gov Dickson tasks incoming govt to support the institution

Bayelsa State Governor, Hon Seriake Dickson

By Emem Idio, Yenegoa

The Bayelsa Medical University, BMU, on Wednesday held her maiden matriculation ceremony for 208 pioneer students of the institution at the university campus in Yenagoa, the state capital.

Speaking at the ceremony, the founder of the BMU, Governor Seriake Dickson who task the incoming administration to support the institution, described the institution as “a fulfilment of a vision and a long term strategic interest and future of the state.”

According to Governor Dickson, he mooted the idea to maximise the 500-bed hospital which was conceived by the late Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha’s administration to a medical institution when he visited the premises to commissioned some projects, adding that he is convinced that he took the right decision for the state.

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His words:” The idea of this university is to maximize the investments of the state. It is to serve two key purposes; to serve as a functional teaching hospital, and to use it to achieve the training of medical personnel that the state desperately needs.

“I want to call on the incoming government support this great vision, it is not about one person or party interest, but about a long term strategic interest and future of our people. We want to take over the world in the areas of medical knowledge and research. We want to produce the highest number of medical doctors, pharmacists, and medical personnel in this country.”

In his speech, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the BMU, Professor Ebitimitula Etebu, commended Governor Dickson for his vision and foresight in establishing the Bayelsa Medical University in August 2018 to address the dearth of critical human capital in the health sector of the state through the provision of high-quality medical education of international standards.

While admonishing the students to shun all forms of examination malpractices and social vices as they pursue their future careers, pointed out that the 208 pioneer matriculating students are distributed into nine academic programmes, Bio-Chemistry, Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, Biology, Micro-Biology, Physics, and Electronics.

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In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, who applauded Governor Dickson for his bold initiative in establishing the institution, said the Bayelsa Medical University is only one of five specialized medical universities in the country whose preoccupation is the production of daily needed medical personnel and manpower.

Professor Rasheed who was represented by Mr. Chris Mayaki, pointed out that there was the urgent need for huge investments in health education and health care services by all stakeholders to mitigate the challenge of patient drain due to medical tourism, adding that the current 3,000 medical doctors produced annually by medical colleges in the country was grossly inadequate, noting that the country needs to produce 300,000 doctors annually to meet the World Health Organization, WHO, ratio of 1 doctor to 600 persons as against the 1 doctor to 3,500 persons currently in the country.

Vanguard News