Gift Barry-ObaThe Ogun State Nursing and Midwifery Committee (SNMC), in collaboration with the state Ministry of Health, has sealed iFaat College of Nursing Sciences, an unregistered nursing training institute in Abeokuta.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Kayode Oladehinde, during a routine monitoring exercise, revealed that the institution located in Adigbe area of the state, was training nursing students without obtaining accreditation from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
Dr. Oladehinde represented by Mrs Serifat Aminu, the Acting Director of Nursing Services and Chairman of SNMC, disclosed that the institute, which lacked the equipment and staff needed for proper nursing education, had not gained regulatory approval.
“We have gone out as part of our routine monitoring exercise to inspect institutions that are offering nursing sciences courses and discovered that this particular school has no accreditation. For a facility to run a nursing programme, whether at college level or at the university, such a facility must reflect the basic requirements of the NMCN.
“That is why we closed down this place. We have advised the owner that once the infrastructure and personnel in his facility have been upgraded to the expected standards, the NMCN would visit the school for inspection and if they are satisfied, it would be accredited”, he said.
She warned the public to be wary of institutions claiming to offer nursing sciences courses as certificates gotten from such institutions would not earn them a license to practice from NMCN.
In response , the proprietor of the institution, Mr. Stephen Fatula, said he had initiated the process of accreditation, pledging to abide by the terms of the regulators.
