***Provost Of College Of Nursing, Eku, Mrs. Enobong Indicted Of High Handedness, Corruption
Admission into the Delta State Colleges of Nursing Sciences is now becoming commercial as only the highest bidder can secure now admission.
Series of allegations by victims and other students revealed, that to secure admission in each of the colleges in Sapele, Warri, Eku and Agbor, one have to coughed out between N500,000 and N1 million each through horde of racketeers who are within the college system.
It was gathered that admission of new students into the 2024/2025 academic session which ought to have closed about five months ago, is still on in some of the Colleges.
It was alleged that the entrance examination conducted by some of the colleges was deliberately made tough for a greater number of the candidates to fail to pave way for admission racketeering perpetrated by unscrupulous administrative staff in the commissioner’s office.
They said; “For instance, in the College of Nursing Science, Agbor, 800 candidates sat for the entrance exam, but only 36 passed on merit. Same thing in the College of Nursing Sciences, Warri, were 800 candidates sat for the entrance exam but only 40 passed with merit, while in the College of Nursing Sciences, Eku, 700 sat for the exam and only 41 passed with merit.
Investigation revealed that to make up for the number of students required for each College, admission racketeers have clamped down on the opportunity to demand between N500,000 and N1 million naira from each admission seekers for candidates that failed to come through the back door.
We are calling on His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, to take a deeper look at the activities going on in the Colleges of Nursing Sciences across the state and possibly set up a discreet investigative panel to look into all that is happening in the institutions.
It was gathered that Agbor has admitted 200 students; Warri, 150 while Eku which is still admitting, has already offered admission to 100 students.
“Admission to Delta State Colleges of Nursing Sciences is now for the highest bidder. It is now cash and carry. It has been so politicized such that even those who did not write the exam were given admission as long as their parents can afford millions.
“Our fear is that in the nearest future, with the caliber of students who have been given admission now and the level of corruption being perpetrated by administrative officials of the Colleges and aided by some Ministry officials, Delta State will be turning out half-baked Nurses and Midwives. This is a threat to the Health Care Delivery policy of the Delta State government”.
It was also gathered that the new Director of Nursing Services, Mrs. Mercy Atikpo is also full of complaints and frustration, that the officials from the office of the Commissioner including his PA’s collude with some officials of the National Association of Nurses and Midwives (NAN & M), Delta State chapter, to hijack the conduct of Entrance Examination and ultimately the entire process of admission of new students.
Sources noted that she has been sidelined by the admission racketeers gang in the Colleges who are collaborating with some Ministry officials.
“More worrisome in recent times was the derogative attitude of the chairman of the National Association of Nurses and Midwives (NAN&M) Delta State and her predecessor, Mrs. Philomena Onokpuvie and Mrs Alice Jegede, respectively, who have now turned Academic Staff of the Colleges of Nursing Sciences, working hand in hand with key officials in the Health Commissioner office to conduct Entrance Examination and admit students into these schools, sidelining the Director of Nursing Sciences and the academic staff.
They accused the Commissioner of being aware of all the rot going on in the schools, a concerned staff of one of the colleges alleged.
Emphasis On College Of Nursing Sciences, Eku
In the course of investigation, the attention of our correspondent was drawn to the happenings in the State College of Nursing Sciences, Eku in Ethiope East Local Government Area. It was gathered that, currently, the training of Nurses in this facility is akin to a military camp where the students study under fear and trepidation amid threat of expulsion and victimization if found reporting their ordeal to the press or even to their parents.
Student Union Government officials are said to be afraid to open up on the treatment which the new Provost of the College, one Mrs. Gloria Bassey Enobong, from Akwa Ibom is meting to the students on daily basis.
Some of the students who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, described the Provost of the College as a high-handed and corrupt school administrator. She was reported to have increased the fees payable by students who are due for psychiatric posting from N30,000 to a whopping N90,000. And she is currently threatening the students not to openly complain of the astronomical increase in the fees else they will be dealt with.
“The provost is threatening students who are complaining about the sudden increase in payment of psychiatric posting fees. She does not even allow us to snap our results. I mean, how can we give account to our parents? How can we convince them that there is increase in psychiatric posting fees when they have not even seen our results? It is really frustrating. Imagine after giving your child money but there is no result. We are emotionally drained and psychologically disturbed”, a student lamented”.
When our correspondent confronted the Honourable Commissioner for Health on these allegations, he simply replied: “I’m not aware. I will investigate”.