The Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Lokoja, FULokoja, Professor Olayemi Akinwumi, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the conversion and upgrading of Federal Medical Centre, FMC, in the Kogi state capital for the use of the institution as a teaching hospital.
The FMC is now part of College of Health Sciences, Federal University, Lokoja, CHSFUL. It was among the three federal teaching hospitals recently established across the country. President had on 10th February, 2023, approved the upgrade of the FMC Lokoja, to a Federal Teaching Hospital vide an act of the National Assembly, in June, 2022.
The Nigerian senate had passed the FTH Bill into law on 21st June, 2022, in furtherance of Buhari administration’s healthcare sector development plan.
Akinwumi said with the new FTHs, the Buhari administration has moved tertiary health care delivery to the front burner, making it easier for Nigerians to access tertiary health care at low cost.
He spoke at a joint press conference held with the Chief Medical Director of the new FTH Lokoja, Dr. Olatunde Oladeji Alabi, on Tuesday, to formally announce the Union. Akinwumi said the Governing Council, Senate, Management and Staff of FUL, were delighted by the upgrade of the FMC.
With the development, Prof. Akinwumi said FTH Lokoja, would provide clinical training for medical and premedical students of FUL which prides itself as a Nigerian university with largest medical college, in terms of size and anticipated complement of medical academics. “Research conducted in recent time shows that in the next 10 years, Kogi State Medical Centres and Hospitals will experience great inertia of Medical Doctors of Kogi State origin,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor noted that about 98 per cent of qualified students of Kogi origin who applied to study medicine and surgery in Nigerian universities outside the State, have often been denied admissions due to stiff competition for placement.
He therefore appealed to the rich, philanthropists and Corporate Bodies within and outside the state to donate infrastructure facilities to FULokoja to ease its burden of providing infrastructural facilities to the young growing university.
