By Ngozi Nwankwo
To ensure a smooth takeoff, the National Universities Commission has begun verifying of 18 degree programs for the Federal University of Allied Health Sciences, Enugu.
This came as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval on March 15, 2024, for the upgrade of the former Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy to a full-fledged university.
The university’s inaugural Senate approved 22 programmes across five allied healthcare faculties.
However, the NUC selected 18 of these programmes for verification, paving the way for their launch in the 2024/2025 academic session.
Some of the allied health science programmes that may be offered by FUAHSE include Nursing Science: preparing students to become registered nurses and midwives; Dental Technology: focusing on dental care and technology; Public Health: equipping students to promote health and prevent diseases; Health Education: training professionals to educate communities on healthy practices; Medical Laboratory Science: preparing students for careers in laboratory medicine.
Speaking before the commencement of the verification exercise, on Saturday, one of the verification team leaders and NUC Academic Planner, Jude Akubue, said that the acting Executive Secretary of the NUC, Amb. Chris J. Maiyaki approved their verification of the 18 programmes for take-off of the university.
He enthused, “We are glad to be here because today is historic for the university and us; it’s an epoch one for us because, after this visit, you will know whether you have the nod to run the programmes as a university. Therefore, we congratulate you for this transition and President Tinubu for approving the university.”
He disclosed that the team comprised of resource persons carefully selected from different universities from different parts of the country, such as the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, among others, who are experts in different academic fields such as in basic and allied sciences.
“We are going to use Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standard documents as our benchmark and that will be the basis for the assessment. The CCMAS was introduced last year and the implementation started from the 2023/2024 academic session, so when you get approval for these programmes, it’s the CCMAS that you are going to use as a minimum of 70 per cent content and the remaining 30 per cent you are going to use to suit your uniqueness as a university.”
Receiving the team, the acting Vice Chancellor of FUAHS, Prof John Emaimo, expressed appreciation to President Tinubu who approved the transition of the former college into a full-fledged university and the first health science university in Nigeria.
He noted that the NUC took its time to choose the verification team to help nurture the university, which he said was yet on paper until the academic activities began to take place in the university.
He added, “The team is well chosen to deliver on their assignment and this is just the beginning. The university is starting today by virtue of this verification, we are adding another feather for universities in Nigeria to mould more minds into the society. We are confident that the team will put us in the right direction to get the university accreditation.
“What we are doing is for humanity, trying to intervene in the current need issues in Nigeria, to make sure that we have a place for the young people in the society. We, the staff are ready to help you in whatever you want to verify so that at the end of the day, you will give us a better way to go and we take it up from there.”