The College of Medicine, Ekiti State University (EKSU) on Monday inducted 43 pioneer medical students of the institution after a decade.
Speaking at the ceremony in Ado Ekiti, Gov Kayode Fayemi charged the management of the university to strive towards achieving more breakthrough in medical research that will place it on enviable webometric ranking.
He said, “I want to also charge the management to ensure prudent use of resources available and embark on more research works for a favourable rating of this university on webometric ranking.”
According to him, nothing is comparable to steady research in tertiary institutions, especially on matters relating to medical studies.
He said: “I am particularly happy about the outstanding performance of these doctors in their final examinations.
“I was reliably told that the inductees recorded 100 per cent in their examinations with a distinction in their MBBS examinations.
“The first governor of this state, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, started the idea of a College of Medicine for EKSU in 2001, but in 2004, it came to an abrupt end because the government then did not believe the state could fund a medical college at that time.
“But in 2008, another governor, Chief Segun Oni, started the process of re-establishing the college and I want to thank him for signing the bill that re-established the college into law.
“Medical education is held in high esteem all over the world and this is expected because it touches on the lives of human beings
The governor said he was convinced that the new doctors would contribute to the healthcare policy of the state.
“Ekiti state is ready to employ as many as possible among them that are ready to work in the state.
“We are committed to more robust healthcare coverage, especially for pregnant women and children below five and the vulnerable, who could have been shut out of quality medicare due to their inability to afford the bills.
“I want to commend you for your perseverance, resilience, commitment and hard work and you must know that medical education is continuous.
“Also, you have to be good ambassadors of the university and the state.
Fayemi charged the management of the university to ensure prudent deployment of available resources.
The Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olubunmi Ajayi, thanked the governor for his intervention at a time the institution was bogged down by paucity of funds.
“If not for this intervention, this epoch-making event could not have been possible.
“Even the Wife of the Governor, Bisi, paid the tuition fees of some of these doctors when finance was becoming a problem,” Ajayi said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was the university’s maiden induction after a decade.
Dr Bankole Emmanuel emerged the best graduating student with distinction in Surgery and Clinical Pathology.
NAN reports that the Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Dr T.A. Sanusi, administered the oath on the inductees.
He warned that the council would not hesitate to met out appropriate sanctions on any of them that flouted the rules guiding the medical profession.
The Provost of the college, Prof. Kehinde Oluwadiya, said the doctors had got the best of training, which accounted for the 100 per cent pass recorded in their final examinations, with a distinction in Surgery.
Oluwadiya said, “Our last but main problem was how to secure accreditation for this college because the last government made it clear that it was not ready to help but we were optimistic that Gov. Fayemi would help because of his background as an academic.
“He helped us in an unparalleled manner by providing all we needed to secure the accreditation,” he said.