Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti
Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has said the new set of doctors produced by the state University College of Medicine will boost the healthcare policy of his administration.
The governor charged the college to expand the scope of its research work not only for more breakthroughs in medical line, but for lofty placement of the university on Webometric ranking.
Fayemi spoke at the institution yesterday during the maiden induction of 43 first set of doctors produced by the university after 10 years of academic exercise.
The governor said: “I am particularly happy about the outstanding performances of these doctors in their final examinations. I was reliably told that the inductees, including Bankole Emmanuel, who emerged the best-graduating student with distinction in Surgery and Clinical Pathology, recorded 100 percent in their examinations with a distinction in their MBBS examinations.
“The first executive governor of this state, 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 didn’t believe the state could fund a medical college at that time.
“But, in 2008, former governor, Segun Oni, started the process of reestablishing the college and I want to thank Oni for signing the bill that re-established the college to 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. I am convinced that these new doctors will contribute to our healthcare policy. 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 for pregnant women and children below five and the vulnerable, who could have been shut out of quality medical care due to inabilities to afford the bills.
“I want to commend you for your perseverance, resilience, commitment, hard work and you must know that medical education is continuous. Also, you have to be good ambassadors of the university and the state.
“As part of the ways to enhance and improve healthcare delivery, our government is providing water supply across the state to prevent water borne diseases.
“I want to also charge the management to ensure prudent use of resources available and embark on more research works for favourable rating of this university on Webometric ranking,” he said.
Also, acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olubunmi Ajayi, said when the university was at a crossroad, especially when finance became an albatross making failure to be staring the university in the face that Governor Fayemi came to their rescue.