The Proprietor of Malakiya School of Health and Social Sciences, Bauchi, Honourable Aminu Mohammed, Dan Malikin says the withdrawal of partnership with the private sector to train health workers by the state government is ill-conceived.
Dan Maliki disclosed this in an interview with Daily Sun in Bauchi, saying that the development has affected over 3,000 students because the state government stopped paying their tuition fees.
He recalled that in 2015 the Isa Yuguda administration invited the private sector for a meeting in the ministry of health Bauchi under the then Commissioner Professor Sani Mallami and entred into a Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
“I happened to be the deputy chairman of the state Chamber of Commerce and so I attended.
“We were told of the pathetic situation Bauchi found its self on the acute shortage of health workers. What we were told was that it may take 50 years even if additional 20 high level health institutions were established by the state to meet the manpower needs of the state. And then they were just two years to go so they decided to partner with the private institutions so that we will train health personnel on behalf of the government under a private partnership programme,” he said.
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Dan Maliki said the withdrawal of its partnership by the current government in the state was disturbing.
“The partnership has failed even though Malakiya was established under a partnership agreement the state government, the government that conceived the idea did their best and when they left Mohammed Abubakar came in and continued with it because he provided students for the college for good three years but when the new People’s Democratic Party government came in they decided to jettison the partnership so it is no longer there,” he said.
“I was told there was a meeting with our students with the governor over the matter because when he came in government had already sent students for the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 , session, 500 each , that is about 2000 but when this government came in May 2019, they said they were no longer going to continue and they will not pay for services rendered.
“We are helping the government train its manpower needs we also created avenue for providing jobs for our respective youths who have graduated. We received another accreditation for six courses but that one is not professional Diploma because what we are doing now is professional ordinary Diploma. Now we have received approval to start doing National Diploma courses in six subjects and the approval started November 16, 2020,” he said.
He disclosed that the College has graduated a total of 574 students since inception adding that one of them was presented with her certificate by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado for hitting a national record with Distinction in Health Information Management.
“She is from Gamawa and her name is Aisha Ibrahim Umar. She is one of the sponsored government students from the rural area. Life is about opportunities when you get the opportunities and you use it well it means every Nigerian can excel but most Nigerians are not availed with the opportunities some of us have. This programme of government to train health manpower is good and well- conceived and you can see that a young girl of 24 years just graduated with Diploma in Health Information Management and that is why the Emir opf Kano agreed that this is a feat that just recorded not only by her but by the College, a four year old college and we are now known nationally as an academically as a performing institute,” he said.
