College
By Mohammed Lawal
Zaria (Kaduna State), Sept. 27, 2018 (NAN) The authorities of Shehu Idris College of Health Science and Technology, Makarfi, Kaduna, on Thursday said that plans were ongoing to commence degree programmes in Community Health and Environmental Health.
The college’s Sole Administrator, Malam Yusuf Yakubu-Arrigasiyyu, made the disclosure to newsmen in his office in Makarfi, the headquarters of Makarfi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the administrator spoke after an interactive session with members of staff aimed at seeking their contributions, suggestions and criticism towards lifting the college to greater heights.
Yakubu-Arrigasiyyu said the management of the college was already discussing with some universities to actualise the dream of becoming a degree awarding institution.
“Already, we have gone a long way in talking with some universities to commence degree programmes in Community Health and Environmental Health the moment we satisfy their requirements.
“Again, since we have a state-owned university in Kaduna, we are also going to discuss the possibilities of affiliating to them to run the courses, and if it doesn’t materialise, then we have no option than to go out.
“Insha-Allah (By the grace of God), we are going to start with two degree courses; other courses will follow later because we don’t want to start with many courses that will at the end be difficult for us to cope with,’’ he said.
On the essence of organising the interactive session, Yakubu-Arrigasiyyu observed that a good leader should not assume that his decisions were better than others.
“As a leader, you have to accept advice from others bellow you because nobody has the monopoly of knowledge, you cannot be knowledgeable in everything in life.
“Other people may have excellent ideas far better than what a leader has; this is what influenced my decision to call for this interactive session.
“It will enable us to generate ideas, suggestions, observations and criticisms among others, and most importantly, to identify challenges of the college and possible solutions to address them,’’ he said.
He said that all the Directors of Schools were invited to present papers on prospects, challenges and way forward in their respective schools since March 2018.
Apart from that, he said, the interactive session with members of staff yielded positive results as many of them contributed to the challenges of the entire college and possible ways to tackle them.
“I can assure you that this is the biggest College of Health Science and Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa, hence the need to portray good examples for others to cope,’’ he said.
On disciplinary measures against erring lecturers, Yakubu-Arrigasiyyu said: “As long as I am here, we will never allow parents to send their daughters to school, only for a lecturer to take that advantage and abuse them.
“Again, any lecturer found extorting money from students to aid them to pass examinations will be severely dealt with.
“This is because, a school is supposed to be a place for character moulding and certification of sound and good health workers.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a lawmaker representing Makarfi at the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Alahji Bello Sani-Gimi, had told journalists last year that the state government was collaborating with Egypt firms to upgrade the college’s facilities to a degree awarding institution. (NAN)
KLM/FF/PDE
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(Edited by Fela Fashoro/Peter Ejiofor)