Chidi Nnadi, Enugu
The Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, has suspended the Principal and Vice Principal of the School of Post Basic Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing of the hospital, Mrs. Ruth Buzo -Maduka and Mr. Afam Ndu, respectively, over the non-release of the licenses of 31 graduate nurses of the 2015/2016 set.
Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Jojo Onwukwe, who disclosed this in a letter dated January 30 and addressed to Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said that the principal and her vice, were found wanting by the top management investigating panel set up to ascertain why the graduated nurses could not get their licenses even when they have paid all their required fees.
According to the statement, “Till this date, the principal and the vice principal seized the originals of the students’ Nursing Council registration for general nursing; no reason was given for this.
“The students petitioned management because the Nursing and Midwifery Council withheld their registration, notification and license, since November 2016 when they passed out.
“The council said the 2016 set paid N400, 000 short of the fees.The correct fees for the 31 candidates is N1, 550, 125, but the school remitted only N1, 150, 125 having unpaid balance of N400, 000,” Onwukwe told the minister.
This, he said, made the top management panel set up to investigate the two officers of the school to recommend the suspension of the principal and the vice “to pave way for uninterrupted investigation,” even as the panel referred the matter to the hospital disciplinary committee headed by Dr J. U. Achor, a chief consultant Psychiatrist in the hospital for further action and advice.
In response to a memo from the medical director on the issue, the principal said: “I did not collect or seize anybody’s/any student’s original license of the General Nursing license of 2016 set in the School of Psychiatric and Mental Nursing of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu.
Onwukwe continued, “The Nursing and Midwifery Council categorically stated that the principal should not be the focal person and in this case, it is Mr. Afam Ndu who is in charge and coordinates the registration.”
Ndu also in his own response dated January 29 said: “I did not collect or seize anybody’s license with regards to students of 2016. ”
He rather claimed that they made an overpayment of N400, 000, which they have repeatedly asked the council to refund them.
But the Class Representative of the 2015/2016 set, Uzodinma Toochukwu, in a bank statement he used to remit the money to the vice principal’s account, proved that he actually paid him N1.5 million as established by the investigating panel.
A petition written by the class to the Medical Director on January 17 and signed by Toochukwu also insisted that, “This payment (N1, 515, 125 ) was made into the vice principal academics School of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing account in the person of Mr Afam C. Ndu as he instructed the Class Rep to pay the money into his account.”
The students leader, therefore, said that the students of the class of 2016 were not happy that the actual remittance was not made to Nursing and Midwifery Council because they made their payment in full.
He said that since they graduated they have been handicapped as they could not submit their general nursing license as required of them before they could be employed anywhere.