It has become compelling that we address the allegations against the Provost Kogi State College of Nursing and Midwifery Obangede, Mrs Hannah Ozohu Abraham, but before these allegations are debunked, let it be on record that the successes Kogi State College of Nursing has achieved in the last four years is greatly credited to the visions and support of Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello.
The Record
The College is also extremely fortunate to have a solid and supportive team to the Provost led by the Governing Council, the Deputy Provost Administration, the Registrar, all heads of departments and other hard working and dedicated staff, who must be given their due credit for all the successes achieved over the past 4years.
Let it also be on record that the foundation laid by the predecessor of the incumbent Provost, late Mr. T.K Ayimodu of blessed memory, is continually been built upon and we will continue to pray that God will comfort the family and the College for the irreparable lose. Indeed it will be near impossible to do a total review of almost 4years of unprecedented change and turn around in the fortunes of the College, brought to fruition by the visionary leadership of Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello,
Just to mention a few of the highlights of the last 4years of the college, but before then, these were some of the challenges the College was facing for nearly a decade:
– Nearly half of the structures in the College were dilapidated
– Hostel accommodation for students were inadequate
– Inadequate Academic staffs
– Promotion areas of about Eight to ten years unpaid
– Staff salary was 75 % CONHESS
– The College was operating a provisional accreditation status of 50 indexing capacity
These were a few of the challenges the College was facing at about four years ago.
Fast forward to 2021;
– All lecture halls, library, laboratory and the female hostel have been renovated
– The old male hostel was remodeled into a befitting lecture hall in preparation for the midwifery training, and perimeter fencing of the college was done.
– Construction of a ninety room ultramodern hostel that will accommodate one hundred and eighty students when completed.
– A Leyland bus to transport the student to the clinical area was also provided.
– Staff salary structure was upgraded to 100% CONHESS.
The above were achieved solely by the commitment and investment of Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello, in addition to employment of more staff the College also achieved full accreditation along with 100 students indexing capacity.
The Nursing council also approved biannual admission for the months of May and November respectively, all due to the fact that the College witnessed an unprecedented upgrade since the administration of Governor Bello.
The internally generated revenues of the College increased which led to the College embarking on some independent projects, as well, the College was able to build a well furnished fourteen office block for academic staff named after Governor Bello for his glorious contribution towards the successes achieved so far in the College.
Furthermore, drainages were fixed, landscaping and beautification of the College was done.
The science and anatomy laboratory were renovated and equipped, the library got a facelift and was stocked with more recent journals and text books, official vehicles were purchased after due approvals by the Governing Council, the ICT is solar power supported with internet services.
Plans are in place to construct a thirty room hostel is in preparation for the expansion of the College and other proposed programs which will start as soon as all pending projects are completed and approval given by the Nursing Council.
In the area of Staff Development, Governor Yahaya Bello graciously approved the employment of more academic staff in 2017,staff members have been sponsored on various workshop organized by the Nursing council.
Recognitions
Due to the commitment of the leadership and staff of the College, an international non State actor majored in exposing corrupt practices and promoting ethical leadership carried out an independent assessment exercise of the College and Management and scored the College and the Provost high. In specific terms, the organization praised the Provost’s records of due diligence in compliance with SERVICOM charter, public procurement acts and laws of the Federal and state government.
On some of the unfounded allegations such as ‘lack of cooperation between staff and Student:
The successes recorded in the last four (4)years is a testament of the cooperation that exists between member of staff and students. Like all tertiary institutions, disagreements are bound to happen, because we train independent minded Nurses as it is global best practice in the 21st century to allow students to be part and parcel of the procedures or processes that will affect or effect positively and directly their all round performances in a tertiary institution, therefore the allegations of the lack of cooperation is non existence.
First student protest since the inception of the College
Kogi State College of Nursing and Midwifery Obangede has a track record of training independent minds since inception, therefore it gives potential Nurses the opportunity to air their grievances through a constitutionally recognized student leadership body referred to as the student Union Government (SUG). The last protest the school experienced was as a result of indiscipline of the student Union Government, a disciplinary committee which had the participation of Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on student affairs to his Excellency, the executive Governor of Kogi State was set up for fair hearing and after an exhaustive engagement with all the parties involved to the committee advised the College management to temporarily suspend the Student Union Government for gross misconduct.
Nursing as an ethical profession does not condone any form of indiscipline or misconduct regardless of the level playing ground and fairness upheld in the school, discipline and professionalism is the bedrock of the noble Nursing profession.
Lack of Adequate Record of Minutes of Management Meetings
There are records of minutes of Management, Academic Board, and general meetings with members of staff, this allegation is unfounded.
Charging School Fees in Secrecy
As staff of the College we’re well aware of the processes involved in charging or fixing school fees. School fees charged are always deliberated upon by either the Ministry of Health, which is the supervisory Ministry of the institution, or the governing council extensively, before been rolled out for students to pay. The Provost lacks the power to unilaterally charge school fees or any form of fees.
Award of Contracts to Family Members and Friends
Major contracts are awarded and supervised by the Ministry of Health which is also the supervisory ministry of the institution. However, minor projects carried out by the College are handled and supervised by the development committee of the governing council of the college.
For major projects, there are records of assessment and estimates presented by the representative of the Ministry of Health for all projects including and not limited to the crack in the wall.
Upon the assessment of the damage by the technical team it was discovered that the cracks were a structural damage due to a faulty foundation and if the building did not receive timely intervention, it could cause severe harm to lives and properties.
The renovation contract was equally awarded by the Governing council. In addition, the purchase of official vehicles and repairs was awarded by the governing council. The provost lacks the power to award contact to friends or cronies. Contract bids and awards are the sole responsibility of the governing council.
Poor Academic Performance
It is true that a College known for academic excellence of ninety five to one hundred percent, like the ninety eight percent achieved in the last council exams have become a normal feat for the college.
Staff dedication and grooming of sound minds have played a pivotal role in this success, as against the 75% achieved in.one of the academic sessions was a serious concern and machineries were put in place which saw the council exam resit of all the 22 student who recorded a setback in November 2019 all had 100% in may 2020. This is evident that actions were taken and responsibilities were delegated, which saw the turnaround in the temporary setback and it was quickly addressed by the leadership of the College and the staff.
Funds Not Released for Teaching Aids
The Nigeria Communication Commission graciously distributed laptops to all academic staff and departments, which we were grateful for, projectors to project lectures.
The simulation laboratory is adequately equipped and all practical instruments are available on hand, students are in no way required to provide any teaching materials.
The open door and transparent policy of the College leadership provides seamless means to access all that is needed.
Non Payment of Allowances
His Excellency Governor Yahaya Bello has upgraded staff salary structure to 100% CONHESS since 2017 which made all staff regular beneficiaries of allowances paid with their salaries. The only allowance paid directly to staff is for examinations, based on the number of marked exam scripts. The records are there to show for it.
N10million Monthly Imprest
Governor Yahaya Bello raised the College imprest to 10 million; this is not expected to be squandered or misappropriated. The insistence of global best practices to curb wastages, proof of funds disbursed and evidence of funds spent as advised by external auditors and implemented by the Provost met a strong resistance.
Departmental allocations have standard procedures for request, implementation and retirement of funds, this policy met with some level of lack of cooperation and auditors advised that departmental allocations be scrapped until there is total compliance to rules and policies.
Students Observing Jumaat Prayers Were Not Considered During Examination
To set the record straight, Mrs Hannah Ozohu Abraham was neither the Provost nor the College exam officer in 2014, it is an unfounded accusation and a sheer case of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
For the avoidance of doubt, Nurses have a responsibility to respect patients religion and beliefs. It is an integral part of the Nursing training. Any form of religious animosity is unethical and it is frowned at and as such prayers are readily organized by both the Muslim and Christian faithfuls before examinations commence which enjoys the support of the Management for both faith at all time. It is an unwritten rule and tradition of the institution long before the current Provost assumed office, so it is highly impossible to practice any form of religious animosity by the Provost.
Admissions and Employments Tilted in Favour of Christians
The Admission and employment of student and staff into the College is carried out by two committees that handle both exercises for the College. Neither of these two committee is chaired by the Provost.
The admission committee is chaired by the Director of Nursing Services in the state while the employment committee is chaired by the chairman of the Governing Council. These committees have a composition of highly cerebral, unbiased and unintimidated members. The composition is statutory provided by law and as such admission and employments are based solely on merit while still factoring the multi ethnic side of things and religious side as well.
Though all is done solely on merit, there is always the will by both committees to be fair to all and sundry regardless of the ethnicity and religion of prospective students and staff of the College, admissions and employments are not done to favour friends and families.
In addition to the allegation of employing a Geography graduate to teach psychology, it is been economical with the truth and the individuals who make this bogus claim lack any form of credibility. The employed staff under the microscope had his first degree in Geography and a master and doctorate (PhD) degrees in psychology, the cerebral Governing council deemed the staff qualified and was duly employed having passed through the appropriate channels, it is therefore insulting to make it look like the College has a record of employing unqualified staff.
This sort of misinformation been put out there to damage the reputation of the college is preposterous and defaming.
Scrapping the Office of Deputy Provost Academic and Tenures of Head of Departments
As stipulated in the revised Nursing council Curriculum, only one office of the deputy provost is provided and as such the Governing council appointed one deputy Provost. To this effect, the Provost lacks the power to unilaterally appoint or scrap an office or portfolio in the College.
In addition, the heads of department tenures are long overdue, true to this statement, the departmental heads have stayed for a number of years beyond the stipulated years as recruitments to fill the void were done in the last four years of Governor Bello and as such, the junior Staff need adequate time and grooming as they could not automatically become seniors and heads of departments.
This response is been published against the allegations to enable the general public see that each and every allegation leveled against the Provost are false and unfounded, and that many of the allegations were malicious and fabricated, having been designed to mislead the general public that the management of College of Nursing is guilty of gross misconduct and misappropriation. These are the facts and these are the records.
Signed:
Abdullahi Omeiza
For: College Integrity Group
