Kogi State-owned Prince Abubakar Audu University, PAAU, Anyigba, has resumed its Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, MBBS, programme after a decade-long suspension.
This was disclosed in a statement in Lokoja on Thursday by the Commissioner for Health, Dr Abdulazeez Adams.
According to the commissioner, resumption followed the approval by the National Universities Commission, NUC, after carrying out thorough accreditation of some of its programmes.
Adams described the approval as a landmark achievement driven by Governor Ahmed Ododo’s commitment to revitalise healthcare and medical education in the state.
“The MBBS programme was originally accredited and commenced in 2012 at the then Kogi State University, but it was withdrawn in 2015 after a resource verification exercise by the NUC revealed the absence of key infrastructure and academic requirements.
“Consequently, the administration of former Governor Yahaya Bello, upon assuming office in 2016, swiftly intervened by approving full scholarship and facilitating the transfer of the affected third-year medical students to other institutions.
“Over 90 percent of those students have successfully graduated,” Adams said.
The commissioner said since then, government began fixing the necessary facilities including the construction of a state-of-the-art clinical complex at the university now completed and in use.
“In addition, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Marietu Tenuche, was mandated to commence all basic sciences and allied health programmes required to support a robust MBBS curriculum—an instruction that has since been carried out.
“Also, Governor Ododo upon assuming office in 2024, directed a fresh review of the requirements for restoring the MBBS programme and gave immediate approval for the provision of outstanding facilities.
“These include a multi-purpose medical students teaching laboratory, lecture halls, a library, consultant offices and student hostels.
“These projects received prompt approval from His Excellency and I personally represented him at the official hand-over of project sites to contractors,” Adams stated.
He stressed that based on the infrastructural and academic upgrades, the university invited the NUC for a fresh round of resource verification.
Based on the successful outcome of the exercise, he said the commission has now granted approval for the full re-establishment of the MBBS programme at the university.
